Gingerbread Spice Churros

I adore Churros, they're a bit naughty but it's a nice treat every once in a while. I have tested a fair few recipes over the years and the one I keep coming back to is by Thomasina Myers from her 'Mexican Food Made Simple' cook book. I then add my own sugar flavours and dipping sauces. If you don't want to go for a Gingerbread Spiced sugar just use 1 tablespoon of cinnamon to about 100g of sugar.

SERVES:
makes 16 sticks

Ingredients
Instructions

Ingredients

Churros

125g plain flour

125g self-raising flour

A good pinch of salt

2 tbsp. groundnut or sunflower oil

1 litre of ground nut or sunflower oil for frying.

For the chocolate sauce

100g dark chocolate

3 tbsp. maple syrup

200ml oat cream or soy cream

A large pinch of salt

Gingerbread Spice Sugar

100g caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cloves

Instructions

Mix the Sugar and spices together and set aside.
Add all the ingredients for chocolate sauce to a small pan and heat gentle till melted, do not over heat. Set aside and re heat just before serving.
Sift the flours into a bowl and combine with the salt and make a well in the centre.
In a separate bowl add the 2 tbsp. of oil plus 450ml of boiling water.
Pour the water into the well and beat continuously until combined and lump free. The dough should be slightly soft and sticky to touch. Set aside to rest for 10minutes.
Fill a large pan with the oil, it should be about 1/3 full. Heat to 170°C or until a small piece of bread browns in 30 seconds.
Add the dough to a piping bag with a star nozzle and squeeze the dough directly into the hot oil, cutting them with a pair of scissors to the length you want. Cook no more than 3 at a time, otherwise they will all stick together.
Fry for about 3-4 minutes until golden and crispy. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towel, before dusting with the sugar.
Place on serving plates with little pots of hot chocolate sauce, or serve in big bowls for sharing.
Add a little sprinkle of salt to the top of the chocolate pots if you like.