Faux Churros with Mexican Chocolate Sauce

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may have seen the (not very pretty) Iphone photo I posted of 2 wannabe churros the other night. I tried folding tortillas in two different ways to make faux churros, and asked people to vote for the best imitation. From an overhead angle, the overwhelming loser apparently looked a lot like a sugared potato wedge. While I love making creative desserts, I promise I’d never make a sugared potato wedge!

But let me back up a little, and tell you more about the story of these faux churros. Mission Foods sent me some of their new Super Soft Tortillas to try out and create a recipe for a contest they’re hosting. I can’t pass up a tortilla, especially that one that claims to be “super soft.” One of my pet peeves is tortillas that rip and tear as you’re trying to fold and bend them. Not these though – as Mission said, “bend it, fold it, try it,” and they’re not kidding. I froze mine to keep them fresh until I wanted to use them, and I pulled one right out of the freezer and was actually able to fold it without it breaking!

With such a flexible canvas, I didn’t want to make something that didn’t involve some major folding. I kept thinking of delicious sweet things involving tortillas, like dessert quesadillas or cinnamon sugar chips, but nothing seemed right. Then cinnamon sugar made me think of churros…and why not a faux churro?! Imitating the ridges of a churro involves lots of folding, taking full advantage of the flexibility of the super soft tortillas.

By themselves, the faux churros are delicious and not a bad imitation – they’re full of cinnamon sugar, a bit crunchy on the outside, and nice and soft on the inside. They’re not quite as crisp as a real deep fried churro of course, but they satisfied my churro craving. They’re pretty simple to make too, which is always a bonus. But of course, I couldn’t just stop with the churros. I made a thick Mexican chocolate sauce for dipping. The cinnamon and just a hint of spice in the chocolate sauce adds the perfect compliment to the cinnamon sugar churros and puts this decadent, easy dessert just over the top.

 

Here’s how to make a faux churro out of a tortilla:

1. You’ll need: soft tortillas, canola oil (or melted butter), cinnamon sugar, and toothpicks.

2. Spread a little canola oil all over the tortilla.

3. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar generously all over the tortilla. Flip it over and repeat steps 2 and 3.

4. Optional: slice off the rounded edges so you have a rectangle (this just makes the final product a little prettier).

5. Accordion fold the tortilla.

6. Use toothpicks to hold the accordion fold tightly together. Sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top and bake at 375°F for around 15 minutes, until the edges are firm.

Disclaimer: Mission Foods provided me with tortillas to sample and this post is part of a contest. Opinions, as always, are my own.