A few great things have happened to me in the past week. I made some mini baked cinnamon treats reminiscent of churros, oh and I got ENGAGED!! It’s been an incredible past few days celebrating with family and friends and I knew I wanted to share it with all of you in a special way. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you’ve probably already seen me obsessing over my newest piece of jewelry, but of course I had to dedicate a blog post to the occasion too! Hopefully you’ll get the connection between Ryan and churros by the end of the post, and there’s more to it other than the fact that they both make me drool ;-)
Ryan and I met in 2007 while both sophomores at Duke. But we didn’t meet on campus – we were actually on spring break in Acapulco when we were first introduced, at a night club no less! I must admit I didn’t head off to Mexico that March with hopes of finding a husband, but it sure does make for a great story 5 years later. We continued our fling back at Duke, graduated together in 2009, started dental school and life as an engineer, moved in together in Connecticut 2010, and now we’re (finally) engaged! I’m so so excited to start this new chapter, and couldn’t be more thrilled to start planning the wedding of my dreams with Ryan (who happens to be the most organized person I know). Get the churro connection yet? Not only did we meet in Mexico, but our favorite restaurant is a great Mexican restaurant in town where he took me right before he proposed :) They always give out free churros after the meal, so I thought making some healthified churros would be a great way to celebrate here on Erica Sweet Tooth.
Although I’m calling these baked churro bites, they are also very similar to many baked doughnut recipes I’ve seen before. Either way, it’s a really easy recipe to throw together (thus how I had time to make them amidst all of this engagement excitement) with delicious results. The outsides have a great crunch from the butter/cinnamon sugar coating and a light crumb (not too dense at all). I made a quick chocolate dipping sauce, but I honestly prefer them plain. I’ve posted authentic churros here before, which really can’t be beat, but this is a great alternative if you don’t feel like deep frying and still want a satisfying cinnamon-sugar treat. By the way, trying to take an artistic picture of your left ring finger incorporated with churro bites and chocolate is extremely difficult, but I hope you appreciate my effort in the photo above – sorry for the alien hand, just focus on the bling :)
Thanks to everyone for the amazing outpouring of love over the past week! And if you follow me on Pinterest, I’m sorry in advance for the crazy amounts of wedding pinning I’m about to do in the next year :)
Baked Mini Churro Bites
Yield: 30 mini churro bites
Ingredients:
for the churros bites:
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
for the cinnamon sugar topping:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a pan of mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixture, beat together the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly alternate adding the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just incorporated.
Use a small cookie scoop to fill each muffin tin and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until just golden brown.
While the churro bites are baking, melt butter in a bowl and combine cinnamon and sugar in a shallow dish.
When churro bites are done, immediately remove from the pan and dip each bite in the butter and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container for 2-3 days
Congrats on your engagement Erica!
Congrats!! I’m a long time follower, but have never commented! I live in CT and think I know which restaurant you’re talking about – if not, Besito has AMAZING churros!
Erica — June 6th, 2012 @ 4:32 pm
Yes it is Besito!!! LOVE IT!
How exciting! Congratulations from a long-time follower, rare commenter. :) These churro bites look tasty and I love that they’re baked, not fried.
Congratulations!!! I love your dress in the engagement photo (and the ring!).
Congrats Erica! that is so exciting! and a restaurant that gives out free Churros? wow that sounds awesome! yours look delish, and your bling is pretty awesome too! You make a lovely looking couple :) good luck with all the fun wedding planning that’s about to take place!
Congratulations on getting engaged!!
Congratulations! The two of you make a gorgeous couple. And don’t apologize for the wedding pinning, I’m going to be ALL over your wedding boards getting inspiration.
Congrats, Erica! I posted my boozy version of your lemon blueberry bread this week and it was a HUGE hit at Bake It with Booze. Much happiness and love to you both in this new chapter!! Cheers!!! :)
Congrats!!!
Congrats! You guys are a gorgeous couple and your ring is beautiful!
And, I love churros! So glad these are baked and I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Congratulations on your engagement. All the best with your wedding plans.
Exciting news and beautiful ring! Congrats to you both!
so happy for you!!! congrats! the churros are a great way to celebrate! gorgeous ring — he did well ;)
Congrats on your engagement! How exciting. :) The mini churro bites look so delish. I think my nieces and nephew will love them next time they come over.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! You two make a beautiful couple!!
congratulations erica! i can imagine you will be the most perfect wife and mother, he’s a lucky guy to have baked treats on a regular basis!
Congratulations! So exciting!
I am interested in making this recipe. Do you think it will be good the next day? Would you recommend heating it up? Also do you think this would pair well with a lemon pot de cream?
Also, Congratulations!
Erica — June 8th, 2012 @ 3:09 am
Yes I know for a fact they will be good the next day! You won’t need to heat them up, but I’m not sure I would serve them with a lemon pot de creme – a little bit clashing flavors maybe
Anonymous — July 29th, 2012 @ 9:39 pm
idiot ass wipe ewww gross
Love your blog. Can’t wait to try these. Sounds super yummy! Congrats on the engagement! Your ring is stunning!
Congrats!! and cute story of you & your fiance. I’m a long time follower too and love your blog (I always get compliments whenever I use your recipes!) Best wishes!! -Jamie
Congratulations!! And these mini churros sound fantastic!
Congratulations!
CONGRATS!!!
Congrats! Where is your dress from in the above photo? I love it!
This is the first time I’ve visited your blog. I made these today and they turned out yummy. Kinda random, but I always used to get churros at Sea World with my grandparents as a kid. These brought back memories. Congrats!
Congratulations from your “big sis” who has been there since day one of your relationship. I couldn’t be happier for you both and I am so happy that I got to share the weekend with you! I am so excited to hear all about your upcoming wedding plans…and my next visit to CT!!!
What is the recipe for the quick chocolate sauce?
Erica — June 14th, 2012 @ 3:17 pm
I just mixed together some melted chocolate chips, a tab of butter, and some heavy cream – sorry I didn’t keep track to share the exact recipe!
Ok thanks! And congratulations btw! :)
Congratulations from a big fan of yours in Malaysia! Wishing you guys all the best in your future, can’t wait to see the dessert table for the wedding ;)
Wow congratulations to you both all the way from Liverpool in the UK – I only just found your blog – not sure where I have been hiding lol!
You have some wonderful recipes – I am just making your blueberry and lemon loaf cake now and will look forward to visiting you again :-)
Congrats ! I am a new fan and Duke alum (though a bit older, lol) LOVELY ring and lovely couple you are. can’t wait to make the churro bites. great idea.
Congratulations to you and Ryan! Your ring is SO gorgeous.
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I just came across your blog tonight and I love it! Great job! I can’t wait to try out some of these recipes. I love to bake and my friends love it when I do as well, but it happens so rarely. I am trying to step up my efforts more recently. I noticed you said you live in CT, where about? We live on the coast towards RI.
Love the recipe, love the story, and LOVE the ring! Congrats to you! Love the Mexican tie-in. My soon-to-be fiance and I went to a Mexican restaurant on our first date, so I always go for the tie-in. Margaritas and anniversary trips to Mexico… yes, please!
Your ring is Absolutely gorgeous!!!! And could u make these in a cake pop maker??
Erica — June 29th, 2012 @ 12:49 pm
I’m not familiar with using a cake pop maker, but I’m sure it would be worth giving it a try! And thank you :)
Hi Erica! I love this recipe but I tried to make it and they turned out more like cupcakes than churro bites- how do you get them to stay round-ish?
Erica — October 18th, 2012 @ 12:23 pm
I didn’t fill them completely, so they didn’t poof up as much and looked less like cupcakes. I hope this helps!
I made the churros last night…SO delicious!! I would love to know what recipe you used for the chocolate dipping sauce. I am making these again for a holiday party next weekend! Thx!
Holy cow, these are delicious. I just made a batch for my Cinco de Mayo party and they disappeared so quickly I made ANOTHER batch that my guests also disappeared!
I made this last week for my friend’s birthday party and it was a huge hit. I loved the flavor and will be making this again soon!
Erica — June 9th, 2014 @ 12:27 pm
So glad you loved them!! They’re super easy and fun for any fiesta :)
if I am baking these the day before I need them, am I better off waiting until the day of use to dip in butter & roll in the cinnamon sugar?
Erica — August 19th, 2015 @ 7:08 pm
Yes, I would wait for dipping until the day off. Enjoy!
These are a hit! Quick, healthier than fried, and YUMMY! Thanks Erica! I just discovered your clever and cute blog and I can assure you that I’ll will definitely refer to it often…
Just wanted to let you know these were amazing and a huge hit at my little guy’s 1st birthday party recently! He was absolutely obssesed with them… didn’t even care about his cake! :)
these stupid things did not turn out how they were supposed to. they turned into flipping cookies. IF I WANTED COOKIES I WOULD LOOK FOR A COOKIE RECIPE, NOT A CHURRO RECIPE. as you can tell, i am raging sooooo please update this
I noticed that some use buttermilk instead of milk. Could you maybe tell me why that is?
Would they turn out the same if I half the recipe since I only need to make about 15? I made them once and they were sooooooo good but it took a lot of time for me to dip in butter and roll them in sugar. I need only 15 but I don’t if halfing the recipe will turn out the same. HELPPP!!
Erica — August 6th, 2018 @ 10:19 am
It should be fine to half the recipe! Glad you enjoyed them :)
This recipe looks great but it doesn’t say how many it makes. I need to make about 80. Would I need to double the recipe? I am making them tomorrow afternoon.
Erica — September 14th, 2018 @ 12:22 pm
Hi – yes I would recommend doubling the recipe!