Chin Chin Recipe
The sweet and savory snack we call chin chin delivers a delightful West African treat that’s crispy and utterly addictive. These small, fried dough pieces have a unique crunch and a hint of nutmeg, making them perfect for any occasion.
Whether enjoyed as a snack on their own, served at parties, or shared with friends and family during celebrations, this beloved treat brings joy. If any of your friends are from West Africa, it’s sure to make them a little nostalgic.
With basic pantry staples like flour, sugar, butter, and eggs, this easy-to-make recipe allows you to create a batch of these delicious bites right in your own kitchen. Perfect for munching on movie nights or a fun addition to dessert platters, chin chin is sure to become a favorite in your home!
What Is Chin Chin?
Throughout West Africa and Nigeria, it’s small, crispy pieces of fried dough, typically sweetened and flavored with nutmeg, and is prepared for special occasions. While I was growing up, it was customary in most homes in Cameroon to make this delicious snack during Christmas. Each home has its own variation. Some are soft to the point of falling apart, while others are so hard you feel like your teeth are going to break.
Some people shape them like small balls; others knead and cut them into small squares. The overall experience of slowly feasting on chin chin is indescribable. I never tire of trying all the different variations.
Even at this ripe old age, I still love it. The only issue is, “Once I pop, I cannot stop.” On one occasion, I had to hide it in the trunk of my car. It may have been a little extreme, but I wasn’t prepared to share!
How to Make Chin Chin
- Mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and lime zest. (Photo 1)
- Add the butter to the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated. (Photo 2)
- Whisk in the milk and egg, and keep mixing until it forms a sticky dough ball. (Photo 3)
- Knead on a floured surface as needed until the dough is smooth, elastic, even in color, and no longer sticky. You can create many shapes and sizes. (Photo 4)
- Divide the dough in half. On a floured board, roll each half out until it’s about ⅙ inch thick. A pasta machine works great if you have one. Then, cut the dough into any shape you desire. I folded some of them into cute shapes and left others square. (Photos 5-8)
- Fry in around 3 inches of 375℉ (190℃) oil until golden. (Photos 9-11)
- Remove them from the oil, drain, and serve. (Photo 12)
Recipe Tips and Notes
- The coconut version is just as addictive. Grind ¼ to ½ coconut flakes until fine and powdery, then add them to the dry ingredients, and then add a little more milk or water for a better texture. Coconut flour is thirsty, so you’ll need to go by feel.
- Curly chin chin in Cameroon is extra special for Christmas. Cut the dough into narrow strips instead of squares. It will curl when you fry it.
- If you like yours softer, add an extra tablespoon of butter. Just don’t go overboard, or your finished product will crumble.
- A pasta machine helps roll out the dough for shaping. Check out how to use it in my Ghana chin chin recipe.
- Keep an eye on your oil temperature as you fry to make sure it doesn’t get too hot and burn.
- Also, avoid overcrowding the frying pan, which lowers the oil temperature quickly, resulting in a greasy snack.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
You can store this snack in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month, so feel free to make it in advance.
What Goes With Chin Chin
You can serve it on its own or with dips (chocolate sauce and caramel sauce are particularly tasty). Or serve it with other savory snacks, like plantain chips.
You could also include these bites as part of a larger snack platter with other treats like puff-puff, meat pies, or sambusas for variety.
More Celebration-Worthy African Foods to Try
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”leWUmIP9″ upload-date=”Mon Aug 06 2018 20:14:42 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Chin Chin” description=”Chin Chin – West African Fried pastry enjoyed throughout the region especially in Nigeria- Crispy Crunchy and Addictive.”]
This blog post was originally published in November 2012 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Nigerian Chin Chin
Ingredients
- 3½ cups (420g) all-purpose flour (see notes for coconut chin chin)
- ¾ cup (150g) sugar
- ½ teaspoon (2-3g) salt
- ¼ teaspoon (1-2g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon (1-2g) lime zest, grated
- ¼ cup (4 tablespoons or 60g) butter (or margarine)
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup (175-180ml) milk
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Using a mixer (or by hand), mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and lime zest.
- Mix the butter into the flour mixture until well incorporated.
- Add the milk and egg to the mixture. Keep mixing until you form a sticky dough ball.
- Dump the dough ball onto a floured surface and knead, incorporating more flour into the dough as needed, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and even in color and no longer sticky. You can create many shapes and sizes for chin chin.
- Divide the dough in half. On a floured board, roll each half out until it's about ⅙ inch thick, just like linguine or fettuccine. A pasta machine works great if you have one. Then, cut the dough into any shape you desire.
- Heat a deep cast-iron skillet, saucepan, or (my all-time favorite) a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add around 3 inches of oil and heat it to 375℉ (190℃). Fry chin chin in the hot oil until golden.
- Remove them from the oil, drain, and serve.
Tips & Notes:
- For coconut chin chin, finely grind ¼-½ of coconut flakes. It should be powdery like flour, then add it to the dry ingredients. Coconut flour is quite thirsty, so add a little extra milk or water for a better texture.
- If you like softer chin chin, add 1-2 tablespoons more butter. But please be careful not to use too much, or the dough may become soft and crumbly.
- A pasta machine helps roll out and shape the dough.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe
I loved this recipe so much! Thank you for the effort to put your recipe straight and easy to understand
Thank you sooooooo much Imma I tried the recipe and double it by 5 and it was the best recipe ever am also switching to business back with this recipe thanks and God bless you.
Glad to hear this .All the best!!
I love this recipe
I love this recipe so much. It tastes so good. I will forever be making chin chin using this recipe. Thank you for the step by step direction. And thanks for your recipe
Glad to hear it worked out well . Enjoy!
Help my chin chin is always sticky when am cutting,how do i resolve this.
Add flour – just enough to cutting it out .
Good day ma,
Please how do I rectify the too much baking powder I added to my chin chin though? Thank you
Sorry you can’t .
ma how can i lime/lemon zest
Hi. You can use a microplane or grater to zest a lemon. Please check this out https://bit.ly/3auVtzD
This is a great recipe. I hope to come back and testify too. Thank you for doing this for people like us.
Thanks for the feedback.
Salut Immaculate, merci pour cette recette, je vous reconnaissants
Il n’y a pas de quoi. Merci
What is that green thing you added
Hi Hope! It is Lime zest. You could also use lemon zest if that is what you have on hand.
Hello aunty
this recipe is the best, i tried mine and it came out crunchy.
Please i want to know if you’ve used lemon zest in your chin chin before.
I also want to know if i can use the lime or lemon zest in my peanut.
Good evening dear. Pls why didn’t you add milk flavour and vanilla flavour?
Hi Olivia. I have never tried these before. But I am sure they would work well in chin chin. Do let me know how it turns out for you.
You have very good recipes well done Ma
Thank you 🙂 !
I made this the other day, and it was amazing. I did not have the zest, but added different spices, and it came out delicious. 10/10 recommend for even the worst cooks (like myself hah).
Hi Jori! I love chin chin! I could snack on it all day 🙂 ! I am glad you loved it. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks imma been following your recieps. Good. But I have a bigger family and I wanted to make like 2kg flour please go many eggs and butter can I puteciz I feel multiplying would give me like 5 eggs isn’t too much. Please advise.
To do twice the quantity, go ahead and double recipe ingredients, however, you can cut back on the eggs if you feel it is too much. Growing up I will tell you that i have seen some bakers use a dozen eggs in their chin chin, rich, very rich but very tasty too. Its a matter of preference. Hope this helps
Thank you so much for this recipe. I tried it first with butter, and the second time with margarine. Both came out great, but I prefer the taste of the one with butter. Also, please how many batches of this recipe will make a foil pan? Thanks!!
Thanks Ola. It’s about 2- 3 batches .
Merci tata pour cette recette, j’ai essayé avec le lait peak et 500g de farine mais ce n’était pas croustillant pas du tout .
C’est à cause du lait ?
Quel ingrédient je dois diminuer pour que ce soit dur?
S’il vous plaît aidez-moi. J’ai essayé tellement de fois
Je ne peux pas dire directement à partir de cette explication, mais cela pourrait être une combinaison de choses
a) Il se peut que vos mesures ne soient pas correctes car mes ingrédients sont fournis en onces. Notez que 2 oz est d’environ 57 grammes.
b) Il pourrait s’agir des paramètres de votre four.
c) Ce pourrait être la farine que vous avez utilisée. Vous avez besoin de farine de haute qualité pour obtenir ce goût croustillant.
Mais dans tout cela, essayez-le plusieurs fois et ajustez-le au fur et à mesure.
Hi,
THANK YOU so-so much for all of your recipes, been one the main inspirations to my cooking and also inspired me to start my own lil cookery blogging!
Warmest regards,
Errol.
Hello Errol,
Wishing you all the best with cooking blog.
Hi imma, If i want to make a large batch of chinchin, can I still follow this recipe
Yes you can. However, you might have to add extra flour to it , if dough is too sticky.
Please, I’ve tried chin chin so many times but I’ve never achieved a crunchy outside, but soft inside chin chin. Please what am I not doing right. Please I need your response urgently.
Thank you so much.
Hi, are you using the recipe from the blog? If you are, fry on low, decrease the heat. Don’t overcrowd the pan with the chin chin. Please let me ino0w if these tips help you!
please what’s the use of lemon. zest in this recipe? I have some measuring cups but not sure which one suits this measuring. scale here
Lemon Zest adds flavor to it to chin chin.
Great Job ma’am. I have a question bothering me ever since. After frying my chinchin it’s very light in weight. Please is there a way to increase the weight???
Are you using this recipe or another recipe ?