pumpkin churros with chocolate coffee sauce

So. This is the post where I confess my huge obsession love for food television aka cooking shows. It’s what feeds my cooking inspiration.

While I do love TV in general, I couldn’t give two cinnamon sticks about Keeping up with the Kardashians or whoever this JWow person is. Seriously, does that person (girl?) even have a real name? Don’t even bother answering, because I’ll just forget.

While I realize everyone has their vices, and junky reality shows are many people’s drug of choice, I just never got hooked. And I’m okay with that.I would much rather watch a beautiful breakfast hash being cooked or watch a show about how sea salt is harvested (seriously fascinating stuff, people).

Perhaps this is just me, but again, I’m okay with that, too.

Now, I do have my favorite shows and there are some that I frankly just can’t watch (Nadia G, anyone?) But get me started on the most recent episode of Top Chef or Barefoot Contessa? You might need to pull up a chair and get comfortable. I’ll talk your ear off.

And this leads us to these awesome Pumpkin Churros with Chocolate Coffee Sauce. My husband and I saw this recipe on an episode of Brunch at Bobby’s and just had to give it a go. I took advantage of the fact that my brother-in-law, Pete, was coming over with his deep fryer to cook up some delish onion straws, and quickly whipped up a batch of these spicy and sweet Pumpkin Churros, as well.  I mean, if we were heating up the oil, we might as well fry up some churros, right?

It may have very well been the chocolate coffee sauce that drew me into the recipe, but I love me some pumpkin with chocolate, so really, the entire recipe was genius. They’re sweet, crispy, slightly spiced with an earthy pumpkin essence that plays beautifully off the sweet chocolate sauce. Perfect for a Brunch. Or Lunch. Or Snack. Whatever floats your boat.

 

For those of you that love The Pioneer Woman, Barefoot Contessa, Top Chef, or Worst Cooks in America, you may be interested in checking out my wacky reviews over on Food Fanatic where I chit chat about what they made and how badly they messed stuff up. You know, the usual.

Oh, I’m also excited to mention that I even got to interview Alina (the winner of Worst Cooks in America) about her time on the show! She dished about Bobby, gelato and what almost sent her home. Crazy, fun times.

Happy Monday and enjoy the Churros!!

Pumpkin Churros with Chocolate Coffee Sauce
Serves 6-8
slightly adapted from Bobby Flay

Ingredients:

For the Chocolate Coffee Sauce:
1 cup of heavy cream
1 cup of dark chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons of coffee liquor (I used Kahlua)
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the Pumpkin Churros
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, divided
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 1/2 cups of water
3/4 cup of canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
10 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
vegetable or canola oil for frying
3/4 cup of sugar, for rolling

Directions:

For the sauce: In a small sauce pan, bring the cream up to warm, allowing only small bubbles to form. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips, whisking until all the chocolate is melted. Add coffee liquor and vanilla and whisk briefly to combine. Cover the sauce to keep it warm and set aside.

For the churros:  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan bring water, pumpkin, butter and vanilla to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. When butter is melted and all of the ingredients are blended, pour pumpkin mixture into flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. This will be a stiff batter. Add the eggs, one at a time, until they are combined into the batter. The batter will be smooth and slightly shiny. Transfer the batter into a piping bag fit with a large star tip.

In a shallow dish, stir together sugar and remaining cinnamon. This will be used to coat the churros after frying.

Prepare your fryer: You can fry your churros in a deep fryer (follow manufacturers instructions on how to prepare and heat the oil) or on the stove top. If using the stove top method, follow these directions:

In a large sauce pan with high sides, heat 2 inches of canola oil until it reaches 350 degrees on a fryer or candy thermometer.

When oil is ready, pipe 3 inch long pieces of batter directly into the hot oil. You can use a knife or kitchen scissors to help cut the dough, if needed. Fry until golden and crispy, about 5-6 minutes. Use a large metal slotted spoon or spider to remove the churros from the oil. Drain them briefly on a paper towel lined baking sheet and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve churros immediately with dipping sauce.

Eat and repeat!

Note: Churros are best eaten immediately and tend to get soggy if stored for any length of time. If this recipe makes too many churros for your needs, feel free to halve the recipe.