How to Make Chin Chin

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my Full Affiliates Disclosure here.

Last Updated on February 16, 2020

Nigerian Chin chin at its best! sweet, crunchy, flavourful and delicious. A great snack and appetiser loved by all. Let me show you how to make the best chin chin recipe ever with these easy steps.

How to make Chin Chin

We Nigerians don’t joke with our street foods at all. In fact, they are like the things that keep us going and together. We love our foods and we forget all our sorrows and problems and just enjoy the moment.

One of our favourite street snacks is chin chin. This snack is not only eaten in Nigeria but it is also appreciated in other parts of Africa. It is also served as appetisers at parties, get-togethers and picnics.

Chin chin is crunchy and sweet, but you can also decide to have it soft too. As simple as this recipe is, it also comes with a tedious task of cutting the dough and frying in batches.

If you want to achieve a really crunchy chin-chin, you will need to use less milk and butter in your recipe. I added a little bit of desiccated coconut to my chin chin recipe and this can be substituted with coconut milk. It is very important to know that this recipe calls for plain flour (all purpose flour) and not self-raising flour.

Can I sell Chin Chin

This will be your final stop to learning how to make Nigerian chin chin. If you are very entrepreneurial, you can fry these snacks and sell as a side hustle. In fact, chin chin is now sold in big supermarkets here in the UK.

Before you venture into the business, ensure you practice and practise until you perfect your craft. By doing this, you would know what works for you. It is important that you also test the market for what your potential customers would want.

Know your measurements and make a journal as you go along, this will ensure accountability and perfection to your recipe.

Start small, try different flavours, don’t be scared to try! If you fail, try again. Also, aim for freshness at all times and know how to preserve it naturally if you wish to make this a commercial business.

Be prepared for criticism and know when to sieve out negative comments and advice. You have to be ready to be in continuous learning and development.

Ingredients

350g all-purpose flour extra for dusting

30g butter or margarine

1 whole nutmeg grated, substitute with ground nutmeg

80-100g sugar (I used caster sugar)

1 egg

1tsp baking powder

30g desiccated coconut (optional)

80ml evaporated milk or any other full fat milk of choice

1tsp vanilla essence flavour (optional)

Vegetable oil for frying

How to make Nigerian Chin Chin

Start by adding all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and mix together. Add the butter and mix together to form crumbs. Add the other wet ingredients and mix to form a stretchy dough.

Leave the dough to rest for about 15-30 minutes. (this is not compulsory)

Dust a cleaned work surface with flour; divide the dough into 2 or 3 batches. Roll out the dough flat and cut into long strips with a cut into desired sizes. Repeat this process till you have exhausted the dough

Place a shallow frying pan on medium-high heat; add vegetable oil and heat to about 350⁰ or you do an oil test. Drop one of the cut dough into the hot oil and if it floats to the top of the oil, then the oil is ready for use.

Carefully add the cut-out dough to the hot oil in batches and fry till golden brown.

How to serve Chin Chin

This popular Nigerian snacks can be eaten on its own or alongside soft drinks like Fanta, Malt drink or homemade drinks listed below.

Zobo Drink

Mango Lemonade

Tips

Wrap the dough in a cling film and store in the refrigerator for up to 30 minutes, this process would help release the gluten in the flour.

Don’t overcrowd the oil with the dough when frying. This would also help prevent the oil from foaming.

Maintain medium-high heat when frying to prevent the dough from soaking up the oil.

How to store chin chin

Chin chin must be stored in an airtight container or bottle. You can also store in a ziplock back but make sure it is not exposed to air as this would make the chin chin soft. Also, make sure it cools down completely before storing.

Homemade Nigerian chin chin can last for up to 2 weeks or longer when stored correctly. It doesn’t have to be stored in the refrigerator. A cool dry place would do.

Other Nigerian Snacks you will love

Puff Buns 

Nigerian Buns

Soft Buns

Puff Puff

Nigerian Meat Pie

Print Recipe

Nigerian Chin Chin (How to Make Chin Chin)

Chin Chin is one of our favourite street snacks in Nigeria. This snack is not only eaten in Nigeria, but it is also appreciated in other parts of Africa. Chin chin is crunchy and sweet. It can be flavoured to suit your need or made plain. Let me show you how to make the best Chin chin with this recipe.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: African, Nigerian

Keyword: Chin Chin., How to make Chin chin,, Nigerian chin chin

Servings: 5

Author: Ajoke

Ingredients

• 350 g all-purpose flour extra for dusting
• 30 g butter
• 1 whole nutmeg grated
• 80-100 g sugar I used caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100 ml evaporated milk
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 30 g desiccated coconut optional

Instructions

• Add all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and mix together. Add the butter and mix together to form crumbs.

  Add the other wet ingredients and mix to for stretchy dough that is firm but not hard.
• Leave the dough to rest for about 15-30 minutes. (this is not compulsory)
• Dust a cleaned work surface with flour, divide the dough into 2 or 3 batches. Roll out the dough flat on the floured surface and cut into long strips with a cut into desired sizes. Repeat this process till you have exhausted the dough
• Place a shallow frying pan on medium-high heat; add vegetable oil and heat to about until hot about 180°C/356°F or you do an oil test. Drop one of the cut dough into the hot oil and if it floats to the top of the oil, then the oil is ready for use.
• Carefully add the cut-out dough to the hot oil in batches and fry till golden brown. Do not overcrowd the oil when frying. transfer to fried chin chin into a bowl lined with a kitchen towel to soak up excess oil.

  Leave to cool completely before serving. Enjoy

Notes

Tips 

• For crunchy chin chin, use less butter and milk. replace milk with water.
• Too much butter will make the chin chin crumble, only use the required measurent.
• don’t overcrowd the oil with the dough when frying.

Don’t forget to take a picture and tag my active kitchen on Instagram and Facebook if you make any recipe from the blog and I also love reading from you all, leave a comment or send me an email. If you are yet to subscribe to the blog, kindly do so and you won’t miss any new post from us again. Until next time, be true to yourself