If you enjoy traditional churros, you will enjoy these easy to make cinnamon churro bars! Churro bars make for perfect easy desserts for Cinco de Mayo or for a fiesta any time of the year! Instead of individually prepared deep fried fritters, these baked churro bars are easier to make and easy to serve.
By day, my profession involves working with people from all over the world – mostly those from Central America and Mexico. Given this plus the fact that my mom and her family are from Central America, I have developed quite the palate for Hispanic treats over time!
What are Churros?
Churros are a popular fried dough pastry made with a cinnamon sugar mixture that originated many years ago. The origin of churros seems to vary with some sources saying in Spain, other saying they originated in Mexico, and still others citing South America. Even within one country, there may be differences among geographic regions of the country.
The majority of sources I have read seem to believe churros to have been inspired by a Chinese fried doughnut type snack called Youtiao that was brought to Spain by Portuguese traders in the 16th century.
Churros can be filled with a dulce de leche filling or made without. Actual churros with fillings inside offer a ton of flavor while the plain ones are perfect for dipping into melted chocolate or other sauces. You can find them covered in powdered sugar or find cinnamon churros filled with a fruit filling or dipped into a fruit salsa with fresh berries. The chocolate and cinnamon makes for a beloved flavor combination.
What are Cinnamon Churro Bars?
Cinnamon churro bars take the same concept of the historic churro. Rather than preparing churros individually as per popular Mexican recipes, this is more of a new take where you make one large serving in a baking pan and then cut them into squares for easy serving! It’s almost like a square of cinnamon roll! They are great Cinco de Mayo snack ideas!
Ingredients
Our recipe yields a smaller batch of 12 cinnamon churro bars in a 9×9 inch pan. However, you can easily double the ingredients and use a 9×13 baking pan for a double batch!
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Granulated sugar
- Non-stick spray
Necessary Supplies
- Small bowl
- Medium bowl
- Rubber Spatula
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Baking pan (9×9 inch pan for small batch and 9×13 inch prepared pan for double batch)
- Airtight container with lid/plastic wrap
How to Make Churro Bars
Pre-heat the oven and grease your baking pan of choice with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, and then egg together. Afterward, you will mix together the other dry ingredients – the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon before adding to the egg mixture. This will produce a dough that you will press into the bottom of the pan.
Then, you will prepare a cinnamon-sugar topping and spread across the top of the dough before baking for 22-25 minutes until the top crust is a golden brown and the center is no longer gooey.
This churro bar recipe is prepared in similar fashion to making a cake batter recipe. The result is a delicious bar cookie dessert that are so easy to make without the deep frying like in traditional churro recipes.
Serving These Tasty Snack Bars
At a potluck or self-serve fiesta, you might serve these cinnamon snack bars beside a bowl of chocolate dip for dipping. If serving for dinner and immediate consumption, you can top each cinnamon churro bar with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dulce de leche swirl for garnish.
Have fun serving this irresistible dessert as an easy Cinco de Mayo dessert ideas or fiesta party food. Consider serving these sweet churro bars at wedding showers, baby showers, or birthday parties!
Cinnamon Churro Bars
Equipment
- oven
- Electric mixer
Ingredients
Churro Bars Batter
- ½ cup Unsalted butter
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 cup Flour
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
Churro Bars Cinnamon-Sugar Topping
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- ½ tbsp Cinnamon
Instructions
Making Churros Bars Batter
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×9 baking pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter and brown sugar until well incorporated.
- Add egg to sugar mixture and mix until well incorporated.
- Add flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon to the sugar mixture and mix until combined.
- Press the dough into an even layer into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Prepare Cinnamon-Sugar Topping
- In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cinnamon for the topping.
- Sprinkle cinnamon sugar topping across the bars.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until no longer gooey in the middle.*
- Enjoy and store leftovers in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
If You Like These Cinnamon Churro Bars, Try More Yummy Desserts
If you like these cinnamon churro bars, you will surely like some of the other great desserts here at Planted in Arkansas!
No Bake Coconut Pecan Praline Cookies
White Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Almond Cookies
Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
Buttery Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies with Snickers
No Bake Cranberry Pecan Cookies
Easy Chocolate Cake with Homemade Chocolate Buttercream (huge hit)
Butter Pecan Praline Poke Cake (Number ONE recipe on the blog!)
Coconut and Pineapple Cream Cheese Pie
Tangy Key Lime Pie (one of our favorites!)
Blue-Raspberry Frosted Lemonade
Lemonade Drinks (some frozen varieties here)
Air Fryer Peaches with Ice Cream
Pumpkin Pie with Condensed Milk
Copycat Cracker Barrel Coca Cola Cake
Creamy Lemon Pie with Sour Cream
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