Search no further, this is it. The Nigerian chin chin recipe you have been searching for. Sounds cocky right? But this really is it. Try it and see. Chin chin is a very common Fried West African snack. It is a delightfully tasty crunchy snack.
WARNING: Once you start munching, you would have to be restrained to stop.
Even as this snack is commonly enjoyed in Nigeria, not all chin chins are made equal. Some are overtly sweet, or tasteless, while some are just an oil soaked mess.
Growing up I helped my mom make chinchin a lot during the Christmas season. We always looked forward to making this delightful snack during the Christmas holidays.
Table of Contents
Why does my chinchin soak up oil?
One of our readers asked this question in the comments so I decided to update the post to include the answer. Thank you Yemi for taking out time to drop your comment. You are appreciated ❤️
Sometimes you find that your chin chin is soggy or has soaked up a lot of oil here are a few reasons why?
- The Oil wasn’t hot enough.
- The Oil wasn’t enough for the amount of chin chin dough being fried.
- The Oil was Overcrowded. Overcrowding the oil lowers the oil temperature and we are back to no 1 point above
How to prevent chinchin from soaking up a lot Oil when frying.
- The oil wasn’t hot enough: Before you frying the chin chin. Always test the heated oil by putting a piece of chin chin in the oil . If oil bubbles and the piece of chin chin comes up immediately then the oil is ready for frying.
- The Oil wasn’t enough for the amount of chin chin dough being fried:
Always fry your chin chin with enough oil. Frying chin chin requires deep frying which requires enough oil. - Overcrowding the oil with dough: Make sure you have enough oil to fry your dough. Too much dough overcrowds the and doesn’t allow adequate frying by lowering the temperature of the oil and making the dough soak up oil.
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How do I stop the oil used to fry chin chin from bubbling over and spilling?
Most time this happens when you are frying a second batch of the chin chin dough. I have observed that this happens only when my dough is made with butter. When I make chin chin with magerine , i can fry the whole batch with the same batch without having the oil bubble up and spill over.
But since I prefer the texture and taste of chin chin made with butter here are a few tips
- If you are making a large quantity, use a large pot to fill in oil to accommodate large chin chin dough for each batch then Change the oil after each batch.
- If you are making a small quantity, Use a large pot to accommodate the amount of oil needed to fry the chin-chin in one batch.
It was part of our travel package. We travelled home to our village (country home) every Christmas. So this chin chin served as our snack and also as gifts to visitors. Trust me we never got tired of munching on these and you too will not. Read warning above.
These are soft and almost crumbly on the inside and crunchy on the outside. So not to worry no jaw breakers here. ?. These little delights are ‘CROFT’ in my son’s words meaning Crunchy and Soft You get the drift right. The young man is a foodie at heart creating a portmanteau for food lol. But if Kamso says this is good, Believe me it is ?
Now let’s get to this amazing ‘CROFT’ chin chin recipe ?
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Recommended Products for making best chin chin
1. Pottella deep square 9.5″ copper pan: it has a frying basket, a steamer tray plus you get a free cookbook with it.
2. Frying spoon: This one comes in a set of three. Best value.
3. 32 oz clear plastic storage jars: These come in a set of 6. I reserve 2 for chin-chin and use the rest for storing other pantry staples like oats.
4. Oggi four piece acrylic canister set: Also great for storage.
5. Paper Towel: To absorb excess oil after frying and before storage.
6. Serving bowls: These are perfect to serve your chinchin with.
PIN FOR LATER
Nigerian Chin chin
Ingredients
- 280g (1 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp) all purpose flour
- 82g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 57g (4 Tbsp) salted butter
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup evaporated milk
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Measure and Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Measure and mix wet ingredients together except butter.
- Add butter to the dry ingredients and mix with your fingers until just combined.
- Pour in the other wet ingredients and mix together until dough forms. it should form a perfect dough but if its feels a bit stiff, add a Tbsp of water or milk. if it feels too tacky, add a Tbsp or 2 of flour no more. DO NOT over work the dough.
- Wrap in a saran wrap and allow to rest on the counter for about 5 mins. this allows flavors blend in and develops the gluten which makes it easier during the cutting process
- Unwrap rested dough, you can roll out all the dough at once since dough is small or you can divide into 2 portions and roll individually. Roll out dough to about a quarter of an inch thick because dough will rise when you fry them.
- With a knife or pizza cutter or even a dough divider cut dough across vertically and horizontally forming little squares.
- Put little squares in a bowl and sprinkle a little flour on them and shake to prevent sticking.
- Heat up oil. Fry till light golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and spread on a paper towel lined tray to cool. Chin chin will be soft when hot but hardens as it cools.
Notes
I plan to make this this weekend and I only have whole wheat flour available. Can I use it? Thanks!
Yes you can ?
yAY!
?
On a second thought, it’s better to use all purpose Flour for a better outcome.
Hello.. your post is so interesting! I cant wait to mak some.
So, i saw that flour states 1 3/4 cups. And 28Og in grams.
A cup of flour is usually 125g generally. I bake so i know this.
Just wanting to make sure the kind of cup you refer to.
Thank you so much Amazing
Hi Binta,
Thanks so much for taking out time to drop me a line. I love to hear from my readers.
You are right, a cup of flour ranges between 120g and 130g in the books when measured properly. (that is using the spoon out from flour bowl to cup then level method) some times I even get up to 140g/ 150g in a cup that’s why I prefer the weight method when baking cakes cos it’s the most accurate.
Chin chin doesn’t really require an exact measurement unlike cakes, it’s more forgiving. That being said, many home cooks may not measure the flour exactly the way professional bakers do, they are more likely to scoop out the flour or weigh with a scale. If I has written 2 1/4 cups based on 125g per cup, and a home cook scoops out the flour at 150g per cup that may be a recipe for disaster with too much flour in the mix.
With this your comment, I should update the post to explain this. Thanks again for taking out time to drop your feed back.
Hi Chi chi.
I tried this chin chin recipe 2days ago and it was the bomb diggity! Thank you so much. I don’t know how to post pictures, would have posted. I’m definitely making more chin chin today or tomorrow cos that one is all gone. ????
I am so happy to hear the chin chin recipe worked for you. I am even more excited that you took out the time to come over to the blog and drop your feedback. You are the best. Go make more chin chin girl because they will keep finishing like hot cake ??. About posting pictures you can post them on my Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/mydiasporakitchen and also post it on your Instagram page and tag @mydiasporakitchen. Enjoy ?
Hi, Do you mean powdered or liquid evaporated milk?
Hi Temi, it’s evaporated milk. The liquid evaporated milk not powdered milk. Thanks for stopping by. ?
Thinking of making this over the weekend. My only worry is the past ones I have tried usually soak too much oil. What are you tips in order to avoid that from happening. Thanks
Hi Yemi, that’s a great question. Chin chin usually gets soaked with oil for 2 reasons.
1. The oil wasn’t hot enough before you started frying the chin chin. Always test the oil by putting a piece of chin chin in the oil first. If it oil bubbles and the piece of chin chin comes up immediately then the oil is ready for frying.
2. Another reason why chin chin may get soaked in oil is when the oil is overcrowd with the chin chin batter. Meaning that the amount of chin chin in the oil was too much for the oil.
Hope this helps. Let me know how you fared. Thanks for dropping your comment.
Update: Given this recipe a try many times. Still my #1 go to. I double, triple (x2) the batch several times. Just can’t stop eating it when done. I seriously need an healthier version so I don’t feel guilty. Just saying. Lol. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🥰😉😍
Mistakes I have made and solution that could help: 1. when rolling out the dough, try to avoid sprinkling flour on it as this is the reason for foaming up in the oil. Have got to learn that the hard way.
2. After frying first batch, wait few minutes for oil to warm up again before frying the next batch.
3. Am gonna go fry more 😋 just because.
Hey Yemi,
This made me smile. Thank you for letting me know. I am happy you love it. Thanks for the tips on the foaming oil because it can be a pain seriously 😂.
About a healthier version, baking might be it, to reduce the oil.
Bear in mind that anything with flour and sugar in it should be treated as a treat if we can help it (me included) 🙈
Anyway enjoy. Thanks for your feedback. I am happy you found the chin chin recipe you have been searching for 😉
Have a beautiful and blessed week.
– Chichi
It’s 2025 and I took the time to search for my old comment just because it’s time to make another chin chin. Still the best recipe on the Internet. Merry Xmas.
This comment made my day. Thank you so much Yemi for coming back again. Enjoy!
-Chichi
Can I ask a question? My husband and I went on safari in Kenya and I want to make something authentic for their classmates to try at school. Is this something they also eat in Kenya? Have any other recipes that you can think of? I will make this too, it sounds yummy!
Hi Erin.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Chin chin is a West African snack that is loved across Africa and the world. Being that Kenya is in East Africa, chin chin may not be an authentic Kenyan snack. I hope to dive into Kenyan and other African recipes soon. In the meantime, you could try samosa, a spicy beef filled fried pastry which originated from India but very common in Kenyan cuisine. Samosa may not be as quick to prepare from scratch as chin chin but you could get around that with store bought pastry dough.
Another African recipe you can try Would be Jollof Rice. Trust me you can never go wrong with that. Here is one of my Jollof Rice recipes https://www.mydiasporakitchen.com/2017/08/21/easy-peasy-nigerian-party-jollof-basmati-rice/
Hope this helps ?. Feel free to reply to this comment if you need further help.
This recipe is amazing. Made it for my kid’s birthday and it was a hit. I even had a friend request that I make it for her child’s naming ceremony. It’s delicious and I quadrupled the recipe with no problems. Thank you so much.
Awww Happy birthday to your child. You are welcome Ti. I am glad the recipe was a hit. Thank you so much for trying the recipe and taking time out to come and leave your feed back on the blog. You are appreciated. Hope your friends would be ready to start placing orders from you soon ? Enjoy!
Made some yesterday and it was nice. Thanks for the recipe.
Awesome Ti. I am happy to hear that. Thanks for the feedback.
I never heard about Nigerian chin-chin it seems delicious and easy to do. I will try this next week.
It actually is easy to make and delightful to the tastebuds and you can use mini cutters to make fun shapes?. Thanks?