Copycat Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists Only Require 4 Ingredients

At first glance, Taco Bell's cinnamon twists might seem like something that wouldn't be easy to duplicate. What are you supposed to do — slice up a flour tortilla and use a hair curler to give it that corkscrew shape? Online advice dating back to the '00s gave home cooks hope that they could replicate the chain restaurant snack by deep-frying rotini, but this rumor may have been based on nothing more than the fact that uncooked cinnamon twists do resemble dried pasta. Unfortunately, rotini won't fry up nice and puffy, so you'll need to source something called "duros" instead. Not the green-skinned extraterrestrials from the "Star Wars" franchise but the wheat-based Mexican snack sold in dried form.

Recipe developer Kristen Carli used duros that she ordered online to make her copycat Taco Bell cinnamon twists along with sugar and cinnamon (to provide flavoring) and vegetable oil for frying. As she told us, she was "very surprised at how easy this recipe is." While Carli found the results to taste exactly like Taco Bell's, she also advised, "Have fun with the flavor combinations beyond cinnamon sugar." She suggested dipping the cinnamon twists in chocolate hummus, but another option would be to add a twist (so to speak) to the recipe by swapping out the cinnamon – America's most overused spice – for cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, or even cayenne.

Once you've seen how much fun it is to fry a batch of duros and watch them puff up in hot oil, you'll probably want to repeat the experiment, but next time around, why not try them in a different recipe? Duros lend themselves to savory flavors as well as sweet, so you could start simple by sprinkling them with salt, then adding other ingredients like taco seasoning, chipotle powder, or parmesan cheese.

Unsweetened fried duros can be used to add crunch to a casserole or replace croutons in a soup or salad. They can also make the base for a plate of nachos. (Dachos? You heard it here first, folks.) If you'd prefer a more traditional preparation, you can serve them Sonoran-style, topped with sliced vegetables such as avocados, cabbage, cucumbers, and tomatoes and dressed with mayonnaise and chamoy sauce. If this sounds like too much work, simply scoop salsa, guacamole, or queso into a bowl and use your duros as dippers.