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Churro Ice Cream Sandwiches

Churro ice cream sandwiches with crispy, cinnamon-sugar rolled churro rounds that sandwich cold vanilla ice cream. Warm caramelized flavor meets a chilled, creamy center with a dulce de leche drizzle for a summer street food dessert.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
freezing 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Mexican-American
Calories: 420
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For churro rounds
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup unsalted butter Use 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter.
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 0.25 tsp salt Use 1/4 teaspoon salt.
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Vegetable oil for frying
For coating and serving
  • 0.5 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon Use cinnamon for coating.
  • 0.5 gallon vanilla ice cream About 1/2 gallon.
  • 1 Dulce de leche for serving

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Make the churro dough
  1. Bring water, butter, granulated sugar, and salt to a boil. Stir until fully boiling and the sugar dissolves.
  2. Add all-purpose flour at once and stir vigorously. Cook until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball.
  3. Cool the dough for 5 minutes. Keep it just warm enough to mix smoothly.
  4. Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract last.
Shape and fry churro rounds
  1. Fill a piping bag with the dough. Pipe 3-inch rounds (spiraling inward like a flat disk) onto parchment.
  2. Heat vegetable oil to 375F in a Dutch oven. Fry the rounds for 2-3 minutes per side until deeply golden.
  3. Drain the fried churro rounds and immediately roll them in cinnamon sugar. Let the coating set while they cool.
Assemble and freeze
  1. Cool the churro discs completely before assembling. This prevents the ice cream from melting.
  2. Sandwich a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two churro discs. Press gently so the ice cream reaches the edges.
  3. Freeze the assembled sandwiches for 1 hour. This firms everything so the coating stays crisp.
  4. Drizzle dulce de leche over the sandwiches and serve immediately. Serve cold, while the churro crust remains crisp.

Notes

Pro tip: if your dough looks too loose after adding flour, keep stirring a minute longer until it pulls cleanly from the pot—this helps the churro discs crisp. Store assembled sandwiches in the freezer up to 2 weeks for best texture; freeze is yes, and re-freezing after thawing isn’t recommended. For a dairy-light option, use lactose-free vanilla ice cream and a dulce de leche alternative made with lactose-free dairy.