For the churros: In a saucepan, bring to a boil 1 cup water, couple large pinches of salt, 1/4 cup butter (or 2 tablespoons oil), and 1-2 tablespoons sugar (optional). Stir in one cup of flour and remove from heat. Keep stirring until fully incorporated. This is actually a lot like making play dough, so if you like you could transfer the dough onto a cutting board/kneading surface and knead it with your hands — this is great fun but careful, it’s hot.
At this point it can be transferred into a piping bag and squeezed out onto hot oil to make the churros, OR continue… by adding one egg and a bit of vanilla extract. I prefer to make it with egg as I think the churros stay crunchy longer. If you have a stand mixer, you can also use the paddle to mix your dough more thoroughly — I prefer to do this when adding the egg.
Then transfer to your piping bag fitted with a large closed star tip (I used Ateco #857). Actually it’s best to let the dough cool 5-10 minutes before frying, since frying when it’s still hot makes the churros split up/burst — I don’t know the science behind this and I don’t know if that IS the reason for the churros splitting, so if anyone knows better please comment 
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[Side story: years ago, ~2005, I made churros and tried to fry them in an itty bitty saucepan, and a big blob of batter+oil splattered jumped out of the pan and onto my hand/wrist. It was a BAAAAD burn and that’s why I didn’t make churros for a good long while.]
Anyway, back to the churros. Heat up 2-3 inches oil in a saucepan (I love cast iron for this as it holds the heat really well). I also LOVE using olive oil for this like the Spanish do 
I just reuse the oil afterwards so it doesn’t get wasted — unless of course you made a whole bunch of churros and the oil has turned brown and icky.
Pipe about 6 inches of churro dough onto the hot oil (medium high heat — sorry, I couldn’t find my candy thermometer quickly enough and I didn’t want to waste time looking for it, so just estimated the heat) — cut with a scissors sprayed with cooking spray so the dough doesn’t stick — and fry the churros, a few at a time (don’t crowd the pan), turning every now and then so they brown evenly, about 5 minutes or until golden. Test the first one so you’re sure they’re cooked all the way through.
Whoops, I forgot. Before you get started, you should have mixed some sugar and ground cinnamon in a bowl if you wanted to coat the churros after frying. Optional but yummy. Of course more sugar.
I like removing the fried churros onto a rack set over a paper-lined baking sheet (as shown), so they stay crunchy all over.
The recipe makes about 15 6-inch churros. They tend to shrink a bit as they cool down.
Oh and of course, the Spanish chocolate:
Traditionally it’s (chopped dark) chocolate (or chocolate chips if you must ) and/or cocoa powder + milk (or water actually, though you’ll need more chocolate in that case) + sugar + cornstarch OR a nut butter to thicken, but since we have dairy-allergy sufferers in the house, I made mine with almond milk (you can make it with any milk really). Heat slowly in a small saucepan until thick. Stir in vanilla at the end if you like. I like it thick like they serve it in Europe, but still drinkable, so not at all like pudding. And I don’t like it when a skin forms on the chocolate, but it’s not a biggie, just stir it back in or remove it or eat it Sorry I don’t have exact amounts — I kinda wing this part of the recipe, but next time I make it I’ll post a “real” recipe
Also, this is a really simple Spanish chocolate — you can add things to it if you like, e.g., cinnamon, achuete/annatto, coffee, cayenne, etc.
Enjoy!
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