How to Make Decadent Disney World Churros at Home & Where to Find Them in the Parks
In the world of Disney, churros are about as classic as The Lion King. Deep-fried and generously dusted in cinnamon sugar, what’s not to love about Disney World churros? Aside from a sugar rush (which inevitably leads to a sugar crash), I can’t see any downsides to chomping on a churro that’s half as tall as me.
Of course, not every Walt Disney World churro is the same. Some come with special dipping sauce, some are served in bite-sized pieces, and there’s even a 50th Anniversary churro with “earidescent” sprinkles!1
So, where exactly are the best churros in WDW? Well, today, we’re going on a churro scavenger hunt to find out! And more importantly, I’ll show you how I make copycat Disney World churros at home every single day…I mean…as an occasional treat. Like, once a month. Max.
Churros Around the World
You can find crispy-chewy churros all around Disney World — here are just a few locations that specialize in this spectacular snack and give it a truly delicious twist!
Nomad Lounge, Animal Kingdom
Enjoy churros on the wild side at Nomad Lounge! Here, your favorite treat is served with vanilla crème and chili-strawberry dipping sauce for an unforgettable flavor you can’t find anywhere else.2 Dip one at a time, or get a bit of both sauces in one bite for an amazing combo. Additionally, the churros at Nomad Lounge are made-to-order, so they’re fresh and piping hot!
La Cantina de San Angel, Mexico Pavilion, EPCOT
Need to satisfy your sugar cravings while exploring EPCOT? You can find warm, bite-sized churros at La Cantina de San Angel in the Mexico Pavilion. These little, deep-fried delicacies come with caramel dipping sauce, aka a churro’s best friend.
Frontierland Churro Cart, Magic Kingdom
The churro cart in Frontierland is your one-stop churro shop in the Magic Kingdom. Each yummy churro is served with decadent chocolate dipping sauce, which makes the experience that much sweeter.3 During Disney’s 50th Anniversary celebration, the churro cart is also selling special “Royal 50th churros.” These special edition churros come coated in strawberry sugar, drizzled in marshmallow cream, and glittering with “earidescent” sprinkles.4 Oh, and you still get that chocolate dipping sauce! These might just break the Guinness World Record for the sweetest things on the planet.
Sunshine Churros, Disney Springs
When it comes to food, Disney knows what the people want, and that’s why there’s a gourmet churro stand in Disney Springs Marketplace. Sunshine Churros offers mouth-watering morsels like chocolate-dipped churros, cheesecake churros, oreo churros, and churros coated in Fruity Pebbles cereal. Thankfully, they’ve also got classic cinnamon sugar for us old-school churro folks, too.
Enjoy Disney World Churros — At Home!
Sometimes a slice of cinnamon-sugar toast just doesn’t cut it. You need Disney World churros. Stat.
But it’s not always feasible to take a trip to the Magic Kingdom just to grab a snack. (And by not always, I mean never.) That’s why I was thrilled to discover this copycat Disney World churros recipe!
(Photo: MouseEarsTV Creative Team)
Like the churros at La Cantina de San Angel in EPCOT, these copycat Disney World churros are bite-sized bits of pure culinary joy. I was surprised to find they don’t take a terribly long time to make, which is dangerous because it makes it easy to do it more often! They’re also made with baking ingredients you probably have on hand at all times — eggs, flour, butter, sugar… It’s like they’re just begging to be made!
The churro begins with a mixture of water, butter, salt, and a pinch of cinnamon piled into a saucepan and set to medium heat.
Of course, if you want to be picky about it, this isn’t a traditional churro recipe. A traditional churro recipe would call for a simple flour-and-water dough.5 However, I can’t say I’m displeased with Disney’s addition of butter — that’s one of the most magical ingredients known to man!
With that disclaimer out of the way, and your mixture now at a rolling boil, it’s time to add the flour and stir, stir, stir! Once the mixture transforms into a dough ball, take it off the heat and let it cool for around seven minutes. After it’s had time to cool down, add three eggs, one at a time, stirring until well-combined.
Now we’re getting to the fun part!
Pull out your favorite skillet, pour in one and a half cups of vegetable oil, then turn up the heat! (Medium-high should do the trick.) While the veggie oil begins to simmer, spoon your churro dough into a piping bag with a large, star-shaped tip. Pipe adorable, one-inch, mini-churros into the veggie oil, using a knife to detach the churro from the star-shaped tip.
Let those delicious churros fry until they’re a crispy, golden brown. When they look done, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and onto a paper towel where the excess oil can drain off. As the tiny churros cool and drain, mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Once your cinnamon-sugar mix is made, put your churros in the bowl and toss them until they’re totally covered in sweet goodness.
And if you want to spice things up like they do at Disney, feel free to drizzle your churro in chocolate sauce or caramel!
After that, there’s nothing to do but enjoy the fruits of your labor. And the dishes. But we won’t think about those — right now, it’s churro time!
Copycat Disney World Churro Bites
Equipment
- 1 1/2-quart saucepan
- Measuring Cup
- Measuring Spoons
- Spoon
- Skillet
- Slotted spoon
- Piping bag
- Large star tip
- Knife
- Candy thermometer
- Medium mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 8 tbsp butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
Instructions
- Combine water, butter, salt and 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a 1 1/2-quart saucepan.
- Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a rolling boil.
- Add flour and then stir briskly until the mixture forms a ball.
- Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool for 7 minutes.
- Add eggs to the mixture one at a time, stirring until completely combined and then set aside.
- Pour vegetable oil into a skillet.
- Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat or until it reaches a temperature of 350 degrees as measured on the candy thermometer.
- Spoon the flour mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
- Using the piping bag, pipe one-inch strips of dough over the skillet using a knife to cut the strips from the end of the star tip. Repeat until the dough fills the skillet leaving room for the churro bites to fry.
- Fry the churro bites until golden brown.
- Remove the churro bites with a slotted spoon and then place them on a paper towel to drain.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix sugar and the remaining cinnamon.
- Toss the churro bites in the sugar mixture until well coated.
- Enjoy!
If you enjoyed making these churros, you might like to check out some of our other copycat Disney recipes!
- The Best Buttermilk Mickey-Shaped Pancakes
- EPCOT-inspired Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
- Disney’s Famous Dole Whip
- Main Street Chocolate Chip Cookies
Happy baking, everyone!
Cover and Recipe Images
Photos: MouseEars TV Creative Team
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