Nigerian Buns Recipe (without Eggs or Dairy)

March 24, 2017 (Last Updated: December 24, 2019)

This recipe shows how to Make Nigerian Buns without dairy or eggs, and with a touch of spice, they’re fluffier, taste so much better and are hard to resist!

How to Make Nigerian Buns - Three buns in focus with others in background

A while back, I shared my puff puff  recipe and while I raved about my love for those drop donuts, I have a new fried love: Nigerian buns. It might be because there is no wait time for the mixture to rise, or that I prefer the texture in general, but I currently prefer Nigerian buns over puff puff any day. Now, this love is kind of complicated because I generally do not like the way buns is prepared sometimes. I like the simple and easy version of buns, no milk, no eggs. Eggs change the texture of buns to one I find undesirable, and milk gives it an odd flavor that I personally do not prefer. This recipe shows how to make Nigerian buns without dairy, eggs or any fuss and yet still get that fluffy texture and great taste!

Here is my recipe for what I consider to be the  simplest, least complicated, yet perfectly textured Nigerian buns. Once you get the texture down, you are free to customize the flavors to suit your preference. In my case, I used a bit of cayenne pepper and nutmeg, but you can omit those spices and keep it plain, or be creative and experiment with something else… cinnamon, maybe. Feel free to experiment and let me know if you decide to try something different.

How to Make Nigerian Buns - Broken bun in focus with others in background

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How to Make Nigerian Buns - Three buns in focus with others in background
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4.72 from 7 votes

How to Make Nigerian Buns

This recipe shows how to Make Nigerian Buns without egg, and with a touch of spice, believe it or not they taste so much better!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Servings: 20 -25
Calories: 158kcal
Author: Yummy Medley

Ingredients

  • 400 grams All purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 175 grams sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 - 1.5 cups water
  • Oil for deep frying
  • Optional: 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

  • Heat up the oil in a deep pan or pot just before you start prepping the batter.
  • In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
  • Pour in the water about ¼th cup at a time, mixing lightly each time, until the consistency of the batter is like thick muffin batter. Depending on your flour, you might need more or less than 1- 1 ½ cups of water. Be careful not to overmix as this might make the buns hard.
  • The oil should be about 350-355ºF, and on medium heat before you start frying
  • Using an ice cream scoop, or your hands if you are so skilled, drop the batter into the hot oil without overcrowding the pan.
  • Once one side of the buns is lightly browned, turn and continue to fry until the buns are done. The whole frying process for each batch took about 5 minutes.
  • Be careful not to fry the buns in oil that is too hot. It will brown the outside of the buns while keeping the inside raw. If you find that your oil is too hot in the middle of frying, just add a little bit of room temperature oil to the hot oil to bring down the temperature.
  • Serve warm!

Notes

Allow the buns mixture to rest for about 10 minutes before frying. This will allow the gluten in the flour to relax before frying.

How to Make Nigerian Buns - A few background buns in focus

 

 

57 Comments

  • Reply
    Ruth
    March 18, 2020 at 6:38 am

    I want to know how am going to be mixing the ingredients

  • Reply
    Chimaechi
    July 6, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    This is by far my favorite Nigerian buns recipe, simple and tasty. All i had to do was convert the flour and sugar measurement from grams to cups and i was good to go. I fry this every other day so much that my teenage girl and i know the recipe by heart. I add cinnamon instead of nutmeg and our popular Cameroon pepper and it tastes delicious. I agree with you on the issue of taste and texture when egg or milk is added. I wish you could come up with a buns recipe (not puff puff) that includes ripe bananas. Ill be on the look out for it here WINK!! Thank you for the recipe it is my GO TO buns recipe.

    • Reply
      Goodness
      August 5, 2020 at 8:50 am

      Thanks so much for this recipe, I’d like to know 400grams equals how many (tin milk) cups.. Anticipating your reply.. Thanks

  • Reply
    Ideal Faith Chuks
    August 11, 2020 at 11:17 am

    4 stars
    Beautiful am impressed. Thanks a lot

  • Reply
    Joy
    October 18, 2020 at 1:45 pm

    I just tried it, simple and delicious. Kudos

  • Reply
    MamaMia
    January 23, 2021 at 8:37 am

    I made mine and it’s so lovely! I added some cinnamon and vanilla just in small proportions. Thanks for this recipe !!

  • Reply
    Jojocy
    August 14, 2021 at 10:57 am

    Looks good hope it’ll be nice 😁😀😁😁

  • Reply
    Shar
    August 17, 2021 at 7:11 pm

    5 stars
    I just tried it. Came out so delicious! Didn’t make as much as it was just for myself and it came out great! 🙂

  • Reply
    Nenye
    August 19, 2021 at 2:48 pm

    5 stars
    This is really nice, I tried this recipe and it turned out great.

  • Reply
    Chioma Julia
    February 9, 2022 at 12:27 am

    What makes it breaking inside oil while still frying?

  • Reply
    Oluwakorede A.
    May 17, 2022 at 8:51 pm

    5 stars
    Hi,
    I literally made this around 1am because I wanted a snack that did not require eggs or milk. Stumbled on your recipe and it came out quite nice. Had to Google the equivalent of the measurements in cups, and I reduced the sugar. Was tasty. I did have issues with flipping the buns in the oil so that the other side would fry. 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️
    Anyway, thank you.

  • Reply
    Princess Nma
    July 21, 2022 at 4:07 am

    I’ve been using egg recipe for a while now, I decided to try something different , so I googled and saw this eggless recipe,I tried it and it came out well. Thank you so much.

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