Small morsels of crunchy sugary cinnamon goodness that are just waiting to be dipped in freshly made caramel sauce. If you’re looking for a guilty pleasure, no-share dessert, this is the recipe for you. Bitesize churros are my new favourite thing and I’m pretty convinced that you’re going to love them as well. My air fryer churro bites are easy to make with no deep-frying required and this recipe just happens to be naturally vegan too!
With just a handful of basic ingredients, they are a wonderful treat that just evokes feelings of summer and complete selfish indulgence. Check out my recipe card for easy upscaling of this recipe if you want to share the churro bites.
Naturally Vegan?
Did you know that Spanish churros are naturally vegan? The standard ingredients for the churro dough include water, oil, salt and flour, with some recipes also adding sugar. Other countries such as Mexico, Portugal and areas of South America have also adopted the churro as a staple of their cuisine and the recipe has evolved to include eggs, milk and often butter. When served with caramel sauce, dulce de leche or chocolate sauce, they are the perfect snack to enjoy with coffee or as a ‘just because’ treat.
Why You Should Make this Recipe
It is quick, easy, inexpensive, pure indulgence, and comfort eating at its best. Pair with homemade caramel sauce or even some freshly melted chocolate and lose yourself in sweet, sugary heaven.
Churros are usually deep fried in oil but quite honestly I often don’t feel motivated to lug out my heavy pan and use a ton of oil for deep frying to make a handful of treats. Check out my Common Questions section for deep frying recommendations. My air fryer churro bites are easy to make with no special tools or ingredients required and I love that there is no frying oil to clean up afterwards.
Ingredients and Substitutions
This recipe uses basic pantry items that I am sure you will already have. And as it is a naturally vegan recipe, there are no substitutions to make this recipe allergy safe for those with a dairy or egg allergy. You can however use a few different options for a couple of the ingredients if you want to change the flavour slightly. Check out the recipe card for exact measurements.
Sugar and Salt: I am using white sugar but you could sub with yellow, golden or even brown sugar to elevate the flavour. The salt also helps with the flavour.
Flour: I’m using all purpose (plain) flour. No need to pre-sift it as it will be mixed in well with the remaining ingredients. Gluten Free? I suggest using a 1-to-1 gluten free flour replacement such as Bob’s Red Mill if you want to make gluten free churro bites.
Oil: A neutral oil helps to bind everything together. I used canola but you could use vegetable oil or even sub with melted butter if you prefer. Use plant based butter if you are dairy free or vegan.
Water: no specific temperature of water is needed.
How to Make Churro Bites
The dough for the churros comes together very quickly so I highly recommend gathering all of your ingredients and equipment before starting the process. We are making a small batch (approximately 18-20 churro bites) which you can easily scale up as required. And if you feel like eating the whole batch yourself, I say go for it. Have a question about the recipe? Check out our FAQs or leave a comment for us to get back to you. You can also view my web story for this recipe.
Start by adding 150 ml (1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp) water, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp neutral oil to a small saucepan.
Bring to the boil over a high heat and stir with a wooden spoon to ensure that the sugar and salt dissolve.
Remove from the heat and stir in 60 grams (1/2 cup) of All Purpose Flour.
Keep stirring until the flour is fully incorporated. It will clump together into a smooth ball.
Allow cooling for 10 minutes.
Piping the bites
Add a closed star piping tip (nozzle) to a thick piping bag. I use a 2D piping tip. You could use any large star tip or even no tip if you’re not worried about getting the ridged effect. I like to use featherweight bags as they will not transfer any heat from the churro dough and are sturdier than tipless bags. A ziploc bag will also work in a pinch.
Place the churro dough into the piping bag and twist the end to secure it. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Pipe 2 inch churro bites onto the paper. Use scissors to trim the dough. And don’t worry if some are more ruffled than others. That’s part of the natural charm of churros.
I like to get the piping out of the way in one go so that my bag of dough isn’t hanging around while the first batch of bites is in the air fryer. You don’t need to chill the bites before frying them. Although, if it is a particularly humid day, it won’t harm to pop the second batch in the fridge while the first batch is frying.
Time to Air Fry
Set your air fryer to 360F and preheat for 2 minutes.
Add half of the churro bites to the basket. Make sure that there is room between the bites for the air to circulate.
Spray the churro bites with cooking oil.
Fry for 10 minutes, turning over at the 5 minute mark. Don’t skip turning them over as you want to ensure that they are frying evenly. Give them a shuffle around and then continue to fry for another 5 minutes.
The churro bites will be golden and crispy on the outside and slightly soft on the inside.
Cinnamon Sugar
Just before the first batch of bites is ready, make up the cinnamon sugar. In a bowl, mix together 100 grams (1/2 cup) of white sugar and 1 tsp of ground cinnamon.
Stir together until you have a bowl of wonderfully aromatic cinnamon sugar. So easy!
Once the first batch of churro bites is ready, immediately toss them in the cinnamon sugar then set them aside. You don’t need to coat them in additional oil.
I find that it’s easier to use some tongs to toss the churros. Trust me, I ended up getting the sugar everywhere when I agitated the bowl so it is definitely less messy with the tongs.
I can hardly wait to eat these!
Add the remaining bites to the air fryer and repeat as per the first batch.
Serve warm with my 3 ingredient caramel sauce, which is made with coconut condensed milk, brown sugar and plant based butter.
Churro Bites
My naturally vegan air fryer churro bites are easy to make and do not require any special tools or storage requirements. They are the perfect party food or even just to make as a treat for yourself to enjoy as a snack or with coffee. Look at how tempting they look! Have I convinced you to try them?
Common Questions
Absolutely! Just pipe longer shapes (4 inches) when you are making them. You will need to fry them in smaller batches as well.
If you can resist eating them all in one go (we can’t!), you can store the churros in an airtight container on the counter for 1-2 days. I do not recommend refrigerating them as they will go soggy over time. And besides, they are best enjoyed fresh from the fryer.
Yes. Instead of piping lines, pipe a swirl of the mixture as if you were piping a buttercream swirl on a cupcake. You might need to use a spatula to transfer them to the air fryer to retain their shape. Fry for a few extra minutes to ensure the centre is well cooked. Pair the swirls up and sandwich together with buttercream. Yum!
No, there is no need to chill this recipe. I experimented with a few batches where I chilled some of the churro bites for different lengths of time before frying them. It made no difference to the outcome so you can definitely skip chilling them.
You can definitely bake and deep fry them. Bake on a lined baking tray at 360F for 20 minutes. I recommend keeping a close eye on them as they are more likely to dry out when baked. To deep-fry, add a couple of inches of oil to a deep saucepan, bring to 400F then add 4 churros at a time. Fry for a few minutes on each side until golden. It is always important not to overcrowd the pan when deep frying. Allow draining on kitchen paper before tossing in cinnamon sugar.
Craving More?
Check out my less than 20-minute baked donuts and my easy microwave fudge recipes.
Air Fryer Churro Bites (Naturally Vegan)
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Wooden Spoon
- Large Star Tip (see note)
- Small bowl
Ingredients
For the Churro Pastry
- 150 ml Water (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp White Sugar
- 1 tbsp Canola Oil
- 60 grams All Purpose Flour (1/2 cup)
For the Cinnamon Sugar
- 100 grams White Sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
Instructions
Prep
- I highly recommend gathering all of your ingredients and equipment before starting the process. The churro dough comes together very quickly.
To Make the Churro Bites
- Add 150 ml (1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp) water, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp neutral oil to a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat and stir with a wooden spoon to ensure that the sugar and salt dissolve.
- Remove from the heat and stir in 60 grams (1/2 cup) of All Purpose Flour. Keep stirring until the flour is fully incorporated. It will clump together into a smooth ball. Allow cooling for 10 minutes.
- Add a closed star piping tip (nozzle) to a thick piping bag. I used a 2D piping tip. Place the churro dough into the piping bag and twist the end to secure. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Pipe 2 inch churro bites onto the paper. Use scissors to trim the dough.
Frying the Churro Bites
- Set your air fryer to 360F and preheat for 2 minutes.
- Add half of the churro bites to the tray and spray with cooking oil. Make sure that there is room between the bites for the air to circulate.
- Fry for 10 minutes, turning over at the 5 minute mark. Don't skip turning them over as you want to ensure that they are frying evenly. Give them a shuffle around and then continue to fry for another 5 minutes. The churro bites will be golden and crispy on the outside and slightly soft on the inside.
To Make the Cinnamon Sugar
- While the first batch is finishing, make the cinnamon sugar. In a bowl, mix together 100 grams (1/2 cup) of white sugar and 1 tsp of ground cinnamon. Stir together. Once the first batch of churro bites is ready, immediately toss them in the cinnamon sugar then set them aside. You don't need to coat them in additional oil.
- Add the remaining bites to the air fryer and repeat as per the first batch.
- Serve warm with my 3 ingredient caramel sauce.
Video
Notes
- This recipe makes a small batch of approximately 18-20 churro bites. You can easily scale up the recipe as required.
- To make regular-sized churros, pipe longer shapes (4 inches) when you are making them. You will need to fry them in smaller batches.
- If you can resist eating them all in one go (we can’t!), you can store the churros in an airtight container on the counter for 1-2 days. I do not recommend refrigerating them as they will go soggy over time. And besides, they are best enjoyed fresh from the fryer.
- There is no need to chill this recipe. I experimented with a few batches where I chilled some of the churro bites for different lengths of time before frying them. It made no difference to the outcome so you can definitely skip chilling them.
- If you prefer to bake or deep fry these churro bites, check out the full recipe post for my recommendations.
- Nutrition information is provided as a guide only and is based on the actual ingredients that I used to create this recipe.
Tried these and they were amazing! So yummy and easy to make.
So happy I found your recipe. We made these for our NY Eve party and everyone loved them.
Churros are one of my favourite things to make, but I’ve never tried them in an air fryer before! Can’t wait to make this recipe for the family.
They’re so much easier to make in the air fryer. I hope you’ll all enjoy them.
I was surprised by how easy they were to make and how perfectly they turned out. The texture is just right, and the cinnamon sugar is the perfect finishing touch.
Happy to hear that Gianne.
Sweet, delicious and so easy to make too! I’ll be making these for a Cinco de Mayo treat, thank you!
We’ll be making them for Cinco de Mayo as well! Hope you enjoy them.
These churros were delish! Loved them.
Happy to hear that Paula. We love them too!
This saves so much time!
I agree Fay, and less washing up as well.
These air fryer churro bites look so delicious. Thanks for sharing.
They’re so good. Thanks Kushi.