Oliebollen

Traditional Dutch oliebollen are delicious and fluffy. These are called the grandmother of the donut and are traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve.

In the Netherlands, New Year's Eve is not complete without a full plate of homemade oliebollen and apple beignets. Every year thousands are sold, but the most delicious ones you can bake yourself!

Do you have oliebollen left on New Year's Day? You can also make delicious French toast or a bread pudding!

But you might wonder what oliebollen are? Oliebollen are a fried snack made with a yeast dough that is fried in sunflower oil. They are often called the grandmother of the doughnut and are often filled with raisins, apples, currants, and pastry cream.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Which oil is the best to bake oliebollen
• Diets
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• How to store and freeze them
• Oliebollen

Ingredients

• Flour - all types of flour are suitable for baking oliebollen. I usually use bread flour. You can also replace half with whole wheat flour.
• Yeast - this ensures that you get light and fluffy oliebollen. You can use fresh yeast, but in this recipe, I'm going to use instant yeast, which you can buy in any supermarket.
• Sunflower oil - I often get asked which oil is best to use when making oil balls. Sunflower oil does not leave a greasy, white layer on your oliebollen.
• Milk or water - I prefer to use water when baking oliebollen. If you use water, they don't brown as quickly on the outside, and you prevent them from not being thoroughly cooked. You can also use milk or a mixture of half milk and half water.

You can find the complete ingredient list and instructions on the recipe card below!

Instructions

For oliebollen, you make a batter from water or milk, flour, yeast, and eggs. With two spoons or an ice cream scoop, you easily make the best homemade oliebollen.

• Put the flour and the yeast, sugar, and salt in a bowl and mix well.
• Add the egg and water and mix it with dough hooks to a smooth batter with a hand mixer. You can also do this with a (wooden) spoon if you don't have a mixer.
• Add the last bit of water a little later to prevent the batter from getting too wet.
• Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and let the batter rise in a warm place for about 45-60 minutes. The batter is ready to bake when it has roughly doubled in volume.

• Preheat your deep fryer and heat it to 180 °C.
• Dip your spoons or ice cream scoop into the hot oil for a moment and scoop some batter from the bowl.
• Carefully slide the oliebollen batter into the hot oil and fry the oliebollen for about 4 minutes on one side until golden brown. They should turn over on their own after 2-3 minutes.
• Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and let the oil balls drain on some paper towels to drain off the excess oil.
• Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all the batter is used up.

Which oil is the best to bake oliebollen

It is best to use a neutral oil such as sunflower oil or canola oil. You can heat this oil to high heat, and it will not leave a white layer after cooling down.

The temperature of the oil is very important. If your oil is too hot, they will turn brown too fast while the inside is not cooked yet. If the oil is not hot enough, they become very greasy and tough.

Diets

• Lactose-free - this oliebollen recipe is made with water, but you could also use lactose-free or plant-based milk.
• Vegan - for vegan oliebollen, you omit the egg, and, as for the lactose-free oliebollen, you could use lactose-free or vegetable milk instead of water if you like.
• Gluten-free - even if you can't tolerate gluten, you can make oliebollen! Replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
• Egg-free - you can also bake oliebollen without eggs. Leave out the egg and add a little more liquid if the batter seems too dry.

Variations

I prefer the classic oliebol, but these variations are also worth trying.

Currants - add 150 grams of soaked raisins, currants, or some small apple pieces to the batter.
Chocolate - Stir 3-4 tablespoons of cocoa powder and some dark chocolate chips into the batter.
Pastry cream - Cut the oliebollen almost through and put a few spoons of pastry cream in the center. You could also do this with a pastry bag.
Apple and cinnamon - Cut two apples into small cubes and sprinkle some cinnamon over them before stirring this mixture into the batter.
Oreo - Oreo oliebollen are also amazing! Cut some Oreos into pieces and stir this into the batter.

Equipment

• A deep fryer with fresh sunflower oil.
• Large mixing bowls.
• It would help if you had a hand mixer or a wooden spoon to mix the batter.
• Spoons or an ice cream scoop to scoop out balls of the batter.
• A kitchen scale, measuring cup, and some paper towels.

Storage

Fridge or on the counter: Oliebollen do not need to be kept in the fridge. Rather, like bread, you can wrap them airtight and store them at room temperature. This will keep them tasty for 2-3 days.

Freezer: in the freezer, oliebollen will keep for about three months. Before you want to eat them, let them thaw completely and preferably warm them up in the oven.

How to store and freeze them

Oven: oliebollen stay nice and crispy if you warm them up in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200°C and put them in there for about 10 minutes.

Microwave: You can also heat them in the microwave. Put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Airfryer: you might not think of it right away, but you can also heat them in the air fryer! At 150 degrees, you have deliciously warm oliebollen in about 3 minutes.