Apple Cinnamon Churros with Salted Caramel | Bake Off Bake Along

Well this week of Bake Off was tense. I've never felt so protective over a Yorkshire pudding and never cringed so much during a challenge. How can so many people get Yorkshire puddings so wrong?

Also lace pancakes, why? Where's the rest of the pancake? You can't coat that lace in Nutella.

But ah that showstopper of churros. You just can't go wrong. I remember so fondly of the first time I had tried churros on a family holiday to Spain. We had sat down to an entire plate (to share) of the delicious cinnamon sugar covered doughnut treats and we were hooked. They were gone in minutes.

When churros came up this week, I knew I would be attempting that showstopper. But deciding on a flavour for churros that isn't the classic cinnamon sugar is bloody hard. You just can't beat that classic combo.

But I've tried to with these apple cinnamon churros and a salted caramel dip, and they pretty much taste like Christmas. (Which is less than 100 days away, just so you know...)

Although I may have eaten my fair share of churros through the years, I've never actually tried to make them. But I can safely say that they are way easier than you could possibly think.

For these apple cinnamon churros, the magical Christmas flavour lies in the caramlised Granny Smith apples. Diced up small and left to roast in the oven, they create a subtle but sweet and spicy flavour that made these churros even more addictive. Sorry waistline.

 Next time, I've got plans to make them bigger, possibly like a churro taco that I've seen floating around Pinterest. Because a churro filled with ice cream? Well, that sounds like a dreamboat right there.

Hopefully by making them bigger, that will also reduce the amount made... because I've got quite a healthy stack of churros right now. Churro party anyone?

Apple Cinnamon Churros with Salted Caramel

Adapted from Betty Crocker
Makes: 15-20 churros

Ingredients:

Roasted Apple filling:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
3 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice

Churro dough:
1/2 cup (114g) unsalted butter
1 cup (235ml)  water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (130g) plain flour
3 medium eggs
1 egg yolk

Coating:
3/4 cup (150g) caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Sunflower oil for frying (I used about 1 and half litre - how much you need depends on the size of your saucepan)
Homemade Salted Caramel (I used Sally's Baking Addiction recipe)

Directions: 

1. For the roasted apples, pre-heat your oven to gas mark 6/400F. Take your diced apples and coat them in the sugar and spices. When combined, spread in an oven proof dish. Pop in the oven to roast for 25 minutes or until golden brown and soft. Remove to cool once caramelised. 
2. Start the dough by using a deep saucepan and heat your butter, water and salt in the pan. Once butter has melted, add all of the flour immediately and stir to combine. Get your muscles working by stirring and beating the mixture until combined and the dough doesn't stick the sides of the pan. Once the dough forms a ball, remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl to cool for a few minutes. 
3. Crack your eggs into a separate bowl and once dough has cooled slightly (but is still warm), beat in the eggs, one by one. After the eggs are combined, fold in the cooled caramelised apples. 
4. Heat your oil in a deep pan. I used sunflower oil and filled my pan up about 4 inches. Use a cooking thermometer and heat the oil until it sits around the 350F/180C mark. 
5. While the oil is heating up, prepare your cinnamon sugar coating in a separate dish and lay out some kitchen paper towels to dry off churros before coating in sugar. 
6. Fit a large star nozzle in a piping bag and fill with the churro dough. Pipe 2-3 inch ropes of dough straight into the oil, using scissors to make a straight cut. Fry for up to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil to paper towels to dry off the oil, before coating in cinnamon sugar. Serve warm with a side of salted caramel.

Have you tried making churros? What did you bake for this weeks #BakeOffBakeAlong?