Churro Donuts combines two of my favorite sweet treats: churros and donuts! These fluffy baked donuts are rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with dulce de leche.
Ingredients for Churro Donuts:
Ingredients for baked donuts:
- All-purpose flour. Measuring the flour correctly is very important. I suggest weighing your flour out (I use this scale). If you want to use a measuring cup, make sure you spoon the flour into the cup and level it off with a knife. Don’t use the cup to scoop directly from the flour.
- Light brown sugar. Brown sugar adds flavor and a softer texture to the final product.
- Salt. Salt is a must in baked goods. It will help to balance out the sweetness and improve the overall flavor.
- Baking powder. Baking powder will help the baked donuts to rise.
- Full-fat sour cream. Sour cream will make the donuts extra moist and fluffy.
- Unsalted butter. I always make sure to use unsalted butter when baking because there is no “standard” for the amount of salt they can add to butter. So if you add salt to a recipe and then use salted butter you could end up with a very salty end product.
- Egg. It will be easier to incorporate the eggs into the batter if they are at room temperature.
Ingredients for cinnamon sugar topping:
- Ground Cinnamon. This will add flavor to the topping.
- Granulated Sugar. This will add sweetness to the topping.
Ingredients for dulce de leche:
- Sweetened Condensed Milk. This will be heated up until a thick caramel forms.
How to make Churro Donuts
Baked Donuts
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray your donut mold with non-stick spray and set it aside.
STEP 2: In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, light brown sugar, salt, and baking powder. Be sure there are no lumps.
STEP 3: In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients.
STEP 4: Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are well combined. The batter will be thick.
STEP 5: Spoon or pipe the batter into your molds and fill them up about ¾ of the way to the top.
STEP 6: Place your donuts in the pre-heated oven. They usually take about 15-17 minutes to bake, but I started checking them around 10 minutes to see if the pan needs to be turned. You’ll know they are finished when you lightly press on a donut and it springs back.
STEP 7: Remove from the oven and let the baked donuts cool in the molds until cool enough to remove. Then cool the donuts completely before rolling in cinnamon sugar.
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
Step 1: In a small bowl combine the sugar and cinnamon. Mix until well combined.
Dulce De Leche
There are several ways to make dulce de leche. I used a "shortcut" method where you just heat up sweetened condensed milk in the instant pot. I will link all of the ways that you can make it below.
- Make dulce de leche from scratch.
- Dulce de leche with sweetened condensed milk on the stovetop.
- Make dulce de leche in the oven.
- Dulce de leche in the instant pot. This is the method I used.
- Make dulce de leche in the crockpot.
Churro Donut Assembly
Step 1: When the donuts have mostly cooled roll each donut in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat fully.
Step 2: Transfer the dulce de leche to a piping bag fitted with a small piping tip or use a spoon to drizzle the dulce de leche over each donut.
Can I make baked donuts ahead of time?
I WOULDN’T RECOMMEND IT. Donuts are best eaten the same day that they are made.
You can, however, make the batter ahead of time, refrigerate it or freeze it (depending on how far ahead of time you are making the donut batter), and then bake the donuts when you are ready to eat them.
More donut recipes
- Cinnamon Roll Donuts- These fluffy baked donuts are flavored with cinnamon, topped with a brown sugar cinnamon streusel, and drizzled with cream cheese icing.
- Cookies and Cream Donuts-A fluffy baked donuts base filled with crushed Oreos, dipped in a sweet cream cheese glaze and topped with more crushed Oreos.
- Baked Donuts Filled with Jelly- These sweet donuts are filled with jelly and rolled in sugar.
- Double Chocolate Baked Donuts- Chocolate baked donuts topped with a chocolate glaze.
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Churro Donuts
Ingredients
For Donuts:
- 1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (107 grams) light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup (114 grams) full-fat sour cream
- 2 ½ tablespoons (35 grams) unsalted butter melted
- 1 large egg
For Topping:
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For Dulce De Leche:
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
For Donuts:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray your donut mold with non-stick spray and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, light brown sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients, make sure the melted butter has cooled or it will curdle the sour cream and cook the egg.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are well combined. The dough will be much thicker than you think it will be, so don’t be alarmed. Also, be sure not to overmix your dough or your baked donuts will be tough.
- Spoon or pipe the batter into your molds and fill them up to the top. If you’re using a silicone mold, place it on a cookie sheet before you put them in the oven, this will make it easier to get them in and out of the oven.
- Place your donuts in the pre-heated oven. They usually take about 15-17 minutes to bake, but I started checking them around 10 minutes to see if the pan needs to be turned. You’ll know they are finished when you lightly press on a donut and it springs back.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove from pan and allow to cool.
For Topping:
- In a small bowl combine the sugar and cinnamon. Mix until well combined.
For Dulce De Leche:
- Use whatever method you prefer for making dulce de leche. I listed all of them in the post above. I used the instant pot method
For Assembly:
- When the donuts have mostly cooled roll each donut in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat fully.
- Transfer the dulce de leche to a piping bag fitted with a small piping tip or use a spoon to drizzle the dulce de leche over each donut.
Maryam says
I've tried this recipe twice and both times I loved it! I love churros but don't like making them because they're deep fried, which is why this recipe is perfect since you get your churro fix with only having to BAKE them! Will definitely be making these often
Ellie Haley says
Thank you so much! I’m glad you loved them!