Churro Cookies
These Churro Cookies are amazing bakery-level specialty cookies yet are made right at home with only 30 minutes of hands-on prep time! Made with simple ingredients and an easy-to-follow recipe!
For another dessert made with Dulce de Leche check out my Banoffee Pie! Made in just 20 minutes using other tasty ingredients such as bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings!
If you love classic, deep-fried Churros, then you don’t want to miss out on these Churro Cookies! Their cinnamon sugar coating, chocolate drizzle, and caramel-like filling will impress any churro or cookie lover!
One batch of these incredible cookies will instantly put them on your favorites list! Share them with friends or family, or keep them all to yourself; I won’t judge!
Ingredients For Churro Cookies
- Coating:
- Granulated Sugar
- Ground Cinnamon
- Dough:
- Bread Flour
- Box of Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
- Baking Powder
- Ground Cinnamon
- Salt
- Salted BUtter
- Light Brown Sugar
- Large Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Ducle De Leche
- Optional Topping:
- Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers
- Sea Salt
Dulce de Leche
Dulce de Leche is the hidden filling in this Easy Churro cookie recipe! Dulce de Leche is a confection made by slowly cooking sugar and milk for hours.
It originated in Latin America, and its name is a Spanish phrase that means caramelized milk or milk candy. The creamy, sticky sauce has a caramel-like color and taste!
In this recipe, I used a whole can of Nestle Le Lechera Dulce de Leche. When making this recipe, I tested it with other brands but found they were too runny to be sealed in the dough. The best way for me to describe the texture you’re looking for is almost like Vaseline.
However, if you have to use a different brand and find it to be runny, you can try placing it in the freezer for an hour before using it. This trick doesn’t always work, but it’s worth a shot if you’re in a pinch!
You can also make it right at home; check out this Instant Pot Dulce de Leche by Garlic and Zest for the right consistency. It’s simple to do using only sweetened condensed milk.
How To Make Churro Cookies
- Mix the cookie coating by combining granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Then set it aside.
- Whisk together the bread flour, dry pudding mix, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set this aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients slowly into the wet ingredients while mixing on low speed.
- Portion the dough out and create a well into one half. Fill the well with dulce de leche filling. Then pinch to seal the dough around the filling and roll them into a ball.
- Roll the balls of filled dough into the cinnamon sugar mixture and transfer them onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies and then remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.
- Melt the chocolate melting wafers until smooth, then drizzle it over hte tops if the cookies. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.
Storage Instructions For Churro Cookies
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Large Bakery Style Churro Cookies
You can make large bakery-sized cookies! To do so, measure the dough into 5-ounce portions and then divide each in half.
Afterward, create a well in one half and fill it with 1 1/2 tablespoons of dulce de leche. Then, enclose it with the other half, pinching the two portions together to seal and then rolling it into a ball.
Bake the large cookies for 10 to 12 minutes. Lastly, allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
However, I will say that the general consensus among friends and family who tried out multiple test batches was that the large cookies were less enjoyable than the smaller size, so we opted for the smaller size in the main recipe. This way, you get a more even amount of each part of the cookie in every bite.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes:
- Twix Cookies – Your favorite candy bar collides with homemade cookie dough!
- Chocolate Caramel Cookies – An indulgent cookie that everyone will love!
- Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cozy, sweet cookies that are easy to make!
- Turtle Thumbprint Cookies – Gooey caramel centers and rolled in crunchy pecans!
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – Made with a tasty browned butter base!
Steps
Preheat the oven to 375°F and line two 12x17-inch baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.
Dough
In a large bowl, whisk together the bread flour, dry pudding mix, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar for 1 minute until smooth.
Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing after each just until incorporated.
Add the vanilla and mix for 2 minutes until light and fluffy (it will resemble buttercream frosting), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients a little at a time to the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. The dough should come together in a play-doh texture and not be sticky. If the dough feels too dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk to the dough. If it's sticky, mix in 2 additional tablespoons of flour.
Immediately, measure the dough into 2.5-ounce (71g) portions of dough and create a well in one half and fill with 2 teaspoons (20g) of dulce de leche filling. Then enclose, pinching to seal, and then rolling into a ball.
Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place them on the pan. Add 9 cookies to each pan with 2 inches of space between them. Bake one sheet at a time.
Bake for 7 to 9 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, melt the chocolate melting wafers in a small bowl at 30-second intervals, stirring between each one, until fully melted.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the cookies, add sea salt if desired, and let harden before enjoying.
Notes
- It is best to go by the gram measurements in this recipe. During testing, we measured both ways for each batch to ensure that the measurements were correct both ways, but grams will be the most accurate. If you are going to use measuring cups, make sure you are measuring your flour correctly.
- This dough shouldn't sit out long as it will start to dry out and become more difficult to work with. So prepare cookies immediately after mixing the dough.
- You can make large bakery-sized cookies with this recipe, also. Measure the dough into 5-ounce (142g) portions, then divide each in half. Create a well in one half and fill with 1½ tablespoons (49g) of dulce de leche, then enclose with the other half, pinching to seal and then rolling into a ball. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
- It's best if these cookies cool for at least 2 hours before consuming; this allows the inside of the cookie to finish cooking and set up. You can pop the cookie in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds if you want an extra gooey center.
- All-purpose flour may be used instead of bread flour, but we found the bread flour yielded a slightly softer cookie.
- Using two baking sheets is important because you don't want to put the cookie dough down on a hot pan.
- 2 tablespoons of powdered milk and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch can be used in place of pudding in this recipe.
- These cookies are pretty sweet; I recommend using dark chocolate over milk chocolate to balance out the sweetness.
- You do not need to chill the dough or freeze the dulce de leche. This dough can be prepped and immediately stuffed and baked. Ensure your seams are pinched and smoothed out nicely, so you don't have any leaking.
- I use Nestle Le Lechera Dulce de Leche, and this recipe uses the whole can. During testing, we found most other brands were way too runny to be sealed in the dough without leaking. If you find your dulce de leche is running, you can try popping it in the freezer for 1 hour before using it, but this doesn't always work.
- You can also make it at home. Check out this Instant Pot Dulce de Leche by Garlic and Zest for the right consistency.
- Recipe adapted from Crispi Cookies.
Nutrition
- Calories284
- Carbs40g
- Protein4g
- Fat12g
- Saturated fat8g
- Fiber1g
- Sugar21g
- Sodium290mg
Estimates per serving, when a serving size is listed.
