Ghanaian bofrot is a wonderful breakfast food, snack or dessert. It’s enjoyed plain or occasionally as an accompaniment to a breakfast porridge called koko. It is essentially a fried, yeasted wet dough that forms perfectly imperfect balls of golden, crispy, and fluffy goodness when fried in hot oil. They are nutmeg-forward, lightly sweet and fluffy on the inside, but more dense than your traditional donut.
My mom is known for making some of the best bofrot around, and in classic Ghanaian mom fashion, she does not measure out ingredients, she simply eyeballs everything. Therefore, it definitely took a few attempts to get this recipe just right, but I’m happy to report that these are perfect.
Typically, bofrot is mixed entirely by hand and then dropped in the hot oil by hand, but feel free to use a stand mixer, hand held mixer or whisk to prep the dough. You can use an ice cream scoop to drop dough balls in the oil if you are not comfortable getting your hand that close to the hot oil. They are absolutely best eaten fresh, so be sure to enjoy them while they are still hot and crispy on the outside.
Related: Flavourful West African Recipes You’ll Make on Repeat
ingredients
directions
This recipe requires 2 hours rest time.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, instant yeast and nutmeg.
Slowly mix evaporated milk into the flour mixture.
Mix vanilla with ½ cup of water, add this into flour mixture and continue to mix. Use your hand, a whisk, or a stand mixer to form a very wet dough.
Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for 2 hours. Your mixture will double in size, so make sure the bowl you have it in is big enough that it won’t overflow.
After 2 hours, punch down your wet dough using hands or a spatula.
Pour oil into a deep pot and heat over medium-high.
Use a hand or ice cream scoop to add drops of wet dough into the oil. The oil should be hot but not too hot to cook the outside of the dough before the interior is ready. Test it by cooking 1 bofrot first. You may need to gently scrape it from the bottom of the pot, because the wet dough ball tends to sink first then float.
Fry bofrot for about 7-12 minutes.
Use a wooden chopstick or a wooden spoon to turn the bofrot as it fries until it is a nice golden brown on all sides. The dough balls will start to float and you may have trouble browning equally as they turn in oil, but be diligent about turning over the dough balls.
Serve bofrot hot and fresh.
