Nigerian Puff Puff Recipe

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Nigerian puff puff recipe! Looking for the best? Look no further than this easy, perfect recipe that will give you soft, delicious, golden brown, well-rounded, deep-fried dough that is similar to Ghanaian bofrot. Learn how to make puff puff in simple steps.

Puff puff is one of the popular snacks in Nigeria. No party is complete without the small chops (appetizers) plate and no small chops plate is complete without puff puff. That’s how much Nigerians love this street snack.

This African doughnut-like snack is delicious and addictive and we love it so much. We eat it as snacks but it can be served as breakfast, or brunch served with tea. It’s similar to South Africa mandazi, Cameroon puff puff, and French beignets.

Puff Puff Recipe

This is the best puff puff recipe perfected over years. I first shared my puff puff recipe more than 7 years ago on my other blog and it’s garnered thousands of positive reviews with some other food bloggers adapting the recipe. This is an updated recipe that makes use of fast action dried yeast which needs no proofing.

This recipe makes use of 5 inexpensive ingredients. Flour, sugar, yeast, nutmeg, and salt. It is very easy to make and you can’t go wrong with this recipe.

The perfect puff puff is round, light golden brown, fluffy inside, soft, and sweet. It should not be yeasty neither should it be soggy.

You will need 90-120 minutes to let the batter rise making the total cook time 2.5 hours however it is worth the time.

You’ll also be happy to know that not much cleaning up is required as it’s a one-bowl mix.

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

Mixing bowl

Clingfilm 

Deep pan for frying

Skewers or Fork – For turning 

Ingredients

The detailed ingredient list, measurement, and directions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Flour

Sugar– Granulated sugar

Yeast

Nutmeg

Salt

Vegetable oil for deep frying

How to Make Puff Puff

Add flour, sugar, nutmeg, salt, and yeast to a bowl. Mix well till the dry ingredients are combined.

Add warm water (not hot) and mix till it comes together. 

If the water is hot, it kills the yeast and the dough won’t rise so use warm water.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in a warm place to rise for 90-120 minutes.

After this time, the batter should have risen to at least double or thrice its original size.

Add oil to a deep pan (Let the oil be at least 3 inches deep) and heat. When the oil is hot at about 160C – 180C, use your hand to scoop the batter and gently drop in the oil. You can also use an ice cream scoop to scoop batter into the oil. Drop the batter into the oil till the pot is crowded.

To test if the oil is hot, scoop a bit of batter in the oil. If it rises after about 2-5 seconds it is ready. If the batter stays down for more than 30 seconds, the oil is not hot enough.

When one side is fried to a golden brown, flip the balls to the other side and fry till golden brown.

Take out of oil and drain on kitchen towel covered plate.

Repeat step until all batter used up.

Serve and enjoy.

It is not traditionally dusted with any sweetener however you can dust with granulated or icing sugar like you would doughnuts.

What to Serve With

It’s commonly served as a snack with drinks like orange juice, carrot juice, sorrel drink, and other types of refreshing drinks.

You can serve with hot pepper sauce as dipping sauce.

For party small chops bowl, serve with meat pie and mini beef skewers (stick meat).

How to Store

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. To store, ensure it’s completely cooled, put them in a plastic bag or Ziploc and store it in the fridge. It might seem hard and rocky when you bring it out of the fridge but after lightly microwaving, it gets back to its soft and springy texture. 

You can also store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To reheat, put in the microwave and start with 30 seconds then additional 30 seconds, or till heated through. Don’t overheat as it can then dry out and become hard.

Tips for Making Puff Puff

• Use the stated yeast type (fast action dried yeast)as it needs no proofing and works best for this recipe however if you want to use active dry yeast, proof it first.
• Don’t leave the batter to rise for too long to prevent overflow and a yeasty smell. 
• Don’t fry at low temperature as the puff puff will be soggy with oil and don’t fry in oil that is too hot as this will make the outer get brown quickly without the inside cooked.
• Use warm water to mix the batter and not hot water as hot water can kill off the yeast leaving you with a batter that won’t rise.
• Mix the batter very well so all ingredients are well combined. I suggest you do this with your hand. 
• Check batter after 35 minutes to ensure it’s rising.
• Fry only when the batter is risen and at least double in size. Ideally, it should rise to about 3 times its size.
• Deep fry so you get a well-rounded shape. Depending on the size of the balls you intend to make, make the oil at least 3 inches deep in the pot.
• Crowd the pan with the balls so they when you flip to cook the other side they don’t have room to flip back. This is how you get even golden brown color.
• Line plate with a paper towel to remove excess oil from the fried dough.

More Easy Recipes

Shortbread cookies

Sausage rolls

Vanilla cupcakes

Lemon cake

Lemon juice recipe

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