With their signature taste and texture, puff puffs are incredibly delicious and indulgent. Who can resist the aroma of hot puff puffs streaming from the giant frying pans of street vendors in Lagos?
Making puff puff is easier than you think, requires minimal time and a few cheap ingredients.
In this post, you’re going to learn how to make puff puff from scratch. You’ll also learn how to make no-yeast puff puff which will come handy any time you run out of yeast.
Also in this post, I shared how you can fix or avoid common puff-puff-making mistakes. Now, let’s dive right into it! Swipe or scroll down to get the goodies (video and written explanation).
Make Round Fluffy Puff Puff With Yeast (Recipe & Video Tutorial)
Written steps are after the video, for reference or if you prefer reading to watching video illustrations.
Do you know you can still make puff puff without yeast? The recipe and video are down in this post. *The Ingredients List with Measurements is provided down below. Also, recipe and measurements for making large batches for wedding/ party or for sale can be found before the end of this post.
- RELATED: How to Make Chin Chin that is Crispy and Soft
- How to Make Doughnuts from Scratch (Step by Step)
- How to Fix or Avoid Puff Puff Mistakes ==> the tips are down below, towards the end of this post, in next page.
Puff Puff Ingredients: Flour (bread or baking flour), Yeast, Sugar, Warm water, Salt, Optional – Flavour (either grated nutmeg or ground cinnamon, or vanilla flavour), Oil for frying – groundnut/ peanut oil, any vegetable oil
Mixing Utensils You’ll Need:
- Measuring cup
- A big bowl for mixing the flour with other ingredients
- A cup or small bowl for dissolving and proofing the yeast
- Spatula or Wooden Spoon for Mixing
Deep Frying Utensils You’ll Need:
- Deep pot or a Wok at least 5 to 6 inches deep
- Colander or Strainer
- Mesh Skimmer Spoon or Spider Strainer Spoon
- Cooling Rack
- Kitchen towels/ serviettes
Making Puff Puff With Baking Powder (No-Yeast Recipe)
See ingredients list down after the video.
*The Ingredients List with Measurements is provided down below.
MORE NIGERIAN SMALL CHOPS HOW-TOS:
- How to Make Crispy Samosa at Home Step by Step (Easy Tutorial plus Ingredients and Measurements for Large Party-Size Quantities)
- How to Make Crispy Spring Rolls at Home (w/ Ingredients and Recipe for Making Plenty for a Wedding or Party
Ingredients List for Making Puff Puff with Baking Powder (No Yeast):
- Self-Rising Flour – 2 and 2/3 cups (320g) [To make your own self-rising flour: 1 cup flour (150g) + 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder + ½ teaspoon salt via myrecipe.com]
- Plain Yoghurt – 1 and ½ Cups + 2 tablespoons (400g) [Note: Greek Yoghurt does not work for this recipe]
- Sugar – 6 tablespoons (80g)
- Ground Cinnamon- ½ tablespoon
Making a Large Batch of Puff Puff? Ingredients Measurement List (Below)
If you want to make a larger batch for a party or wedding small chops, here’s a measurement guide below for making large quantities of puff puff balls.
Puff Puff Ingredients for 250 grams of Flour
- 2 cups (250 grams) flour
- 2 teaspoons yeast
- 1 1/5 cups water
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup of sugar
- Optional (½ teaspoons grated nutmeg).
This recipe makes about 16 medium-sized puff puffs or 32 small ones.
Puff Puff Ingredients for 400 grams Flour
- 3 cups (approx. 400 grams) flour
- 3 teaspoons yeast
- 2 cups of water
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup of sugar
- Optional ( ¾ teaspoons grated nutmeg)
This recipe makes about 24 medium-sized puff puffs OR 48 to 50 small/ mini puff puff balls.
500 grams (½ KG) Flour Puff Puff Recipe: Ingredients and Measurement
- 4 cups (500 grams or half a kilogram) flour
- 4 teaspoons yeast
- 2 ½ cups water
- ¾ tsp salt
- half to ¾ cups sugar
- Optional (1 teaspoon grated nutmeg).
This recipe makes about 32 medium-sized puff puffs OR 64 mini puff puff balls.
1 Kilogram (1Kg) Flour Puff Puff Recipe: Ingredients and Measurement
- 8 cups (1 kg) flour
- 8 teaspoons yeast
- 5 cups water
- 1 and ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- Optional (2 teaspoons grated nutmeg).
This recipe makes about 64 medium-sized puff puffs OR 128 small-sized puff puffs.
2 Kilograms (2 kg) Flour Puff Puff Recipe: Ingredients and Measurement
- 16 cups (2 kg) flour
- 16 teaspoons yeast
- 10 cups water
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 cups of sugar
- Optional (2 teaspoons grated nutmeg).
This recipe makes about 128 medium-sized puff puffs OR 256 small-sized puff puffs.
NOTE: Puff puffs served as a party or wedding small chops are made in much smaller dough balls and will result in getting double the number of fried puff puffs.
For example, if you use 2 cups of flour and scoop smaller dough balls into the hot oil, you can get up to 48 small fried puff puff balls instead of the 24 medium-sized ones above.
Steps for Making Puff Puffs (Explanation)
This section is for you if you prefer reading steps to watching video instructions, or if you just want notes for reference.
1. Proof the yeast: In a small cup or bowl, add half or ¼ cup of warm water, a teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon yeast (1 packet). Stir and leave it for about 5 to 10 minutes. [Use part of the water specified in the recipe to pre-mix your yeast].
If the yeast water bubbles, it means that the yeast is good. If the yeast water doesn’t bubble, it means the yeast is bad and should be thrown away. *See ‘ extra yeast notes’ at the end of these steps.
2. Make the Puff Puff Batter: In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Then, pour the foamy yeast water into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon, spatula or your hand.
If you need more water, slowly add more water in drops to avoid adding too much. Continue mixing until you get a pancake-like batter thickness/ consistency,
*Check the puff puff video above to see how thick you should be aiming for. It should be the consistency/ thickness of pancake batter.
3. Leave it to Rise: Cover the mixture and keep it aside for the next 30 minutes to 1 hour (maximum of 2 hours), by which time it should rise to about double its former size.
4. Heat the Oil: Place a deep pot on the cooker/ stove and turn on to medium heat. Next, add some oil up to 3 to 4 inches (5 centimetres) level.
5. Scoop the Batter: Dip one hand into some water and then scoop some of the batter into your hand to form a medium or small size ball. You can also use a tablespoon or a small round spoon but using the hand is easier to achieve perfect round puffs.
Next, drop the dough ball into the hot oil. [Watch the video to see how to mould puff puffs]. Repeat – scoop, mould and drop in the hot oil.
Continue scooping dough balls into the pan of hot oil, until you have a pot full of puff puff dough balls. Do not to add too many in the pot, to avoid the puff puffs sticking to each other.
6. Fry until one side turns golden brown. Then, flip the puff puffs to the other side and also fry until golden brown. Remove fried puff puffs from the oil using a mesh skimmer or spider strainer spoon.
Place the hot puff puffs in a bowl or basket that is lined with kitchen napkins or in a colander or on a cooling rack to drain the excess oil.
Alternatively, you can transfer them from the pot of hot oil to a bowl and then transfer to another bowl, to ensure they do not soak up oil.
*EXTRA NOTE WHEN USING YEAST: If you use yeast that has gone bad or expired, your puff puff mix/ batter will not rise, and you’d have wasted the whole ingredients. Instead of risking to add the yeast into everything, it’s better to do the above proofing process to first test whether the yeast is good or bad.
If you recently used out of the packet and sure of the yeast, no need to do the PROOFING PROCESS, and you can add the yeast along with the other ingredients and mix them all together. Any yeast you haven’t used in a long time should be proofed first before adding it to your other ingredients.
EXTRA TIPS FOR MAKING PUFF PUFF WITHOUT YEAST
NOTE: Baking powder is a popular yeast substitute in baking and fried pastry making, and it’s already included with the addition self-rising flour.
Self-rising flour is made up of Flour + baking powder + salt, and you can make your own instead of buying ready-made ones.
In the above recipe, the baking powder (not yoghurt) is the ingredient that substitutes yeast. The yoghurt adds softness and fluffiness to the pastry, thereby making it softer (as ordinarily, the baking powder used as rising agent produces puff puff that has the texture of Buns).
This no-yeast puff puff recipe substitutes yeast with baking powder. The baking powder is pre-mixed with flour and salt to make self-rising flour. Plain yoghurt (unsweetened) was added to make the puff puff soft and fluffy.
Yoghurt is optional and you may or may not use it, but note that puff puff made with baking powder (in place of yeast) has a bit coarse texture (not very soft) similar to Nigerian buns. It’s worthy to also note that baking powder is the rising-agent used to make buns.
Ground Cinnamon was added for extra flavour, but you can switch it up with nutmeg or vanilla or any other flavour that rocks your boat.
HOW TO ADJUST THE ABOVE RECIPES
If your fried puff puff is not as soft as you prefer, when next you’re making PuffPuffs, try adding 1 tablespoon of water to the recipe above and see how you like it. If you prefer your puff puffs not as soft as the ones you fried, reduce the water quantity next time you make the snack.
Also, if you find that the fried puff puffs you made are not as sweet/ sugary as you prefer, feel free to add more sugar, starting with ¼ cup sugar. You may also reduce the quantity of sugar stated in the recipe above if you found the ones you fried more sugary than how you like them.
How To Serve Puff Puffs (Delicious Ideas)
- Serve the puff puffs hot or warm
- Serve plain, as it is – nothing else added, or
- Sprinkle with powdered cinnamon, or
- Sprinkle with or dip in granulated or icing sugar – this is how I like my puff puff.
- Sprinkle with or dip in suya spice (a mixture of ground ginger and pepper)
- Sprinkle with honey or sugar syrup
- Dip in strawberry jam
- Dip in groundnut paste/ peanut butter
Puff Puff Variations (Recipes with Additional Ingredients)
I like my puff puff the traditional way it’s made, basic with nothing extra in the ingredients (no pepper, no eggs or milk). But some people are just so bougie and want some extras in their puff puff, and that’s okay.
Sometimes, it makes sense to want to boost the nutritional value of your puff puff, such as packing on proteins by adding milk and/ or eggs. I’ve even heard some people tweak their recipe by adding coconut water or chocolate to the basic puff puff recipe.
Try these puff puff variations and also experiment with new additions and see how you like it.
How to Make Puff Puff With Eggs – Add egg to the other ingredients. You can use one egg to 3 cups of flour recipe, or as you like. Since the egg is liquid, you’ll need slightly less water in the recipe. So, slowly add your water and mix until you get the thickness or consistency illustrated in the above video.
How to Make Puff Puff With Milk – Puff puff recipe with milk is all the same as with making regular puff puff (above) but here you’ll add powdered or liquid milk to the other ingredients.
If you are using liquid milk, then you’ll need to add less plain water than the amount specified in the recipe, to ensure your batter does not become too watery. You can add 1 tablespoon milk to 3 cups of flour recipe or more you like.
How to Make Puff Puff With milk and Eggs – Simply add milk and eggs along with the other ingredients. Combine thoroughly, then cover and keep aside to rise. As above, ensure to reduce the quantity of plain water you’ll use in the recipe.
How to Make Puff Puff With Pepper – Just add the pepper to the other ingredients. An idea is to add a teaspoon of pepper to 3 cups of flour, or more if you want it to be hotter.
How to Make Puff Puff With Onions and Pepper – This is how my mom likes hers. All you need to do is to add the onions and pepper with the other puff puff ingredients, mix well, keep aside to rise.
Puff Puff with Grated Coconut/ Coconut Flakes and Coconut Milk – Imma at AfricanBites has a coconut puff puff recipe.
What is Puff Puff?
Since some of our readers are not Nigerians, I thought it would be a good idea to explain what puff puffs are.
Puff puff, or PuffPuff, is a tasty round, deep-fried dough balls that have a light and pillowy-soft, airy texture with a moist interior. It’s a popular street snack in Nigeria and across West and Central Africa. It’s also a popular party and weddings small chop/ finger food. It’s easy to make and involves only a few cheap and easily available ingredients.
Names of Puff Puff Across Africa: Also known as Puff Puff in Sierra Leone and English-speaking part of Cameroon, this tasty snack is known by different names across Africa. Ghanaians call it Bofrot or Boflot or Buffloaf; French-speaking African countries such as Republic of Benin and some parts of Cameroon call it Beignet; the people of Congo call it Mikate; the Sudanese call it Legimat, and Liberians call it Kala.
If you’ve never seen or eaten puff puffs before, it would remind you of yeast doughnuts, which have a similar texture and airy-softness. Some non-Africans tend to call puff puffs doughnuts, but once you take a bite, you’ll notice that they are different. You can check out our Easy Homemade Donuts Recipe and Steps.
Differences between puff puffs and doughnuts: The ingredients used in making puff puffs and doughnuts are slightly different and here’s how: Doughnut ingredients: flour, butter, milk, yeast, sugar, salt. Puff puffs contain all of that except butter and milk. Both snacks also differ in taste and texture.
Click to the next page for solutions to common problems people face when making puff puff.
thanks for your expose…I find that my near perfect puff puff kind of deflate when they get cold, why is that please?
Hi ada, thanks for reading. I have no idea but only a guess:
May be you left the puff puff batter to stay too long before frying (it could have over-risen to the max and fallen). Try reducing how long you keep the puff-puff after mixing (before frying).
Also, could be that the yeast was too much. Try reducing it and see.
Good one. Love your detailed explanation
Thanks for the feedback, Olakemmy. I’m happy to know that you like the details in my explanation.
Be sure to try out our Puff-Puff recipe and also come back to let me know how it came out.
This was really helpful, thanks for sharing.
I have always had the issue of my puff-puff turning out stronger than I expected but thanks to you, all that is solved now.
You’re the best 👍
Thanks for that feedback, Chioma. Even the best puff-puff makers went from making them strong or flat to making better puff-puff. I’m happy that our puff-puff guide above will help you solve the problem you had. Let me know how your next puff-puff frying goes.
Thank you so much for this post, you selflessly explained in the details. Most of your explanation is my area of challenge.
I definitely will use your to solve my issues.
No more flat puff puff.
Thank once more
Hi Linda, thanks for your feedback I am happy to hear that it’s going to help you fix your puff puff mistakes.
Yes ooo – no more flat puff puff!
When you try it out, be sure to let me know, or even tag us on Instagram with a picture of your improved round puff puff.
Thank you for this !
My pleasure