Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper and Pumpkin

If you are an OG Yummy Medley follower, you will remember that once upon a time I shared a spicy drop donut recipe known in Nigeria as puff puff or  bofrot in Ghana. Puff puff is a staple on my house, and I make it almost every other week especially for my sisters because they love it and because of how easy it is to make. I recently made a huge batch of pumpkin puree because of the seasonal baking that I love to do with pumpkins so I decided to try adding pumpkins to my puff puff and… as you can imagine since this recipe exists, It was a huge hit! So get ready as I demonstrate in this recipe how to make Nigerian puff puff with pepper, some interesting spices , while giving it a huge pumpkin upgrade!

Small sidestory: my husband hates cinnamon! I have tried many ways for to introduce cinnamon to him but just the smell turns him all the way off. When I first made these Nigerian puff puff  while recipe testing, I made two batches. One with a significant amount of cinnamon and the other with a little less. I wish I could say he loved the cinnamon loaded batch more, but he didn’t. He didn’t hate it though, so that to me was a sign of success. See, we live 10 minutes from a cinnamon factory, and while to most people taking a walk down that side of the street smells like heaven, to my husband it is mild torture, so the fact that he actually enjoyed my pumpkin loaded, Nigerian puff puff with pepper was a major victory! You can actually be flexible with the spices you use in this recipe. Any sweet spice of your choice  like cinnamon, allspice, and even cardamon can be a good replacement for the spices used in this recipe and also in the pumpkin spice sugar. I always add cayenne pepper to my Nigerian puff puff since that always elevates the traditional pumpkin recipe way beyond its basic flour, yeast and sugar format

How to Make Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper & Pumpkin

Main Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 2¼ tsp active dry yeast (typically 1 sachet)
• ½ tsp dry cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• Oil for deep frying – Feel free to choose your favorite flavorless oil. I used Canola Oil, but you can use Peanut Oil, Vegetable Oil, Rice-Bran Oil or Safflower Oil

Pumpkin Spice Sugar

• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Activate the Yeast

Start by activating the yeast: In a bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar in 1 cup  of 110°F-115°F water. Add in the yeast and stir until it is completely dissolved. Let this mixture stand for 5-10 minutes until yeast begins to foam.

Mix Dry Spices

While the yeast is activating, combine the flour, sugar, dry cayenne pepper, freshly grated nutmeg and salt in a separate bowl.

Combine Yeast and Spices to Create Batter

Once the yeast has activated, pour in the yeast and water mixture with the pureed pumpkin into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix in the wet and the dry ingredients together until the mixture resembles cake batter. Add in more water a little at a time if necessary to adjust the consistency of the batter. In my case, I added in ¾ cup of additional water to get the consistency just right. Cover and set the mixture aside allowing it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Once the batter has risen to double its original size, heat up oil for deep frying up to about 350-355°F.

Fry Batter in Oil

Using an ice cream scoop or your hands if you are so skilled, drop the batter into the hot oil without overcrowding the pan. For perfect puff puff cooking, keep your heat at about medium- low. This will ensure the oil doesn not get too hot and burn the outside of your puff puff while keeping the middle raw. The puff puff should float to the top of the oil a few seconds after it is dropped into the oil, if it doesn’t, the oil is not hot enough

Once one side of the donuts are lightly browned, turn and continue to fry until the donuts are done. The whole frying process for each batch took about 5 minutes.

Serve the puff puff warm just as is or sprinkle with some pumpkin spice sugar if you want to kick up the pumpkin spice flavor. To cake the pumpkin spice sugar simply whisk together ¼ cup powdered sugar with 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

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4.86 from 7 votes

Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper and Pumpkin Recipe

If you think you love puff puff or even doughnuts, get ready as I demonstrate in this recipe how to make Nigerian puff puff with pepper, some interesting spices, while giving it a huge pumpkin upgrade!

Prep Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Dessert, Small Chops, Snack

Cuisine: Nigerian, West African

Servings: 25 pieces

Calories: 94kcal

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 2¼ tsp active dry yeast (typically 1 sachet)
• ½ tsp dry cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• Oil for deep frying

Pumpkin Spice Sugar

• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

• Start by activating the yeast: In a bowl, dissolve 1 tsp sugar in 1 cup 110°F-115°F water. Add in the yeast and stir until it is completely dissolved. Let this mixture stand for 5-10 minutes until yeast begins to foam.
• While the yeast is activating, in a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, dry cayenne pepper, freshly grated nutmeg and salt.
• Once the yeast has activated, pour in the yeast and water mixture with the pureed pumpkin into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix in the wet and the dry ingredients together until the mixture resembles cake batter. Add in more water a little at a time if necessary to adjust the consistency of the batter. In my case, I added in ¾ cup of additional water to get the consistency just right.
• Cover the mixture with and set aside allowing it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Once the puff puff mixture has risen to double its original size, heat up oil for deep frying up to about 350-355F.
• Using an ice cream scoop, or your hands if you are so skilled, drop the batter into the hot oil without overcrowding the pan. For perfect puff puff cooking, keep your heat at about medium- low. This will ensure the oil will not get too hot and bun the outside of your puff puff while keeping the middle raw. The puff puff should float to the top of the oil a few seconds after it is dropped into the oil, if it doesn’t, the oil is not hot enough
• Once one side of the donuts are lightly browned, turn and continue to fry until the donuts are done. The whole frying process for each batch took about 5 minutes.
• Serve the puff puff warm just as it is or to kick up the pumpkin spic flavor, sprinkle with some pumpkin spice sugar. To cake the pumpkin spice sugar simply whisk together ¼ cup powdered sugar with 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

Video

Notes

Nigerian Puff Puff with Pepper Calories and Nutrition 

The nutritional information for a serving of puff puff (meaning one ball) is shown below with the assumption of 10% oil retention on deep fried foods.

This post was originally published on October 15, 2017 at 8:35 pm and has been updated for image steps, content and recipes.