Dooney's Kitchen

Promoting and Redefining New Nigerian Food

Snacks

Puff Puff – A prelude to Puff Puff 2.0

One of my readers asked me for a recipe for Puff Puff. So, here it is. I’ll like to say, I struggled with Puff Puff for some time too, as the batter either came out too watery, or too hard, and my puff was not fluffy. You know how we Nigerian cooks are, we don’t measure anything. You just get a list, of ingredients and that’s it. Unfortunately, this can’t work with recipes that need some chemical interaction. My friend Aanu says baking is like Chemistry, and she is correct. After many trials of measuring, I got better results, but something was still not clicking, until I stumbled across it on the aisle in a supermarket. Yeast. I always grabbed the first container of yeast I could find, not realising that with dry yeast, there are two kinds. One is the regular yeast for breads and other pastry, and the other is quick action yeast. Oh, my goodness, that was where I was getting it wrong. I always used the yeast for bread. So, the next time you are buying yeast for Puff Puff, check the label. it must say “Quick action or Fast acting yeast”

So, here is the recipe

1 1/2 cups of ordinary flour – plain flour or all purpose flour

1 sachet of fast action yeast – equivalent to 7g of fast action yeast

1/2 cup of sugar – you can use more if you wish

1tsp of nutmeg

1 tsp of Vanilla

1 tsp of dry pepper

Enough oil to deep fry

3/4 cup of water – if you want to go full on 1 cup of water to make measuring easier, add 2 sprinklings of four at the end of mixing otherwise it will be too watery

So here we go

1. Sit the mixing bowl in another bigger bowl or pot of slightly hot water, this is to keep the bowl warm, so the yeast can start acting once it has been added to the rest of the dry ingredients. In the mixing bowl, measure the flour, sugar, nutmeg, dry pepper and stir

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2. Tear open the sachet and mix the yeast with the measured water. Also add a teaspoon of sugar and stir. Ensure you measure the water and ensure that it is WARM. Leave the yeast to sit for 10 minutes until the water becomes frothy. i.e. you will see the yeast become foamy and possibly smell a bit of alcohol. If the yeast doesn’t froth/foam at all after 10 minutes, it means the yeast has died, and your dough will not rise. If the yeast came from a tin, no point going back to that tin, because it means the entire yeast in that tin has died. You can try one more time though, if it works and it foams, great. If it doesn’t just go to the stores and buy another one. Preferably, get one in sachets because once you open a tin of yeast, it doesn’t keep for that much longer afterwards.

3. Now that you have your well foamed yeast mixture, create a hole in between the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast water slowly, mixing with your hands or a wooden spoon simultaneously. Mix until the dry ingredients have combined together with water, watch out for any dry patches. Add the vanilla. You need this mixture to be properly combined. In 1 minute or there about, you will start to see bubbles forming in the dough. This is because of the fast or quick action yeast already activated.

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The mixture should feel weighty in your hands, it shouldn’t slide through your fingers very easily. If it does, you have likely added too much water. The problem with this is, your end result will be watery, and you won’t get a light airy result when you fry.

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3. Rinse a clean dish towel with hot water, or even a kitchen paper towel. Wring it dry, take out the bowl from the basin or pot of hot water, and cover it with the warm dish towel, and place in a warm area for about 45mins – 1hour. If you are making more, I suggest 1 hour. I normally place the mixing bowl in the oven. It’s the warmest place I could think of. if you want the dough to rise faster, leave the mixing bowl in the pot of hot water and place in a warm area.

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4. After the time has elapsed, your dough should have risen to about half of it’s previous size. You don’t need it to double in volume. You just need it to rise a little bit.

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Here is a tip I have discovered over the years. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: if you leave the dough to rise for too long, your puff will soak up so much oil because the dough is very light. Do as I do, add a tablespoon of flour, stir and fry just one. If it is too oily, add another tablespoon of flour to thicken it

5. Heat up the oil, scoop the dough with your fingers, and drop into the hot oil. The dough will sink, and float in seconds. It will roll around fast, so guide with a frying spoon so it can brown evenly.

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Once it is brown, take it out of the oil into a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb some of the oil

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You can roll it in Cinnamon and Sugar, or serve plainly. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: Fry all your dough at once. Because you have worked the dough during the frying process, if you return it back to the warm place, you will notice that all the air would have been worked out, and the dough will sink to the bottom with water on top. This has happened to me a few times. If this doesn’t happen and the dough has still risen, you will find that it has so much air in it, when you fry, the dough will swell for a few seconds, and flatten almost immediately after it is out of the oil, and you are left with pancake looking puff puff.

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In the next coming days in the run up to xmas, I will be making a Christmas inspired Puff Puff. Think red, think green, thing chocolate, think custard cream. This is not just your everyday puff puff, but puff puff with a festive twist. So, watch out………

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FILED UNDER: Snacks
TAGGED WITH: nigerian puff puff, puff puff

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Comments

  1. Thanks so much for sharing this post. I am looking forward to making puff puff this weekend and I hope I get it. The first time I made it, it didn’t come out well but want to follow your detailed steps and believe I will get it this time around. Just discovered I have the wrong yeast so would try again with the right yeast. Not sure what the cup I am expected to use should look like. Please can you snap this so I have an ideal. Hubby loves puff puff so really hope to get it this time around.Thank you for your help

    Reply

  2. a ha!… Ihave seen the reason for my failure with the agege bread recipe….my yeast died!!!…i bought a tin and it stayed in my kitchen cupboards for about two months (though already opened) before i used it on the agege bread dough,…i remember very well that the yeast didnt froth as you said but decided to wing it…poor me…now i know why

    Reply

  3. Dooney oooooooooo, I tried d puff puff recipe followin all d measuremnts religiously n…guess wat? It came out really nice in face n texture but taste was …iiishhh…awful. It didn’t taste anytin like d puff puff I eat outside. Dunno what I did wrong o. Don’t u think we are supose2 add egg n milk n mayb onions cos I c sm pple add dat2 theirs? Or cld it b dat d yeast s much cos I bought d tied one. Though it gave me d bubbles n alcohol smell u descrbed n it doubled in qty after 45mins. Dunno wat went wrong pls help o!

    Reply

    • Sorry to hear, it didn’t turn out well. Eggs, milk and onions are not usually added to puff puff/ Could i ask what measurement cups you used, and whether the oil you used has been used to fry something else

      Reply

  4. Fantastic. Go gal! I tried puff puff today for the first time ever, using your step by step recipe and it worked. Came out nice. I am encouraged to try double portion next time. Thanks Dooney.

    Reply

  5. Hello Once again Dooney.

    My confusion on this recipe is around getting the right yeast. I have with me Allinson’s Dried active Yeast that says one should re-activete in water for traditional hand baking and also Allinson’s Easy bake yeast ( that states for breadmakers and handbaking) which I got from Tescos. Which should I use. Many thanks for your prompt response.

    Reply

  6. Hi Dooney I was wondering how far in advance you can cook Puff Puff will it be ok if you make it the night before you want to eat them or should I really make it them morning of the party?

    Reply

    • Cook it on the morning otherwise the yeast will convert the sugar to alcohol and the puff puff will taste sour

      Reply

  7. So i tried this recipe after i saw your guide to amazing puff puff!….i made puff puff for the first by myself and it was good!!!
    i had to trash quite a few initially because the outside was brown but on dividing it, it still had watery dough inside, but i got a hang of it after a few tries and didn’t have to resort to using the microwave method.

    here’s my question: what can i do with the oil afterwards? what do you suggest?
    i don’t see myself frying puff puff that often so the oil might likely just sit there and likely spoil till i’m ready to fry puff puff again.

    Reply

  8. Hello Dunni. Tried puff puff this evening for the 1st time using your method and it turned out well. How do I preserve the left over bater ? Thanks for sharing. Sola.

    Reply

  10. Hi dooney, please could you please give the recipe in gram., i don’t understand the 1 and half cup measurements.
    thanks

    Reply

      • Thanks dooney, but unfortunately the puff turn out bad,the problem was not the yeast, the puff refuse to rise properly, also when frying the puff puff, it soaked up too much oil. I don’t think I will be trying it anytime soon.
        The meat pie was much better it came out lovely and I really enjoyed it, not much stress compare to the puff puff.
        Thanks a lot for your help. Really appreciate.

        Reply

  11. Thanks Dunni for the tips. I tried making my puff puff with self raisin flour and fast action yeast and it took just 15 minutes to rise and it came out very well. I used all d dry ingredients you mentioned and added the yeast to d flour. After mixing, I then poured some warm water to make a slightly tick dough (as a result of rising, d dough will become lighter and so if it’s not thick enough it will soak in oil. I made dis mistake the first time, when I was frying and it didn’t come out well, I immediately added more flour, continued frying and it came out well) leave for 10 to 15 mins and voila…..your blog has made me a better cook thumbs up

    Reply

    • Aaaaw, you see, well done. I love that the blog has given you the skills to quickly whip out a solution to a cooking problem. Well done

      Reply

      • Thank you Dooney for all these recipes, you are a blessing indeed. I really love cooking & have sampled a lot on your list. I made Puff-Puff this week & it was delicious, my husband loved it. I followed your recipe to the letter & the only addition was a teaspoon of salt (don’t mind me, I do this salt/sugar combo even for pop-corn) I’m soo looking forward to your cookbook. Regards!

        Reply

  14. Hello Dooney,

    My comments are not food related per say. Could you make your page printer friendly, since the text cannot be copied? Some of us cannot read from screen while cooking. It’ll be also be environmentally friendly if it is optimized for printing. I enjoy your blog, toodles!

    Reply

  15. Hmmmm… Dooney I’ve been planning to make my first puff puff since June 2014, i am so scared it won’t turnout well, what if i don’t have vanilla? The vanilla you mentioned is it the same used as zobo flavour?

    Reply

  16. hello, i have tried making puff puff with this recipe, the first time it turned out smooth, the yeast activated etc but im not sure if my batter actually rose. i tried frying it and i had a nice lovely crispy skin outside but the inside was raw batter and wasn’t fried at all. im not sure if this is because my batter was too thick or the oil was too hot. i tried making it again twice and i couldn’t even make a smooth batter, i dunno why. any suggestions? also any suggestions as to how to get them circular (apart from ice cream scoop) cause my turned out looking like spiders. thanks in advance.

    Reply

    • That circular shape, i wish i can help. I still struggle with it myself. If batter doesn’t rise, your yeas has likely died. Best to buy a fresh batch and try it again

      Reply

  18. Hello Dooney… Please what’s nutmeg? Is it usually grounded? also the vanilla is it sold in cans? I noticed that the recipe says a half cup of sugar but you only added a tea spoon to the yeast… Is this on purpose? Thanks for the recipe… I want to start making everything I eat like you’ve said a lot of times, and that starts with puff puff and meat pie.

    Reply

    • hi, nutmeg is a spice. in its whole form it looks like a nut. it also comes ground in powder. vanilla is liquid and sold in bottles. yes, the recipe is correct.

      Reply

  19. Hello Dooney,

    I tried the puff puff recipe and it was good…….

    My only issue was that it was oily, I know it’s an oily snack but I remember u saying we could use cake pop to make puff puff, but I was wondering that without the oil would it end up like buns?

    Reply

    • if the mixture is airy enough and well risen, it shouldn’t. my latest post on puff puff has all the tips you need to prevent it from being oily

      Reply

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Nigerian food, is bold, multi faceted, rich, colourful, spicy and with varied nuances, as you move from tribe to tribe. To describe Nigerian cooking, one would say it is fiercely traditional and somewhat dogmatic, but Dooney’s Kitchen proposes to simplify methods and steps that have been passed from generation to generation whilst also challenging some of these methods using Technology. The New Nigerian Cookery isn’t just about creating a New Nigerian Kitchen, or should we say a more technology aware Nigerian cooking experience, but it encompasses redefining recipes too. Come along on the journey, and welcome to one of the best online resources for Nigerian food.