How To Make Puff Puff
Are you a fun of mandazis? If so then let me teach you how to make puff puff a West African deep fried dough like mandazis. Puff puffs are a type of doughnut made from flour, yeast and sugar then shaped into balls and deep fried. It’s a common snack in most countries and different countries have different names for them.
Puff puffs are very similar to mandazis as they’re both deep fried but they differ in size and the use of yeast in puff puffs. In fact in some places in West Africa they refer to puff puffs as mandazis.
How To Make Puff Puff
- Make the batter. The puff puff batter is very easy to make. Keep in mind the type of yeast you’re using. You can either use instant yeast which I recommend or dry active yeast. If using instant yeast you can mix everything together and the dough will proof just fine. But if using dry active yeast, you need to mix it with sugar and warm water and let it activate for about 5 minutes. The yeast will feed on the sugar and this will help activate the dough.
- Proof the dough. You have to let the dough proof for about 1 hour. You can proof for shorter as long as the dough doubles in size.
- Frying. Let the oil get hot enough before frying. If you don’t, the dough will soak up too much oil and that will not be good.
One of the challenging thing about making puff puff is shaping the dough into balls. There are people who prefer to use their hands then drop balls into the hot oil, but I find this so hard to do. I prefer using a small spoon as I find that the balls are uniform in size and dropping them in the hot oil is easier and less riskier.
Ingredients You Will Need
- Flour- You can use either all-purpose flour or self raising flour
- Yeast- Either instant yeast or dry active yeast
- Sugar – To taste and also for the yeast to feed on so as the dough rises and doubles in size.
- Warm water – Use warm water as opposed to cold water as the yeast needs a warm environment to activate
- Cinnamon or Nutmeg. Either will do. I preferred using cinnamon.
- Vegetable oil to fry.
Let me know how your puffs turn out when you try out this recipe. Tag me on Instagram when you do.
How To Make Puff Puff
Equipment
- Deep frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Instant yeast/ dry active yeast
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1 1/4 cup Warm water
- 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- If using instant yeast, mix flour, yeast, sugar, cinnamon and warm water together until well combined. If using dry active yeast, you need to let the yeast activate. Mix warm water, sugar and dry active yeast together and let the yeast activate for about 5 minutes. It will be ready to use when you see the mixture increase in size and bubbles have formed. Then add this mixture to the flour and cinnamon and combine well.
- Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen cloth and let it sit to proof for about an hour. The dough will double in size and have a sweet smell.
- Preheat the oil in a deep frying pan and scoop a spoonful of dough then drop it into the oil.
- Fry the balls until golden brown as you turn them so as to cook evenly.
- Remove from heat. Drain the balls on paper towels and enjoy hot.