Delicious Nigerian Desserts Recipes to Try at Home

ByFoodeely Staff Recipes

Nigerian desserts are popular both at home and abroad. Whether you’re based outside Nigeria or living in Nigeria, making some of these snacks is easy. Also, their recipes are not hard to follow while the ingredients can be sourced easily too.

Are you throwing a dinner party or just looking for easy teatime snacks?

Some of the tasty Nigerian desserts you can try at home are puff puff, chin chin, egg roll, meat pie, shuku shuku, plantain chips, and Ukwa.

These yummy snacks are not limited to home snacks. Whether you have an upcoming wedding, birthday party, or you’re hosting a get-together party, you can prepare one of these appetizers to wow your guests.

For the sake of simplicity, this article focuses on the first two—puff puff and chin chin as they are easy to make. Chin chin is one easy-to-prepare yummy snack that you can even store in the pantry for unexpected guests.

If you are ready for the recipes, we are as prepared!

Puff Puff

Puff Puff is one of the delicious and common types of desserts in Nigeria. The snack is widely known as puff puff, though some tribes have other names for it. The Hausas (a tribe in Nigeria), for example, call it Panke. Learn how to make puff puff below.

Nigerian DessertsHow to Make Puff Puff

Puff Puff Ingredients

  • Flour (all-purpose flour)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground chili (pepper)
  • 3-4 spoon granulated (or regular) sugar
  • 2 tsp. ground nutmeg seed
  • Groundnut oil (peanut oil) (3 liters)
  • 2 tsp. active yeast

Directions for Making Puff Puff

  1. Wash your pots, plates, mixing bowl, hands, and other equipment.
  2. Add 2.5 cups of flour, the ground nutmeg, a pinch of salt, yeast (2 tsp.), the pepper, and 3 spoon sugar into the bowl. Using your hand, mix all content so that everything becomes a powder.
  3. Pour 200ml warm water into the mixture, then keep mixing until you get consistency. You can add more water if necessary. However, aim for something you can scoop with your hands without escaping through your fingers.
  4. You can also add more salt and sugar when necessary. But always use your pinch for the measurement, especially for salt. Or else you may render your dough useless.
  5. Cover the mixture for about thirty to forty minutes. During this period, the yeast will rise the dough. The yeast is also responsible for the pleasant smell synonymous with the desert.

After opening the cover, if you realize that the mixture is foamy, that means the amount of yeast you add is too much. Not bad, you can adjust next time.

ALSO READ: 10 Popular Nigerian Foods and their Health Impacts

Frying your Puff Puff

  1. Set a dry pot on heat and pour the groundnut oil into it. Always use a saucepan so that the puff puff floats instead of resting at the bottom of the pot.
  2. Wait until the oil is heated up, then start scooping the batter into the oil, using your hand. At first, the batter may sit in the oil but will rise and float in no time. This is why using a deep pot rather than a frying pan is recommended. If you get the scooping right, the puff puff should take on a somewhat spherical shape.
  3. Turn the batter every 2 – 3 minutes until its crust becomes golden brown.

Side note: Make sure the cooker is set to medium or low heat. If the oil is too hot, the crust will turn golden brown without being well cooked. On the other hand, the batter will soak and absorb oil if the heat is too low.

Chin Chin

Chin chin is another favorite Nigerian dessert characterized by its crunchy nature. The following preparation and frying instructions will help you make a tasty chin chin.

Nigerian Desserts
Image: Wikipedia

How to Make Chin Chin

Chin Chin Ingredients

  • All-purpose flour (5 cups)
  • Powdered milk (1 cup)
  • Water (1 cup)
  • Milk flavor (1 spoon)
  • Vegetable oil (1 liter)
  • Margarine (100g)
  • Regular sugar (3-4 tsp.)
  • Salt (1/2 Tsp.)

The Best Chin Chin Recipe

  1. Add the flour, milk flavor, cup of milk, and sugar (see the measurement above) into a mixing bowl.
  2. Properly mix all the constituents in the bowl, using your hands.
  3. Add exactly 100g of cooking margarine. More margarine will make your chin chin melt as you fry it while the dough will become puffy if the margarine is insufficient. To zero in on the right measurement, check the margarine sachet. If it reads 250g, then squeeze about 40 percent of the margarine into the bowl.
  4. Add 140ml of water (half a cup) into the bowl and mix properly until you get a thick pliable dough that is not sticky to the bowl and your hand.
  5. Knead the dough properly on any plain surface until you achieve a smooth dough.
  6. Cut the dough into a thin sheet and pieces, using a knife or pizza cutter.

How to Fry Chin Chin

  • Pour the oil into a frying pan or saucepan and let it heat up.
  • Start frying your chin chin in batches.
  • Stir every 1 – 2 minutes.
  • When the crust of the chin chin becomes light brown, transfer into a sieve before decanting into a tray. This allows the oil to drain off through the sieve.

Note: To enjoy your chin chin, let it cool off before serving. Another good news about chin chin is that you can set it aside, perhaps for later occasions.

But make sure to store the chin chin in an airtight container after it cools off properly.

ALSO READ: How Can I Become a Chef in Nigeria?

Should you Preserve Chin Chin in the Refrigerator?

Most people often ask if it’s a good idea to preserve their chin chin in a refrigerator. While it is recommended to preserve your consumables in the fridge, some consumables shouldn’t be kept in there. So, the simple answer is, you don’t have to as chin chin can maintain its best quality for up to 3 months if it’s well contained.

As mentioned earlier, you can stock this yummy dessert in your pantry. And when the time comes, use it to entertain visitors, especially the unexpected guests.

Final Thoughts

When done right, chin chin is a snack that won’t last long on the table. You do crave to eat more until no none is left. Of course, it’s really that tasty! And on the one hand, puff puff is one of the Nigerian desserts that are easy to make and also tasty. 

Whether you’re looking for easy-to-make at home snacks or want to entertain guests, these yummy snacks are perfect appetizers.