Churros

1. To Make Cinnamon Sugar:
2. In a baking dish, mix together the sugar and cinnamon and set it aside.
3. To Make the Ganache:
4. Combine the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute and stir until melted. If you don’t own a microwave (I just got one), you can heat the two together in a double-boiler (or a bowl nestled in a saucepan filled with a few inches of water) and stir until melted. Set aside.
5. To Make the Churro Batter:
6. In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter, vanilla and salt to a gentle simmer. Stir in the flour all at once. Reduce the heat to low and stir, using a wooden spoon, vigorously until the mixture forms a ball and begins to pull away from the pan, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.
7. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to cool.
8. When it’s warm (not hot) to the touch, add one egg at a time. Keep stirring until the mixture comes together and is smooth. It might seem squishy for a while, keep going! Note: You can also do this in an electric stand-up mixer with a paddle attachment–it’ll go faster.

To Fry the Churros

1. In a Dutch oven, add 4 inches of oil and place over medium-high heat. When the oil reaches 335 degrees F, it’s ready. You may need to bring the heat down to medium-low to keep it around 325 degrees F to 335 degree range.
2. Spoon the churro dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star-tip. Have sterilized scissors on hand. Hold the bag over the hot oil, squeeze a strip of dough that’s about 4 inches long or you can do like I did which was more of a horse shoe shape (see tip below on keeping its shape) and then snip it with the scissors and let it drop into the oil. (This works great with two people.)
3. Repeat with the second churro. I fit around 2 to 3 churros in the pan. Fry on each side for about 1 minute and then flip and fry on the opposite side for an additional minute. A medium golden brown is a great color to aim for.
4. Drain on paper towels and immediately transfer the churros to the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Repeat the frying, light draining and tossing in the cinnamon and sugar mixture until you've made all of the churros. Serve with warm ganache.