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Puff Puff with Coconut

Also known as Puff Puff with Coconut (Coconut Puff Puff)

Coconut Puff Puff is a fragrant, slightly richer variation of the beloved Nigerian street food Puff Puff, enriched with fresh coconut milk in place of water for an extraordinary depth of coconut fragrance and a slightly creamier texture. The natural fat and sweetness of coconut milk transforms the standard Puff Puff into something genuinely special — the exterior still golden and slightly crispy, but the interior softer, more tender and fragrant with a warm coconut aroma.

Puff Puff with Coconut, Nigerian cooking

Ingredients

  • 4 big cups of plain flour
  • 3 big big tablespoons of sugar
  • 1 and a half teaspoons of instant dry yeast
  • Half a teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
  • Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1 big tin of coconut milk — use instead of water
  • Vegetable oil for deep-frying
  • Icing sugar or desiccated coconut for finishing — optional

Method

  1. 01

    Making the Coconut Batter. Combine flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg and yeast in a large bowl. Add vanilla extract. Gradually add the coconut milk — warm it slightly if it has been refrigerated — while stirring. Add just enough coconut milk to form a thick, smooth, lump-free batter that falls slowly off a spoon. The batter will smell beautifully of coconut immediately.

  2. 02

    Proving. Cover with a damp cloth and prove in a warm spot for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the batter has risen, is bubbly throughout and smells wonderfully of yeast and coconut.

  3. 03

    Frying. Heat oil in a deep pan to a good frying temperature. Drop spoonfuls of coconut batter into the hot oil. Fry in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until deep golden-brown all over. The higher fat content of the coconut milk means these will colour slightly faster than standard Puff Puff — watch the heat carefully.

  4. 04

    Finishing. Drain on paper towels. While still warm, dust with icing sugar or roll in desiccated coconut for extra coconut fragrance and presentation. Serve immediately.

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