These Delish churro sandwich cookies translate the cinnamon-sugar personality of a churro into a chewy, no-fry biscuit filled with cinnamon buttercream and dulce de leche. The recipe yields 12 servings at 385 calories each, with a 15-minute prep time and around two hours from start to finish.
Why Churro Sandwich Cookies Work Without a Deep-Fryer
Replicating the exact look and texture of a churro without a deep-fryer is not straightforward, so the recipe borrows the flavour profile instead. Chewy cinnamon sugar cookies stand in for the fried dough, rolled in a mixture of granulated sugar and ground cinnamon before baking. A ridged or star-tip piping bag used for the buttercream echoes the grooves of a typical churro, and dulce de leche in the centre nods to the classic dipping experience without any of the oil or mess.
The dough itself is built on half a cup of softened unsalted butter, creamed with packed light brown sugar, a third of a cup of granulated sugar, and three-quarters of a teaspoon of cinnamon. One large egg, vanilla extract, cream of tartar, and baking soda go in next, followed by one and a half cups of all-purpose flour. The dough is refrigerated for around an hour before baking, which helps the cookies hold their shape.
Once chilled, the dough is scooped into one-tablespoon portions (roughly 20g each), rolled in the remaining cinnamon sugar, and arranged across three lined baking sheets. Twenty-four cookies bake at 350°F, rotating halfway through, for nine to eleven minutes. The instruction is clear: do not overbake. The cookies continue to set as they cool, so pulling them when the edges are just set and the centres look slightly underdone is the right call.
The Filling: Cinnamon Buttercream and Dulce de Leche
The buttercream uses ten tablespoons of softened unsalted butter beaten with ground cinnamon, a pinch of kosher salt, and one and a quarter cups of confectioners’ sugar. Four teaspoons of heavy cream finish it off, beaten in until the mixture is light and fluffy. Transferred to a piping bag fitted with a star tip, the buttercream is piped in a ring around the edge of one cookie from each matched pair.
The centre of that ring is then filled with approximately two teaspoons of dulce de leche, either store-bought or homemade, before the second cookie is pressed gently on top. The recipe notes that dulce de leche is as common a churro accompaniment as chocolate, and its natural thickness makes it well-suited to holding its position inside the sandwich without spreading.
Each assembled cookie delivers that interplay of cinnamon-forward sweetness and the caramel depth of dulce de leche, with the buttercream providing structure at the edges and a distinct textural contrast to the chewy biscuit layers.
Make-Ahead and Storage
The recipe accommodates advance preparation at several stages. Cookie dough can be shaped into balls, frozen, and kept in an airtight bag for up to one month. Baking directly from frozen is recommended, with one to two minutes added to the standard bake time. Baked, cooled cookies can also be frozen in an airtight container for the same period.
Once assembled, the sandwiches are best eaten on the day they are made, though they will keep at room temperature or in the fridge for up to five days in an airtight container. Anyone refrigerating them should bring the cookies back to room temperature before serving, allowing the buttercream and dulce de leche to soften back to their best consistency.
For anyone who wants to experiment, the recipe suggests a Mexican-spiced fudge sturdy enough to hold up as an alternative filling, though the dulce de leche is the intended pairing.