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These pumpkin churros are crunchy on the outside and light and airy on the inside; adapted from my classic Churro recipe, these pumpkin churros are SO good during the fall months. They’re tossed with sugar and homemade pumpkin pie spice mix. Serve these with a bowl of warm pumpkin chili, cranberry margaritas and a fall harvest salad for a cozy dinner.
I love Mexican food (maybe more than any other cuisine). I love everything from Conchas, Tres Leches Cake, Ground Beef Tacos, Flan and more! All are divine.
These churros are inspired by Mexican-style Churros. They’re light and airy on the inside and crispy and crunchy on the outside. SO GOOD! Of course, we had to get all fall with it and put pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice in them. Let’s get into it!
Ingredients You’ll Need for these Pumpkin Churros
How to Make Pumpkin Churros
- In a saucepan, you’re going to combine water and butter. You’re going to cook this until the butter melts. Then, add pumpkin and salt and mix it all up.
- When it’s combined, pour in the flour and stir it until it forms a ball and releases from the side of the pan. Itโll be sticky–not to worry.
- Immediately transfer to a bowl or the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment. (You can also do this in a large bowl and using a strong spatula–it’ll just take some muscle power.)
- Give it a mix just to release some of the steam. Allow to stand to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Add one egg at a time, waiting until it becomes completely cohesive, before adding the next one. Add the additional eggs. And then transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a star tip.
- Bring a quart of oil to 350 degrees F. When the oil hits 350F, bring down the heat to medium-low. This will help keep the temperature steady.
- In a shallow dish, mix together the sugar with the store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice.
- Pipe the churros into the hot oil, snipping the end with a pair of scissors.
- Cook on the first side for about 1 minute and then flip it and cook for an additional minute.
- Transfer to a bed of paper towels to drain. Then immediately transfer to the sugar mixture, being sure itโs evenly coated. Repeat with the remaining churro batter.
Tips and Tricks
- I like a drier pumpkin puree for this. If your pumpkin puree is super wet, blot it dry using paper towels. I know this sounds weird but it shouldn’t have any residual water releasing from it.
- I like to use piping bags and a large star tip. This is not required, but I find it neater.
- Find a helper. When you pipe them into the hot oil, it helps to have another person on hand to help with doing the scissor part.
Recipe FAQs
You really want to get your oil up to 350F before you add the churro batter. This temperature is the perfect temp for getting crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside churros.
More Cozy Fall Recipes
Dinner
Pumpkin Chili
Salads
Fall Harvest Salad
Desserts
Easy Apple Cobbler
Chocolate
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Pumpkin Churros
Ingredients
Pumpkin Churros:
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 quart oil for frying, (peanut or vegetable oil)
Pumpkin Sugar Mixture:
- 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, homemade or store-bought
- Pinch kosher salt
Instructions
To Make the Pumpkin Churros:
- In a medium saucepan, set over medium heat, add the water and butter. When the butter is melted, mix in the pumpkin and salt.
- When completely combined, add in the flour and mix until it begins to form a ball and pulls away from the pan. Stir until itโs completely cohesiveโitโll be sticky, not to worry. This should take about 30 seconds. Immediately transfer to a bowl or the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment. (You could also do this in a large bowl using a strong spatula or wooden spoon.)
- Give it a mix just to release some of the steam. Allow to stand to cool for about 10 minutes. Add one egg at a time, along with the vanilla, mixing the dough each time before adding the following egg.
- Mix until very smooth. Transfer to a piping bag with a star-tip attached.
- In a shallow bowl, combine the sugar and pumpkin pie spice and pinch of salt. This is for the pumpkin churros when they come out of the oil.
To Fry up the Churros:
- Bring a quart of oil to 350 degrees F. When the oil hits 350F, bring down the heat to medium-low. This will help keep the temperature steady. Pipe the churros into the hot oil, using a pair of clean kitchen scissors to snip off the end of the churro.
- Cook on the first side for about 1 minute and then flip it and cook for an additional minute. Transfer to a bed of paper towels to drain. Then immediately transfer to the sugar mixture, being sure itโs evenly coated. Repeat with the remaining churro batter.
Notes
- I like a drier pumpkin puree for this. If your pumpkin puree is super wet, blot it dry using paper towels. I know this sounds weird but it shouldn’t have any residual water releasing from it.
- I like to use piping bags and a large star tip. This is not required, but I find it neater.
- Find a helper. When you pipe them into the hot oil, it helps to have another person on hand to help with doing the scissor part.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I double the recipe and mine was a bit too liquid so i just corrected by adding more flour.
Delicious. Everybody loved them
These were amazing! My entire family loved them -and that’s saying something!
The first time I had a churro was at SeaWorld and a seagull stole it right out of my hands! It swooped down, used my head as a momentary perch, and stole the churro right out of my hand as a was about to take a bite.
Wow this is a depressing story! Moral of the story: Don’t go to SeaWorld. They’re very problematic and abuse animals. ๐
hi lovely recipes could however give metrics for them too kinda more modern and much easier for us dummy Europeans thanks in advance
advice some sites do give choice to switch cups etc or metric just a lil bit o’ adjustment for your technician
warmly
franรงois
Wonder if you could make a lower carb version? Would love to know if anyone has tried doing this with Almond or coconut flour.
Hi, I’m sorry I’m not sure. I wouldn’t advise subbing in either of those flours because they have different hydration levels. I would google gluten-free churros to see what you find! ๐