The Domestic Rebel

Everyday Ingredients, Extraordinary Desserts

Churro Donuts [Made with Zulka Sugar!]

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churro donuts

OH MAH GOSH, GUYS.

You know when you find something TOTALLY AWESOME OMFG but you could (I guessssss) probably live without it and on one hand, you want to scream on the top of a mountain about your love for said thing, and convert everyone you know, but on the other hand, you want to warn people that this thing is SO AMAZINGLY OUTRAGEOUS that they’ll become addicted or it’d almost be better if you didn’t know it existed?

Okay, I’ll quit beating around the bush. I’m talking about Pretty Little Liars.

Or Midori cocktails.

Or the Humboldt Bay Eagle Cam.

Or Forever 21…and everything in their store, but especially this even though I’d be arrested for indecent exposure for wearing it in public, at least I’ll be arrested stylishly.

Or these Churro Donuts. Seriously– they’re one of my favorite things I’ve made thus far and dude, I have made a LOT of stuff. I didn’t think it was possible to recreate the perfectly tender, crispity crunch and cinnamony goodness of a churro, but I DID. In donut form. Which automatically means I win like, eleventy thousand cool points.

YAY FOR BEING COOL AND INNOVATIVE!!

These donuts taste just like churros and are made with regular, every day ingredients — nothing out of the ordinary here. Your usual suspects are included: flour, eggs, butter, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon.. and sugar. However, this isn’t your average white table sugar .. this is made with Zulka Sugar and believe me, there’s a difference!

Zulka Sugar is a REAL, unrefined granulated “Morena” sugar that comes from freshly-harvested pure sugar cane for a better-tasting, less processed cup-for-cup substitute for white granulated sugar. The term “Morena” is used to describe sugars that do not go through conventional refining processes that remove the depth of flavor and complexity that pure cane sugar has after being pressed. Zulka Pure Cane Sugar preserves the natural properties of the sugar cane plant ensuring it has superior flavor for all your cooking, baking, or serving needs! For being pure, unrefined cane sugar, Zulka offers full-bodied, aromatic sweetness and a complex depth of flavor and aroma in one pretty package.

churro donutsSince Zulka can be substituted in place of regular sugar cup for cup, I used Zulka for these Churro Donuts. If this sugar claimed to be so good, it would truly stand out in a recipe known for tasting sugary! So I put them to the test … and subsequently, fell in LOOOOOOVEEEEE.

Hopefully you will too! But don’t say I didn’t warn you 🙂

churro donutsChurro Donuts *base recipe adapted slightly from Good Housekeeping’s Basic Muffins recipe in their Test Kitchen Cookbook

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Churro Donuts [Made with Zulka Sugar!]
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 24
 
One of my FAVORITE recipes EVER. These puffy little donuts are soft yet crispy, just like Churros.
Ingredients
  • 2 & ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup Zulka Pure Cane Sugar, divided
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tsp cinnamon, divided
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted & divided
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Liberally grease a 24-cavity mini muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ (HALF) cup of Zulka sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg + 1 (ONE) teaspoon of cinnamon to blend. In a medium bowl, combine 1 (ONE) stick of melted butter with the buttermilk, egg and vanilla; whisk together with a fork.
  3. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until batter forms; batter will be lumpy. Drop heaping Tablespoonfuls of dough into each mini muffin cavity. Bake for approx. 10 minutes or until muffin tops are puffed and lightly golden, and until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool the donuts in the tin for about 10 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, place the remaining melted butter in a small bowl, and in a separate bowl, blend together the remaining 1 tsp cinnamon and ½ cup Zulka sugar to combine. Dip each donut into the butter to coat, then transfer to the cinnamon sugar mixture to completely coat. Place the sugared donuts onto a wire rack to set, about 10 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature and store airtight, at room temperature, for several days.
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churro donutsI have to say — I’m converted to Zulka! Unlike regular sugar, it’s very aromatic and adds that extra sweetness and je ne sais quoi to your baked goods, making them taste richer than had they been made with table sugar. And when I eat Churros, one of the things I look forward to is that crunch from the sugar-coated dough. THESE have that irresistible crunch I was after. The sugar stayed coarse enough that you could taste it embedded throughout the pillowy soft donut stuffed with delicious vanilla beans and plenty of spicy cinnamon. These are SO delish & will be perfect for Cinco de Mayo!

churro donutsHave a Delicious Day!

xo, Hayley

Zulka Sugar provided me with a free sample of their Pure Cane Sugar to review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. I was not compensated for this post. 

 

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Comments

    • I definitely do not recommend reading before eating 🙂 I do it every time and end up starving and depressed because I can’t eat my food blogger friends’ food. Haha. Thanks Angela!

      Reply

  6. I’ve never tried this sugar, but I’m all things that add that little special touch to your baked goods! Like butter/vanilla flavoring – one of my favorite flavor booster!

    I wish I had these this morning, as my breakfast is probably going to consist of gummy vitamins (because I’m 5) and toast 🙂

    Reply

  7. You need to will your brain to a test kitchen, for baking science! Oh my god, these are beautiful, and I cannot wait to try! Anxious to try this sugar for baking,as I never heard of it! Thanks for all of your outta the box, experiments! You are rockin the yummiest!

    Reply

  11. These look unreal.. Eleventy million points to you! I also have a forever 21 obsession even though there’s only 2 in the UK I am very much in love! And midori cocktails! hehe

    Reply

  12. I’ve never heard of Zulka sugar, but I’m going to have to give it a try! I’m always trying to eliminate processed foods. And this is still sugar. Win win! And these churros…let’s just say I plan on making (and devouring) many of these this coming weekend. Cinco de Mayo celebrations aren’t complete without these. 🙂

    Reply

    • I would have brought some over, buuuuuuut my family ate them all–for once! They don’t even bat an eye to my baked goods anymore, but when they saw these they flipped and went into Hoover mode.

      Reply

  22. Zulka is wonderful – I just found a place in Canada that sells it, so happy. Most bulk food places will sell natural cane sugar, which is essentially the same. It’s easy to find in the US, but not so much in Canada, and I imagine difficult in the UK as well. This recipe sounds amazing, so going to give it a try!

    Reply

  23. Hi can I make this in advance and freeze them? Do I dip it in cinnamon sugar first or just the cakes? Or can I keep the cake batter in the fridge..? Thanks! Your photos are lovely and hunger-inducing 😛

    Reply

    • Hi Chrissie! I’ve never frozen them before but I can’t imagine why you couldn’t! I would make them ahead of time as is — however, if you don’t wanna lose the cinnamon sugar crunch, you can always freeze the cooked plain donut holes, thaw them, and then coat in melted butter and the cinnamon sugar 🙂 And I would recommend using the batter right away 🙂 thanks for writing in!

      Reply

  24. I made these this morning, and OMG!, they are delicious. Very easy to do and definitely not time consuming. My picky two year old ate three! I love churros and these satisfied my need for them. Awesome recipe. Thank you!

    Reply

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