How to Make Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper

Indulge in deliciousness with deep-fried Nigerian Puff Puff flavored with pepper and nutmeg! Made with dough, and raised with yeast, these addictive Puff Puff round balls are crisped brown from out and pillowy within. This recipe for puff puff would soon be your family favorite!

This Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper recipe will change your life! Puff puffs are a popular Nigerian snack that’s similar to doughnuts. 

Made with yeast, nutmeg, flour, and pepper, they’re fun to make and eat!

What I Love About This Recipe?

A popular street food from West Africa, this Nigerian Puff Puff is everything! 

This classic recipe of puff puff is all you need to start your day with a great treat. Homemade, vegetarian, versatile and utterly delicious, these puff puffs make great quick snacks for a busy day.

I hope that these homemade puff puffs satisfy your craving as much as they satisfy ours!

What is Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper?

This scrumptious snack recipe is just what everyone craves. It’s a peppery fried batter with a sweet center. 

Puff puff are fried balls of dough that are a popular snack in Nigeria. They’re a soft finger food with a golden crust and a sweet interior. Like any fried snack, they’re not exactly the picture of health. However, these are delicious treats to make every once in a while.

My family certainly doesn’t eat puff puff every day. But, when we do get to treat ourselves, they are always so satisfying!

Ingredients

This recipe uses easy-to-find ingredients that can be bought from a local store if you don’t already have them in your pantry. Read the Recipe Card for the measurements.

For Nigerian Puff Puff 

• Flour- You may use all-purpose flour, wheat flour or gf flour for making these puff puffs. The wheat and gf flour are usually denser than the APF and may need more water for a smooth batter.
• Yeast – I have used dry active yeast that needs to be activated. You may use instant yeast as well. Make sure to activate it with warm water. Too much yeast may spoil the taste of puff puffs so be mindful. 
• Warm water- Adding warm water to yeast is an important step. Not hot water as it will not activate the yeast.
• Ground chili pepper- is the star ingredient of this recipe. It adds an earthy, spicy and subtle flavor to puff puffs. You may add any chili powder as a substitute.
• Nutmeg- adds a nice aroma and nutty flavor. If you don’t have nutmeg, you may add ground mace or Garam Masala.
• Vegetable Oil- Any good vegetable oil or sunflower oil works well. Since I deep-fried the puff puff, I avoided using olive oil. 
• Sugar- is added to the yeast mixture and it adds a mildly sweet flavor to these savory snacks.
• Salt- Table salt works well for this recipe.

Equipment

• Deep Pan
• Bowl
• Slotted Spoon

Variations

• Baked Puff Puff- For more healthy puff puffs, you may bake these balls in an oven drizzled with little oil. You may air fry these puffs as well.
• Puff Puff without yeast- These puff puffs can be made without yeast. A quick recipe would involve adding yogurt (vegan for vegan option) to mix the batter of flour. This results in instant puff puffs and you don’t have to wait for the batter to rise. Though the taste would be different.
• Add another ingredient- You may add cocoa powder to the puff puffs to give them a chocolatey flavor.

Storage Instructions

Leftover Puff Puff may be stored in an airtight container (after cooling off) in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. 

They can be frozen for up to 3 months. You may thaw them and heat them in the oven on low heat for about 1 min just before serving.

If you have extra batter left over, you may store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Make sure to fry the batter after it gets to room temperature.

What to Serve with This Puff Puff

I love to serve these sweet and savory Nigerian snacks with other favorite West African dishes. Here are some tasty pairings for puff puff:

• Nigerian Jollof Rice Recipe
• Nigerian Meat Pie Recipe
• Fried Yam with Pepper Sauce (Dundun)

Making Fried Foods Healthy

Just because this recipe fries dough in order to achieve that crispy, flaky texture doesn’t mean it’s bad for you! In fact, at Sims Home Kitchen, we like to come up with the healthiest ways to fry foods. That way, you can enjoy your favorite crunchy meal without worrying about betraying your diet.

One thing you can do to make the frying process a bit healthier is to use olive oil, which has less fat than corn oil. However, olive oil does have a strong flavor and will change the taste of the puff puff.

The next best thing is to replace your wheat flour with a gluten-free option. Many people have an intolerance to gluten as it is, so this replacement would probably serve more than a few benefits. You can still follow the recipe below in the same easy and fun way, and you’ll enjoy delicious puff puffs within minutes!

Wait! My Puff Puff is Too Dense! Troubleshooting Homemade Puff Puff

If your puff puffs come out too hard or chewy, don’t worry. There are easy ways to troubleshoot a dense puff puff. First, add a couple of tablespoons of water to the batter.

Secondly, you might just be frying the dough for too long. Try taking the balls out a minute or so earlier. Finally, try cutting back on the salt to keep your puff puffs moist and flaky.

How to Make Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper

Making this tender fried snack is easier than you think. And the end result is as puffy, soft and sweet as you can imagine. Here are the simple steps to making puff puff with pepper at home:

Start with The Batter

• First, you’ll start with warm (but not hot!) water in a mixing bowl. If the water is too hot, it can kill the yeast. And we want that yeast to be as active as possible to make these really puff! Next, add salt, sugar, and active dry yeast to the water in the bowl.
• Then whisk these ingredients together so the yeast is dissolved. Let everything sit for 5 minutes. This allows the yeast to activate. You should see some bubbles forming on the surface of the water. That’s a good sign--your yeast is alive and hungry!
• After you have activated the yeast, it’s time to make the batter. First, add flour, a bit of nutmeg, and ground pepper to the mixing bowl. Stir everything together until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the dough here, as it can result in tough puff puff, and no one wants that!
• At this point, your puff puff batter should look a lot like pancake batter. Put the mixture aside to rest with a clean cloth over the top of the bowl. The batter should rise for 1-2 hours. Keep it in a warm place for the most active rise.

Frying The Batter

• When the batter is nearly finished rising, it’s time to prepare to fry the puff puff. Start by creating a landing pad for the finished snacks. Lay some paper towels in a bowl and keep them nearby.
• Meanwhile, heat up some vegetable oil in a deep pot. You should have enough oil to cover all of the puff puffs that you add to it.
• When it’s time to start cooking, use one hand to scoop a ½ handful of the puff-puff batter mixture and squeeze it gently into the heated oil. You don’t want to drop the dough ball from too far away, as it can cause the oil to splatter. Add only as many as will comfortably fit in the pot without sticking together or bumping into each other.
• Fry the puff puff with pepper until brown on all sides, using a spoon to roll the balls around for even cooking. Finally, use a slotted spoon to remove the fried puff puff to a paper towel-lined bowl. Repeat with the remaining puff puff batter.

Serve it

• Enjoy your beautiful bowl of freshly fried puff puff with pepper.

Top Tips

• If your puff puffs come out too hard or chewy, you may add a couple of tablespoons of water to the batter.
• Avoid frying the dough for too long. Try taking the balls out a minute or so earlier. 
• Try cutting back on the salt to keep your puff puffs moist and flaky.
• Add warm water (Not HOT) to the yeast or the yeast will not be activated. 
• Overmixing the dough may result in hard puff puffs. 
• Don’t add the batter to cold or warm oil. If you do the puff puffs will scatter and not have a round shape. Make sure that the oil is heated enough. You may test it by adding a drop of batter first. If it rises to the top, the oil is heated sufficiently for deep frying.
• Once the balls are in the oil, simmer the flame so that the balls are not undercooked from within.
• Deep frying ensures that the puff puff takes a round shape.

FAQs

More Nigerian Recipes

• Nigerian Spinach Stew
• Nigerian Beans Recipe
• Nigerian Fried Rice

Thanks for reading this recipe, comment below if you made this, and let me know how it went! Follow @simshomekitchen on Instagram, take a photo, tag and hashtag it with @simshomekitchen. 

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Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper

Indulge in deliciousness with deep-fried Nigerian Puff Puff flavored with pepper and nutmeg! Made with dough, and raised with yeast, these addictive Puff Puff round balls are crisped brown from out and pillowy within. This recipe for puff puff would soon be your family favorite!

4.93 from 14 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Nigerian

Keyword: Doughnut, puff puff, Small chops, snack

Prep Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Equipment

• ▢
  Deep Pan or deep fryer
• ▢
  Bowl
• ▢
  Slotted spoon

Ingredients

• ▢ 650 ml of warm
• ▢ ½ Tbsp of salt
• ▢ 200 g of sugar
• ▢ 1 pack or 2 ¼ tsp of active dry yeast
• ▢ 700 g of plain flour
• ▢ ½ tbsp of nutmeg
• ▢ 1/4-1/2 tbsp of pepper
• ▢ vegetable oil or sunflower oil

Instructions

• Add 650ml of warm (but not hot!) water to a mixing bowl. Add ½ Tbsp of salt, 200g of sugar, and 1 pack or 2 ¼ tsp of active dry yeast to the bowl. Whisk these ingredients together and let them sit for 5 minutes while the yeast activates.
• Add 700g of plain flour and ½ tbsp of nutmeg and 1/4-1/2 tbsp of pepper to the mixture and mix it all together. At this point, your puff puff batter should look a lot like pancake batter. Put the mixture aside again, this time with a clean cloth over the top of the bowl, and let it rise for 1-2 hours. Keep it in a warm place while it rises.
• In a second bowl, add some paper towels. Set it aside for later.
• Once 1-2 hours have passed and your batter has risen, heat up some vegetable oil (or sunflower oil) in a saucepan. You should have enough oil that it will cover all of the puff puffs that you add to it.
• In one hand, scoop a ½ handful of the mixture and squeeze it into the heated oil. Fry until brown. With a slotted spoon, remove the puff puff and let it dry. Repeat until you have used all of the batter.
• Enjoy!

Video

Notes

• If your puff puffs come out too hard or chewy, you may add a couple of tablespoons of water to the batter.
• Avoid frying the dough for too long. Try taking the balls out a minute or so earlier. 
• Try cutting back on the salt to keep your puff puffs moist and flaky.

• Add warm water (Not HOT) to the yeast or the yeast will not be activated. 
• Overmixing the dough may result in hard puff puffs. 
• Don’t add the batter in cold or warm oil. Else the puff puffs will scatter and not take the round shape. Make sure that the oil is heated enough. You may test by adding a drop of batter first. If it rises to the top, the oil is heated sufficiently for deep frying.
• Once the balls are in the oil, simmer the flame so that the balls are not undercooked from within.
• Deep frying ensures that the puff puff takes a round shape.