Breakfast just got a whole lot more interesting with my fluffy cinnamon churro muffins ready to dunk into a thick and glossy hot chocolate sauce. Mmmmmm!
Churros are golden, crispy-edged Spanish pastries dusted with cinnamon sugar, best enjoyed dunked in a thick hot chocolate sauce. These crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside pastries have been making people happy since at least the 16th century and let me tell you, there’s nothing quite like biting into a freshly fried churro. My cinnamon churro muffins are just the latest way to enjoy this epic experience without the deep fryer (or the trip to Spain!)
related recipes:
- Pumpkin Churro Doughnuts with Warm Chocolate Sauce!
- Chocolate Dipped Churro Shortbread Cookies
- Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins
- Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins
cinnamon churro muffin ingredient highlights
Churros are simply fried dough dipped in melted butter and coated with cinnamon sugar. My fluffy muffins are a delicious alternative to all that deep frying, and simple to make. They’re based on an old Betty Crocker recipe from the 1960s called French Breakfast Puffs, aka Cinnamon muffins, Snickerdoodle muffins or doughnut muffins. Simple and homey…until you dip them in that decadent chocolate!
FLOUR
- White Lily Baking Flour vs AP Flour ~ White Lily flour, milled from soft red winter wheat, has a lower protein content (around 9%) compared to standard all-purpose flours (typically 10-12%.) I think it makes a lighter, fluffier churro muffin. No worries if you only have AP flour, it’s absolutely fine to use.
BUTTERMILK
- Buttermilk vs milk in baking ~ buttermilk’s acidity reacts with leavening agents like baking soda, producing carbon dioxide bubbles that help batters rise, resulting in lighter, fluffier textures. So using buttermilk in muffins can actually make them lighter and more tender compared to using regular milk.
- Surprise bonus ~ buttermilk also adds flavor to baked goods.
- Use whole milk, sour cream, or yogurt if you don’t have buttermilk.
NUTMEG + CINNAMON
- A little nutmeg in the churro muffin batter gives them that je ne sais quois. I always grate it fresh. The cinnamon becomes cinnamon sugar for the all important coating on the muffins.
CHOCOLATE
- I use a rich dark chocolate. You can use bar chocolate, chips, or melting wafers. Good chocolate makes a good sauce. My latest discovery is Ghirardelli Melting Wafers, my regular grocery store carries them. I love them because they are very easy to melt, and the flavor is good.
that thick glossy hot chocolate sauce!
I can’t lie, the hot chocolate sauce is the star of the show, and so easy to make. I heat half and half or cream with a little cornstarch in a small saucepan until it’s just starting to steam, then add the chocolate and cook until thick and glossy. It’s like drinking chocolate meets ganache meets chocolate pudding. Double dipping your churro muffins is encouraged!
churro muffins tips
If you want to make your chocolate sauce ahead of time, omit the cornstarch and add it in when you reheat the sauce on the stove.
Leftover muffins can be warmed for about 15-20 seconds in the microwave.
…and variations
💡 You can make mini churro muffins ~ plan to check them at 10 minutes and go from there.
💡Go gluten free with a gluten free baking mix instead of AP or While Lily flour.
💡Use aromatic cardamom instead of cinnamon for a sophisticated variation.
💡Use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate for your dipping sauce.
💡Churros are sometimes dipped in dulce de leche, so I suggest my Hot Dulce de Leche as an alternative to chocolate for your churro muffins. Also try my Drinkable Nutella!
💡For added decadence use heavy cream for the sauce ~ you’ll essentially be making a ganache. If you like you can leave out the cornstarch.
💡 Healthier swaps: Sub mild olive oil for the melted butter in the muffins and you can use whole milk or evaporated milk for the sauce.
the bottom line
What? You’ve never dunked a muffin in chocolate sauce before? Maybe you’ve never even enjoyed a churro? I’m sorry about that, you’ve missed out. But there’s still time, just whip up these churro muffins, it takes just a few minutes, and you can make the easy chocolate sauce while they bake.
The soft cinnamon muffins are fabulous and definitely good enough to serve on their own, so keep that in mind.
Cinnamon Churro Muffins with Hot Chocolate Sauce
Equipment
- 12 cup muffin pan
Ingredients
dry ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, I use White Lily baking flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
wet ingredients
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, warmed slightly so it's not cold. You can also used regular milk.
cinnamon sugar coating
- 4 Tbsp butter, melted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
chocolate sauce
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup dark chocolate, chopped, or dark chocolate chips or melting wafers
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and butter or spray your muffin pan.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients and blend just until combined, but do not over mix or beat the batter. The batter will be lumpy.
- Scoop the batter evenly into 8 muffin wells. Bake for about 20 minutes* or until the muffins are risen and firm on top. They will still be pale when done, not golden brown. Check with a toothpick if you are unsure.
- While the muffins are baking prepare your cinnamon sugar topping by stirring the cinnamon into the sugar in a small bowl.
- Melt the butter in another small bowl. It helps to have a pastry brush for brushing.
- While the muffins are still warm brush them all over with the melted butter and immediately coat them on all sides with the cinnamon sugar. You may want to do 2 coats of sugar if some of it melts into the butter a bit.
- To make the chocolate sauce heat the half and half in a small saucepan. Dissolve the cornstarch in a couple of tablespoons of half and half and stir into the pan. Heat until steaming, and then add the chocolate, stirring constantly until the chocolate is completely melted. Keep heating until the mixture turns darker and starts to thicken. When you start to see it boil, remove from heat, it has thickened completely.
- Serve the hot chocolate sauce immediately with the warm muffins for dunking.
- Leftover muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days. Reheat individual muffins for 15-20 seconds in the microwave.
Hi, Sue! This recipe intrigues me. I wonder if I were to put these items in the Deli case to sell, would the hot chocolate dipping sauce remain liquid (dippable) if I put individual amounts of it in little sealed containers on the side? Thank you!
The sauce would become almost like pudding as it cools, so I don’t think it would work. The muffins themselves might be a hit!
Sue, I opted NOT to make the chocolate dipping sauce after all, but I was compelled to substitute pure maple sugar for the white granulated sugar. Less maple sugar is needed when substituting it for cane sugar. I doubled the recipe and also substituted half the nutmeg with mace spice; They are similar. The muffins tasted awesome, and I ended up handing out twosomes of the muffins to kitchen staff instead of setting them up for sale. The muffins were quite delicious and appreciated!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
I’m wondering if you could toss the baked muffins in a big bowl with the butter, then cinnamon sugar, to coat them a little quicker?
I think that might be hard to manage, the muffins are a little delicate when warm. It really doesn’t take much time at all, it goes very quickly.
And this is why I will never be skinny!! I swear every reciped you publish makes my mouth water.. I can’t wait to try. Yum!
Haha, sorry Angie, I suggest sharing with friends!