Skip to Content

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe

This Jamaican Festival recipe is a homemade version of the popular Jamaican snack. Made with a few simple ingredients, this delicious fried sweet dough is the perfect side dish for your favorite Jamaican recipes. 

jamaican festival ina white bowl


 

This post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclaimer here.

Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the 
recipe card at the bottom of the post. 
You can find important tips/tricks in the
blog post.

When I say festival, I don’t mean a party. But then again, it’s always a party when I show up with my homemade festival! Ha! All jokes aside, this Jamaican festival recipe is the truth and I worked on it to make sure it was as delicious as the ones I had as a child. 

Jamaican festival is a sweet fried dough made with cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and milk. The dough comes together quite easily and all you have to do is deep fry it. It goes well with some of my favorite Jamaican recipes like rasta pasta, jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish, or escovitch fish

How to make Jamaican Festival

First, gather your ingredients. You’ll want to start heating a heavy bottom pot of oil that has at least 3 inches of oil in it or use a deep fryer if you have one. Turn the heat over medium heat until the temperature reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

ingredients for festival

Prepare your festival dough by adding the all-purpose flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and stirring to combine.

dru ingredients for festival in a white bowl

Add the vanilla extract and milk and stir until the dough comes together. Then use your hands to lightly form the mixture into a ball. 

festival dogh rolled into ball

Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into long oval shapes. Make about 12 dumplings. 

festival dough rolled into long oval shape in hand

Once the oil has reached the temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, fry the dough on all sides, until golden brown. This should take about 4-6 minutes.

jamaican festival dough being deep fried

Remove dough and drain off any excess grease. 

fried festival draining on wire rack

Serve and enjoy. 

fried festival dough in plate with one broken to see inside

What does festival taste like?

Festival is like a combination of sweet cornbread and hushpuppies mixed together. It’s light and fluffy and sweetened to perfection. 

Notes on Jamaican Festival

  • Make sure your oil is set to the proper temperature for deep frying. I use a thermometer to ensure my oil is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Festival is best eaten when it’s made. The dough can be made a day ahead.
  • The amount of milk added may depend on the brand of flour used. You may need a little more or a little less. Slowly stir in the milk until the flour is moistened and can easily form into a ball of dough. 
  • I don’t recommend making festival in an air fryer. I tried and it was not as good.

Looking for other Jamaican recipes? Try these out:

fried festival dough in plate with one broken to see inside
Print Pin Save
4.90 from 19 votes

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe

This Jamaican Festival recipe is a homemade version of the popular Jamaican snack. Made with a few simple ingredients, this delicious fried sweet dough is the perfect side dish for your favorite Jamaican recipes.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Caribbean
Keyword jamaican festival, jamaican festival recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Total Time 16 minutes
Servings 12 dumplings
Calories 117kcal
Author Tanya

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup fine cornmeal
  • 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup milk a little less or more may be needed, see notes
  • Oil for deep frying*

Instructions

  • Heat a heavy bottom pot of oil that has at least 3 inches of oil in it or use a deep fryer if you have one. Turn the heat over medium heat until the temperature reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Add the all-purpose flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine.
  • Add the vanilla extract and milk and stir until the dough comes together. Then use your hands to lightly form the mixture into a ball.
  • Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into long oval shapes. Make about 12 dumplings.
  • Once the oil has reached the temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, fry the dough on all sides, until golden brown. This should take about 4-6 minutes.
  • Remove dough and drain off any excess grease. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

  • Make sure your oil is set to the proper temperature for deep frying. I use a thermometer to ensure my oil is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Festival is best eaten when it’s made. The dough can be made a day ahead.
  • The amount of milk added may depend on the brand of flour used. You may need a little more or a little less. Slowly stir in the milk until the flour is moistened and can easily form into a ball of dough.
  • I don’t recommend making festival in an air fryer. I tried and it was not as good.

Nutrition

Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 25IU | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg
My Southern Air Fryer ECookbookFind all my Top Southern Air Fryer recipes in one place! My Southern Air Fryer ECookbook!
Subscribe to my YouTubeSubscribe to my YouTube Channel for full length recipe videos. Click the bell icon to be notified when I upload a new video.
Tried this recipe? Share on InstagramMention @Myforkinglife or tag #myforkinglife!
Although myforkinglife.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Under no circumstances will myforkinglife.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information.
4.90 from 19 votes (11 ratings without comment)
Recipe Rating




Sarafina Braddy

Sunday 20th of October 2024

Hey, what I wanted to know was can you use coconut milk? A lot of people say to just use regular milk but me know seh some jamaican use the cocnut milk and it taste good as well

Tanya

Sunday 20th of October 2024

Hey Sarafina, you can use coconut milk. Some people even use water, but the coconut milk will add good flavor and keep them nice and fluffy.

Mary

Friday 4th of October 2024

Pefect

Tanya

Sunday 6th of October 2024

Thank you Mary!

Eva

Sunday 16th of June 2024

Mine came out quite dense in the middle, what am I doing wrong please? Tasted amazing regardless!

Tanya

Sunday 16th of June 2024

Hey Eva, so happy you like the flavor. The denser result may be due to overmixing the dough, resulting in more gluten.

erikah

Thursday 28th of March 2024

amazing recipe. used fructose sugar instead of sucrose white sugar (i am sucrose intolerant) and they turned out SOOOOO good and fluffy!

...yes i did roll a few in cinnamon and fructose sugar....

will make again!

Tanya

Thursday 28th of March 2024

Thanks so much for the feedback, Erikah! I love love love the idea of rolling them in cinnamon sugar. I'll have to try that.

PAUL DEABREU

Monday 25th of December 2023

Can I still make festivals without corn meal , should I substitute something in it’s place

Lais

Thursday 13th of June 2024

@PAUL DEABREU, fine ground semolina or polenta as a substitute makes dumplings a bit heavier but works

Rachel

Thursday 18th of April 2024

@Tanya, I used cornflour as can’t get hold of cornmeal easily here and they were great

Tanya

Tuesday 26th of December 2023

Hey Paul, for the taste and texture, you'll want cornmeal in this recipe.