For Easy Homemade Churros, There's One Frozen Shortcut

There's nothing quite like that first bite of a hot, fresh churro. Fried dough has been with us as a species throughout our history, coming from all corners of the globe, and while that makes tracing the origins of churros more difficult than you might expect, it also shows how abiding and engrained our love for this simple snack truly is. Whether you're sitting at a Spanish cafe dunking it in hot chocolate, which, mind you, is not for drinking, grabbing a quick snack on the go at a New York City subway platform, or in Mexico City sampling El Moro's "consuelo," an ice cream sandwich that uses churros as buns, these fried delicacies are one of life's simple pleasures. 

And now, with a simple hack, you can make them at home with almost no effort. Does that sound too good to be true? Well, it's not. All you need are frozen waffles, cinnamon, and sugar. This will even cut out the deep frying from the process, making it easier to make than your average churro, making it an easy and fun way to upgrade frozen waffles.

First, slice the waffles into churro-sized strips — ¾ of an inch in diameter is an ideal size, but it's truly the dealer's choice. Add a little oil and cinnamon and cook in the air fryer or oven. Once they're finished, toss them in cinnamon sugar, and enjoy as-is or with a dipping sauce.

Once you have this tasty crowd-pleaser down, it's time to start experimenting with different ways to make an already delectable dessert (or breakfast!) even more special. The first, and simplest, is to try different kinds of waffles. Cinnamon waffles are a natural starting point, and using them will even help eliminate one of the three necessary ingredients in this recipe. Blueberry and strawberry waffles are equally good choices, especially if you're using a chocolate dipping sauce, since both fruits are so well-suited to be covered in chocolate. 

You can also try different kinds of sugars. While cinnamon sugar is timeless, vanilla or chocolate sugar can be bought in a store or made at home with incredible results. Chocolate sugar is easy: Combine a cup of granulated sugar with 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder and mix well. For vanilla sugar, cut open a vanilla bean and mix the seeds with sugar in a food processor until the two ingredients have combined, then store in a jar with the cut-up bean pod. This is also a great way to repurpose a used vanilla pod.

To make your own homemade chocolate sauce, heat heavy cream and dark chocolate until they combine, then add cornstarch and sugar and stir until it thickens into a smooth sauce. Once you have that down, consider replacing the dark chocolate with Mexican chocolate for a spicy kick, or adding blended raspberries for a fruity combination that will knock your socks off. Better still, you can use hot chocolate mix to make a creamy dip that's perfect for your chaffles — warros — whatever you want to call them.