Costco Churros Recipe (Copycat Twisted Churros, Fried or Air Fryer)

In early 2024, Costco pulled its $1.49 churro from US food courts and put a $2.49 Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie in its place (FOX 11 Los Angeles, “Costco quietly removes churro from food court menu”, January 2024). Members noticed. Two years later they’re still asking for it back.

Here’s the short answer: make a choux dough (water, butter, sugar, salt, flour and eggs), pipe it through a large open-star tip like the Wilton 1M while turning the bag so the ridges spiral, then fry at 375°F (190°C) until deep golden. Roll it in cinnamon sugar while it’s hot. That gets you the shatter-crisp twisted ridges and the soft, custardy middle.

What Happened to the Costco Churro?

Costco sold churros at its food courts from the 1990s, starting at 99 cents (Fox News, “Costco brings back churros, yet shoppers say new version is a ‘slap in the face'”, March 2026). The long, thin, straight churro was swapped for a twisted version in 2021, and that one disappeared in early 2024 (The Takeout, September 2026).

Costco hasn’t publicly explained the switch. In March 2026 it added a $2.99 Caramel Churro Sundae topped with mini churro bites, which fans called a letdown because it isn’t the whole churro. And in September 2026, twisted churros began a limited-time return to US food courts, per The Takeout. Limited-time means it could vanish again next month. Making them at home means you don’t have to care.

This recipe copies the twisted version, the one most people picture, with the cinnamon sugar packed into the grooves.

What Makes Costco Churros So Crispy?

Two things: the dough and the shape. Costco doesn’t publish its recipe, but the copycats that come closest all use choux pastry, the same dough behind cream puffs and éclairs. It’s cooked on the stove before it ever hits the oil, and eggs beaten into it trap steam that puffs the churro from the inside. The outside sets into a crisp shell. The inside stays soft and slightly custardy.

That’s also why a plain flour-and-water churro, the traditional Spanish style, tastes different. It’s crunchier all the way through, with no soft middle.

The dough ratio

For one batch, the ratio is simple:

• 1 part water to ½ part butter by volume (1 cup to ½ cup)
• 1 cup flour per cup of water
• 3 large eggs, added one at a time
• A little sugar and salt for flavor

A popular copycat from KSL’s Studio 5 uses the same 3-egg structure with half milk, half water. Water gives a slightly crisper shell, which is what we’re after.

The twist: why the tip matters more than anything

The ridges are the flavor. A smooth churro holds a thin dusting of cinnamon sugar. A deeply ridged one holds sugar in every groove. Use a large open-star tip such as the Wilton 1M, which has deep, separated teeth. A small closed star gives shallow ridges that fill with dough as it puffs, and they fry up almost smooth.

To get the Costco twist, rotate the piping bag slowly as you pipe, about a half turn over the length of each churro. The ridges spiral instead of running straight. That gives each churro more edge to crisp up and more grooves for sugar.

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Ingredients for Copycat Costco Churros

Makes about 16 churros, 6 inches (15cm) long.

For the dough

• 1 cup (240ml) water
• ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tbsp (12g) granulated sugar
• ½ tsp (3g) fine salt
• 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 3 large eggs (150g), at room temperature
• 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar

• ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp (8g) ground cinnamon

For cooking

• Deep-fry: neutral oil such as canola, about 2 inches (5cm) deep in the pot
• Air fryer: cooking spray or an oil mister

The cinnamon-to-sugar ratio

Use 8 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon by volume: ½ cup sugar to 1 tablespoon cinnamon. By weight that’s about 12 to 1. It’s the light, sweet, food court style, where sugar leads and cinnamon backs it up. KSL’s copycat lands in the same range at its lightest setting (2 cups sugar to 4 tablespoons cinnamon). Like it spicier? Go up to 1½ tablespoons.

Costco hasn’t published its own ratio, so treat this as a starting point, not a secret formula. One tip that matters more than the exact ratio: use fine sugar. Regular granulated works. Pulsing it for 5 seconds in a blender helps it cling to every ridge.

How Do You Make Costco Churros at Home?

Cook the dough on the stove, cool it briefly, beat in the eggs, then pipe. The whole dough takes about 15 minutes.

1. Heat the water, butter, 1 tbsp sugar and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts and it comes to a full boil.
2. Add the flour all at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the dough pulls into a ball and leaves a thin film on the pan.
3. Cool 5 minutes in a mixing bowl. Hot dough scrambles eggs.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, fully mixing each before the next. Add the vanilla with the last egg.
5. Check the texture. The dough should be glossy and thick. When you lift the spoon, it should hold a peak that slowly folds over. If it’s runny, the ridges will melt in the oil.
6. Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M (or similar large open-star) tip.
7. Pipe 6-inch churros onto strips of parchment paper, rotating the bag about half a turn as you go.

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Mix the cinnamon sugar in a shallow dish now, so it’s ready the second the churros come out.

Alex

Copycat Costco Churros

Twisted, cinnamon-sugar churros like the Costco food court classic: choux dough piped through a 1M star tip, fried at 375F or air fried. Crisp outside, soft in the middle.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 16 churros

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Calories: 111

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Dough

• 1 cup water 240ml
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter 113g, cut into pieces
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar 12g
• 1/2 tsp fine salt 3g
• 1 cup all-purpose flour 125g, spooned and leveled
• 3 large eggs 150g, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 5ml

Cinnamon sugar

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100g
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon 8g

For cooking

• neutral oil for deep-frying canola, about 2 inches deep
• cooking spray for the air fryer method

Method

 

Make the dough

1. Heat the water, butter, 1 tbsp sugar and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts and it comes to a full boil.
2. Add the flour all at once and stir hard. Keep stirring over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the dough forms a ball and leaves a thin film on the pan.
3. Transfer to a bowl and cool for 5 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. The dough should be thick and glossy and hold a peak that slowly folds over.
5. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a large open-star tip (Wilton 1M). Pipe 6-inch churros onto strips of parchment, rotating the bag about half a turn as you pipe for twisted ridges.
6. Mix the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish.

Deep-fry (classic)

1. Heat 2 inches of oil to 375F (190C), using a thermometer.
2. Lower 3 or 4 churros into the oil on their parchment strips. Remove the paper with tongs once it releases, after about 20 seconds.
3. Fry 2 to 3 minutes per side until deep golden. Drain on a wire rack for 30 seconds, then roll in cinnamon sugar while hot. Let the oil return to 375F between batches.

Air fryer

1. Freeze the piped churros on their parchment for 20 minutes so they hold their ridges.
2. Spray all sides with oil. Air fry at 380F (193C) for 8 to 10 minutes in a single layer, flipping and spraying again at 5 minutes.
3. Roll in cinnamon sugar right away, spraying once more if it will not stick.

Notes

Nutrition is per churro for the air fryer method, calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient data (FDC IDs 173430, 168894, 171287, 169655, 171320), assuming about 60% of the cinnamon sugar sticks. Deep-fried churros are higher because of absorbed oil. Revive leftovers in the air fryer at 350F for 2 to 3 minutes. Freeze raw piped churros up to 1 month and cook from frozen.

How Do You Deep-Fry Churros Without Raw Centers?

Fry at 375°F (190°C) and keep it there. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a heavy pot and use a thermometer. Guessing is how you end up with dark outsides and gummy middles. KSL’s copycat recommends 375°F to 380°F for the same 3-egg dough.

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Lower each churro in on its parchment strip. After about 20 seconds the paper releases, and you can pull it out with tongs. Fry 3 or 4 at a time for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until deep golden brown. Drain on a wire rack for 30 seconds, then roll in cinnamon sugar while hot.

Why does batch size matter? Every cold churro drops the oil temperature. Crowd the pot and you’re frying at 340°F without knowing it. Give the oil a minute to recover between batches.

A basic hot-oil rule: never leave the pot unattended, and keep a lid nearby to smother any flare-up. Don’t use water.

Can You Make Costco Churros in the Air Fryer?

Yes, and it’s much less mess. They won’t blister and puff exactly like fried churros, but they get genuinely crisp ridges and a soft center.

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1. Pipe the churros onto parchment and freeze for 20 minutes. This firms them up so they keep their ridges when they heat up. Skip this and they slump.
2. Spray all sides with oil. Don’t skip this: the spray is what browns and crisps the ridges, and it gives the cinnamon sugar something to stick to.
3. Air fry at 380°F (193°C) for 8 to 10 minutes, in a single layer with space between them. Flip and spray again at the 5-minute mark.
4. Roll in cinnamon sugar right away. If it won’t stick, give them one more quick spray first.

Air fryers vary a lot, so check the first batch at 8 minutes. If you like air fryer snacks, our air fryer cottage cheese chips and air fryer baked apples use the same spray-and-shake approach.

Are air fryer churros healthier?

Lighter, yes. Low-fat, no. Here’s why. We calculated an air-fried churro at about 111 calories and 6.7g fat, using USDA ingredient data. Almost half of those calories come from the butter in the dough, not from any oil.

For comparison, USDA’s reference entry for fried churros lists 419 calories and 22.2g fat per 100g (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 2708070). Deep-frying adds whatever oil the dough absorbs on top of the butter. So air frying cuts real fat, but a churro is still a treat. We’d rather say that than call it health food.

What to Dip Them In

A good churro doesn’t need a dip. But the food court never gave you one, so here’s your upgrade.

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Warm 2-ingredient chocolate sauce. Heat ½ cup (120ml) heavy cream until it steams, pour it over ½ cup (85g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, wait 2 minutes, then stir until glossy. It stays dippable for about 20 minutes. Rewarm it for 10 seconds in the microwave if it thickens.

Dulce de leche. Store-bought is fine. Warm a few spoonfuls for 15 to 20 seconds and stir in a pinch of flaky salt so it isn’t one-note sweet.

Other dips that work:

• A drizzle of hot honey for sweet heat
• Our strawberry cheesecake dip, cold, for contrast with hot churros
• The chocolate peanut butter version of whipped cottage cheese, a higher-protein dip

The Short Version

• Choux dough gives the crisp shell and soft center. Don’t skip cooking it on the stove.
• Use a Wilton 1M tip and rotate the bag as you pipe for Costco-style twisted ridges.
• Cinnamon sugar: ½ cup sugar to 1 tbsp cinnamon.
• Fry at 375°F, 3 or 4 at a time. Or air fry at 380°F after a 20-minute freeze.
• Revive leftovers at 350°F for 2 to 3 minutes in the air fryer.

Made them? Rate the recipe below and tell us: fried or air fryer?

Looking for more copycat-style treats? Our no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies are just as nostalgic, and they need no oil at all.

Sources

• FOX 11 Los Angeles, Costco quietly removes churro from food court menu, replaces it with new sweet treat, January 11, 2024, retrieved 2026-09-19. https://www.foxla.com/news/costco-food-court-menu-churro-chocolate-chip-cookies
• Fox News, Costco brings back churros, yet shoppers say new version is a ‘slap in the face’, March 15, 2026, retrieved 2026-09-19. https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/costco-brings-back-churros-shoppers-say-new-version-slap-face
• The Takeout, This Costco Food Court Favorite Is Coming Back, But Not In The Way Fans Were Wanting, September 17, 2026, retrieved 2026-09-19. https://www.thetakeout.com/2261697/costco-food-court-favorite-churros-return-fan-reaction/
• KSL Studio 5, Missing the Costco churro? Here’s an even better copycat recipe, February 15, 2024, retrieved 2026-09-19. https://studio5.ksl.com/missing-costco-churro-even-better-copycat-recipe/
• USDA FoodData Central, Churros, Survey (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708070, retrieved 2026-09-19. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
• USDA FoodData Central, Butter, without salt, FDC ID 173430; Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, bleached, FDC ID 168894; Egg, whole, raw, fresh, FDC ID 171287; Sugars, granulated, FDC ID 169655; Spices, cinnamon, ground, FDC ID 171320; retrieved 2026-09-19. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/

Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient data for the air fryer method, assuming about 60% of the cinnamon sugar sticks. It’s an estimate, not a lab analysis. Deep-fried churros are higher because of the oil they absorb.

Written by

Alex

Alex is the founder and recipe developer behind Flavor Flip Recipes, where fast-food favorites get rebuilt as high-protein, high-fiber meals you can actually make on a weeknight. Every recipe here is cooked, timed and re-tested in a home kitchen before it publishes, including the batches that fail, which usually teach more than the ones that work. Nutrition figures are checked against USDA FoodData Central and published research rather than estimated, and cook times reflect real home equipment, not ideal conditions.

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