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These soft and chewy churro cookies are rolled in cinnamon sugar and frosted with the best churro buttercream! Just like churros, these cookies are cinnamon sugar flavored. They take just 35 minutes to make and there's no dough chilling required!
I love developing fun recipes like lucky charm cookies, red velvet oreo cookies and these churro cookies! These churro cookies are soft and chewy and filled with all the cinnamon sugar. It really is like having a churro but in cookie form!
Each cookie is rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking, and then they’re topped with an optional churro cinnamon sugar buttercream.
Why You'll Love These Churro Cookies
- These frosted churro cookies are perfect for the cinnamon sugar lover in your life!
- Each cookie is loaded up with cinnamon flavor, then rolled in cinnamon sugar before being baked.
- I’ve topped these churro cookies with churro buttercream, but you can leave that off if you prefer a slightly less sweet cookie.
- It takes just 25 minutes to prepare the cookies and then 10 minutes to bake.
- There is zero chill time for this churro cookie dough!
- These cookies are a fun treat to celebrate Cinco de Mayo or to make any other time of the year!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour: I’ve tested this recipe with all purpose flour, but you can use gluten free 1-1 all purpose baking flour if you’re gluten intolerant.
- Butter: feel free to use regular butter or vegan butter if you’re dairy free.
- Milk: you can use either regular whole milk or dairy free milk.
- Cinnamon: because these are churro cookies make sure you have plenty of ground cinnamon on hand! You’ll need it for both the cookies, the sugar coating, and the churro frosting.
Step by Step Instructions
Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2: In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer, beat the butter with the granulated sugar and light brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Step 3: Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat until combined.
Step 4: Mix in the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon, mixing until just combined.
Step 5: Roll the cookie dough into 1 ½ tablespoon sized cookie dough balls.
Step 6: In a shallow bowl or in a large plate, mix the cinnamon sugar ingredients together.
Step 7: Roll each cookie dough ball in the cinnamon sugar coating until fully coated.
Step 8: Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set. They won’t be golden brown so keep that in mind!
Step 9: Make the buttercream while the cookies cool. In a large bowl, combine butter with 2 cups of powdered sugar, vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon of salt, cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix and add more powdered sugar if needed. Add milk if it doesn’t look creamy enough, starting with 1 tablespoon. Taste and adjust if needed!
Step 10: Spread or pipe the frosting onto each cooled cookie and enjoy!
FAQs and Expert Tips
Snickerdoodles usually have cream of tartar (or lemon juice, like in my snickerdoodle recipe) in them which gives them their distinctive tang! These churro cookies don’t contain any cream of tartar.
If you prefer a less sweet cookie, or you don’t have time to make the frosting, you can leave it out. I’ve tested these churro cookies without the frosting and they are still delicious!
It all depends on the brand of butter and powdered sugar that you use! You can add a bit more powdered sugar if the frosting isn't thick enough, or milk if the frosting is too thick.
Expert Tips
- I recommend weighing your flour for this recipe, because if you add too much flour then your cookie dough might be dry and crumbly! If you don’t have a weighing scale, make sure to use to scoop and level method.
- Don’t over-mix the cookie dough once you add the dry ingredients, mix until it is just combined.
- Keep an eye on these in the oven! These cookies won’t turn golden brown so you don’t want to over bake them. You want these to stay soft and chewy.
- Make these dairy free by using vegan butter and dairy free milk!
- Make sure the cookies are completely cool before you frost them.
- You can make these ahead of time by storing the unfrosted cookies in an airtight container and storing the buttercream in the fridge until ready to serve.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Keep the unfrosted cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and any leftover buttercream in the fridge. Frosted cookies can be store at cool room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To freeze, store the cookies in a freezer safe ziploc bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Let thaw at room temperature before enjoying.
More Cookie Recipes You'll Love
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Churro Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Churro Cookie Dough
- ¾ cup butter, softened (regular or dairy free)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Churro Buttercream (Optional)
- ⅔ cup butter, softened (regular or dairy free)
- 1 Tablespoon +1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2-2¼ cup powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk, as needed (regular or dairy free)
- ⅛-¼ teaspoon salt, as needed (start with smaller amount then taste and adjust as needed)
Instructions
Churro Cookie Dough
- Preheat your oven to 350°Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer, beat the butter with the granulated sugar and light brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat until combined.
- Mix in the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon, mixing until just combined.
- Roll the cookie dough into 1 ½ tablespoon sized cookie dough balls.
- In a shallow bowl or in a large plate, mix the cinnamon sugar ingredients together.
- Roll each cookie dough ball in the cinnamon sugar coating until fully coated.
- Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set. They won’t be golden brown so don't over-bake!
Churro Buttercream
- Make the buttercream while the cookies cool. In a large bowl, combine butter with 2 cups of powdered sugar, vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon of salt, cinnamon and brown sugar.
- Mix and add more powdered sugar if needed. Add milk if it doesn’t look creamy enough, starting with 1 tablespoon. Taste and adjust if needed!
- Spread or pipe the frosting onto each completely cooled cookie and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
John
Having just been told I'm the favorite grand-uncle after sharing your brilliant Nutella Blondies, I'm excited to try this recipe right away. You suggest to weigh the flour, but I couldn't find a weight listed. Does 166g sound about right? Thank you so much, Gabby, for this exuberant site!
Gabby
Hi John! I am so happy to hear that you are all loving the recipes! To find the metric measurements, just click the "metric" tab above the ingredients. Enjoy!