Nigerian · Desserts

Puff Puff

Yeasted batter dropped straight into hot oil, where it puffs into rough golden spheres. Sweet, chewy, gone in minutes.

40 min prep and cooking plus 1 hr 30 min proving the batter 2 hr 10 min start to finish Serves 8 servings Easy
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Puff Puff

Photograph credit: Nigerian-puff-puff-recipe cropped (image of puff puff on Wikidata Q7258860) by Afrolems ; cropped by Off-shell · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence

Puff Puff, in preparation
Puff Puff, in preparation

Photograph credit: Poff poff 2 by Wejike7 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Puff Puff, Step by Step

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  1. Whisk the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and nutmeg together in a large bowl.

  2. Pour in the warm water and beat hard with a wooden spoon to a thick, smooth batter.

  3. Cover the bowl and leave somewhere warm for 90 minutes, until risen and full of bubbles.

  4. Pour the oil into a deep pan to a depth of 8 cm and heat it to 170°C / 340°F.

  5. Stir the batter down once.

  6. Scoop a heaped tablespoon and push it off into the oil with a second spoon.

  7. Work in batches of six so the oil holds its heat.

  8. Deep-fry 5 minutes, turning them as they bob, until deep golden all round.

  9. Lift onto a rack and repeat with the rest of the batter.

  10. Dust with the remaining sugar and serve warm.

Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.

Small Things That Help

  • A ribbon off the spoon, not a ball.
  • A dry ice cream scoop gives rounder ones than two spoons.
  • If the first is raw inside, drop the oil 10 degrees.

What to Serve with Puff Puff

  • Chin chin
  • Hibiscus cooler
  • Sweet milky tea

Keeping and Reheating

Best within an hour. They go dense once cold and do not revive well.

Questions About Puff Puff

How long does Puff Puff take to make?

20 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour 30 minutes of proving the batter, so allow 2 hours 10 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.

Puff Puff Nutrition Facts

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .