In a small bowl, whisk together the ½ cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Pour into a medium baking dish and set aside.
½ cup granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Prepare the batter by adding water, granulated sugar, salt, and butter into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil of medium-high heat.
1 cup water, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 5 Tablespoons salted butter
Once boiling, turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Then stir in the flour using a wooden spoon for 1 minute until the dough is thick and smooth.
1 cup all-purpose flour
Transfer the batter to a large bowl and allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes.
While the batter is cooling, pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed pot to use for deep frying. You want the oil to be about 2 inches deep. I highly recommend starting your oil on medium heat and using a candy thermometer to check the temperature to make sure it heats to around 350 - 360°F. This is important because if the oil gets too hot, you will quickly fry the outside of the churro but the inside will not cook fully and you will end up with a burnt outside and gooey, undercooked middle.
4-6 cups vegetable oil
Place a paper towel on a plate next to the pot for draining the churros later.
Once the batter has cooled some, use a hand mixer to beat the egg into the batter until fully incorporated. Begin beating as soon as you put the egg in to prevent it from cooking.
1 large egg
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a large star or flower tip. You need to have a sturdy piping bag for this. I don’t recommend using a plastic baggie or thin disposable piping bags. The batter is almost the consistency of play-doh, it's very thick so it will easily bust a thin piping bag when trying to push the batter through the piping tip. A reusable, silicone piping bag is really best, promise, I learned the hard way.)
Pipe churros into 4 to 5-inch long ropes, directly into the hot oil, using kitchen shears to cut the batter from the piping tip.
Fry a few churros at a time but do not crowd them. It should take about 5 minutes to fully cook them but they float to the top of the oil once you pipe them in so turn them at 2.5 minutes to allow both sides to become golden brown.
As you remove each churro from the oil, roll it quickly on the paper towel. Then place it in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, toss to coat, and place it on a cooling rack.
Best when warm, so serve right away! They are delicious plain but it never hurts to dip them in chocolate or caramel sauce!
Caramel sauce, Chocolate sauce