Gluten-Free Vegan Churros (Baked!)

These Gluten-Free Vegan Churros are crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside, and coated with fragrant cinnamon sugar. They're also refined sugar free and baked not fried - much healthier than the traditional version, and quicker and easier to make too! Perfect for dessert or breakfast.

How to make this recipe

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

• Mix together all the ingredients for the batter in a glass mixing bowl.

Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk - I recommend adding the milk a small amount at a time until you get a batter that is soft but still firm enough to pipe into shapes. If you make the batter too wet, you won’t be able to pipe it into shapes.

• However, if the batter does look too wet, place it in the fridge for an hour and it will firm up. If it looks too dry, add an extra splash of plant-based milk.

• Transfer the batter into a piping bag with a closed star tip.

• Pipe the batter into churros measuring around 9cm (3 ½ inch) in length onto two rectangular baking trays.

Tip: Line the baking tray with greased baking paper to make sure the churros don't stick.

• Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown - be careful not to over-bake!

• Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar.

• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the churros as soon as they are out of the oven - otherwise it won't stick to the churros.

• They will still be very soft when they come out the oven, but will firm up as they cool down.

How to make the chocolate sauce

• Break up dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl with any type of plant-based milk.
• Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water and stir regularly until melted.
• Make sure not to overheat it as the chocolate will ‘split’ if you heat it too much.
• If the chocolate does split, you can easily fix this by adding boiling hot water to it 1 teaspoon at a time and stirring well until the mixture goes back to normal.
• Use more milk if you want a thinner sauce, or use less milk for a thicker sauce. 

Substitutions you can make

• You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
• You can replace the coconut oil with coconut butter.
• If you don't need the churros to be gluten-free, you can replace the gluten-free flour with plain flour. 
• The ground almonds can be replaced with ground walnuts.
• For a nut-free version, use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds and use a nut-free plant-based milk.
• You can replace the coconut sugar in the churros with any liquid sweetener such as maple syrup and decrease the amount of milk, although you won't get a golden brown colour.
• If necessary, use a refined sugar free chocolate for the chocolate sauce.

More vegan baking recipes

• Lemon Blueberry Scones
• Chocolate Baked Donuts
• Lemon Bars
• Blueberry Crumble Bars
• Lemon Pudding
• Coffee Cake
• Vegan Baked Cheesecake

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Watch how to make this recipe

Gluten-Free Vegan Churros (Baked!)

These Gluten-Free Vegan Churros are crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside, and coated with fragrant cinnamon sugar. They're also refined sugar free and baked not fried - much healthier than the traditional version!

4.56 from 18 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: Spanish

Keyword: baked churros, gluten-free churros, vegan churros

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes minutes

Servings: 31 churros

Calories: 69kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the churros:

• ▢ 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub coconut butter)
• ▢ 50 g (⅓ cup) coconut sugar
• ▢ Pinch salt
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub rice flour, or plain flour if not gluten-free)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ 160 ml (⅔ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)

For the cinnamon sugar:

• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 3 tablespoons coconut sugar

For the chocolate sauce (optional):

• ▢ 40 g (1.4 oz) dark chocolate (ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary) **
• ▢ 6 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)

Instructions

For the churros:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
• Add the coconut sugar, salt, ground almonds, gluten-free flour and baking powder.
• Add the milk and mix well - I recommend adding the milk a small amount at a time until you get a batter that is soft, but still firm enough to pipe into shapes. If you make the batter too wet, you won’t be able to pipe it into shapes. But if the batter does look too wet to pipe, place it in the fridge for an hour and it will firm up. If it looks too dry, add an extra splash of milk.
• Transfer into a piping bag with a closed star tip - I used one that's 2.5cm (1 inch) wide.
• Pipe the batter into churros measuring around 9 cm (3 ½ inch) in length onto baking trays lined with greased baking paper.
• Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean – be careful not to over-bake!
• Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the churros as soon as they are out of the oven - otherwise it won't stick to the churros.
• They will still be very soft when they come out the oven, but will firm up as they cool down.
• Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days - can be reheated in a dry frying pan or in the oven.

For the chocolate sauce:

• Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl with the milk.
• Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water and stir regularly until melted – make sure not to overheat it as the chocolate will ‘split’ if you heat it too much.
• If the chocolate does split, you can easily fix this by adding boiling hot water to it 1 teaspoon at a time and stirring well until the mixture goes back to normal.
• The chocolate sauce keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days. It will firm up as it cools down, but you can gently reheat leftovers over a pan of boiling water to make it liquid again.

Video

Notes

*You can alternatively use almond flour.

**Use a refined sugar free chocolate if necessary.

• A closed star piping tip is needed for your piping bag when making churros. This is because the star shape creates the characteristic ridges along the length of the churros.
• It would be difficult to form the batter into long, thin shapes without using a piping bag. You can easily make your own piping bag, although you won't be able to get the ridges without using a star-shaped piping tip.
• You can make your own piping bag by using a large, strong Ziploc bag and using scissors to snip off one of the corners. Just transfer the batter into the bag, and you can pipe it out of the hole you created in the corner of the bag. 
• You can replace the coconut sugar in the churros with any liquid sweetener such as maple syrup and decrease the amount of milk, although you won't get a golden brown colour. 
• For the chocolate sauce, use more milk if you want a thinner sauce, or use less milk for a thicker sauce. 

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Churros (Baked!)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 69 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 2g10%

Sodium 12mg1%

Potassium 26mg1%

Carbohydrates 7g2%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 1g2%

Calcium 31mg3%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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