Oliebollen — Dutch New Year's Eve doughnuts

i. Origin & history

Fried dough has been a winter food in the Low Countries for centuries. Seventeenth-century Dutch cookbooks already contain recipes for oliekoecken, 'oil cakes', yeast dough with apples, raisins and spices fried in oil or fat, and Dutch Golden Age paintings show women frying or selling them. These are the direct ancestors of today's oliebollen, and the name shifted from koek (cake) to bol (ball) over time.

A frequently repeated story connects oliebollen to pre-Christian midwinter festivals, when Germanic tribes are said to have eaten fried dough to protect themselves from the goddess Perchta or other spirits roaming during the dark days of Yule — the fat in the dough supposedly making the sword of the spirit slide off. There is no historical evidence for this, and it is best treated as folklore. The more likely explanation is practical: frying rich dough was a festive extravagance suited to the cold end of the year and to the last days before the new year.

Today oliebollen are inseparable from Oudejaarsavond, New Year's Eve. Families fry them at home on 31 December or buy them by the bag from an oliebollenkraam, the temporary stalls that appear in towns from late autumn, and eat them with friends while waiting for midnight. A Dutch newspaper's annual oliebollen test, ranking the best and worst bakeries, is a national talking point.

Oliebollen are often called Dutch doughnuts in English, but they differ from doughnuts in being made from a batter rather than a rolled dough, so they are spooned straight into the oil and take an irregular round shape. They have no hole and no filling. The Belgian equivalent is the smoutebol, usually plain, and the same idea appears in the Pennsylvania Dutch fried cakes and the South African vetkoek.

ii. Why the batter is so wet

Oliebollen are made from a dough so wet it is really a thick batter — far too sticky to handle, more like a very soft bread dough mixed with extra milk. That high hydration is the key to a light, airy inside. When the batter hits the hot oil, the water turns to steam, and the yeast gas trapped in the elastic dough expands; the batter puffs into a ball with an open, moist, almost cake-like crumb inside a thin crisp crust.

Developing the gluten is still important. The batter is beaten vigorously, by hand or with a mixer, until it becomes smooth and stretchy, and then left to rise until doubled and full of bubbles. A well-risen batter gives a light oliebol; an under-risen one fries heavy and greasy.

Scooping is the classic Dutch technique. Two spoons or an ice-cream scoop dipped in oil are used to drop rounded portions into the fat. The oil on the spoon lets the batter slide off cleanly into a neat ball. Oliebollen often turn themselves over in the fat when the first side is done, because the cooked bottom becomes buoyant.

Frying temperature is 180 °C. Lower, and the batter absorbs fat and becomes heavy; higher, and the outside darkens before the centre cooks, leaving a raw, doughy middle. Dried fruit must be soaked and dried well, since wet fruit spits in the oil and burnt raisins taste bitter. Traditionally oliebollen were fried in beef dripping or lard; today sunflower or rapeseed oil is usual.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 24 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 500 g plain flour
• 10 g instant dried yeast
• 40 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 450 ml lukewarm whole milk
• 1 egg
• 150 g raisins and currants, mixed
• 1 tart apple (such as Elstar or Granny Smith), peeled and finely diced
• 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• 2 litres sunflower or rapeseed oil, for frying
• 100 g icing sugar, to dust

The proportion of milk to flour — almost 1:1 by weight — is what makes the batter so soft; do not be tempted to add more flour. Currants (krenten) and raisins (rozijnen) are traditional; soak them in hot water or rum for 15 minutes and dry them well. A tart apple gives moist pockets and a fresh flavour. For plain oliebollen (oliebollen zonder), leave out the fruit. Some Dutch bakers replace part of the milk with beer for a lighter, slightly tangy flavour. Use plenty of icing sugar; a thick snowy coat is part of the experience.

iv. Method

1. Soak the raisins and currants in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain and pat dry with kitchen paper. Toss the apple with the lemon zest.
2. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk the lukewarm milk with the egg, pour into the flour and beat with a wooden spoon or a mixer with a dough hook for 5 minutes, until you have a smooth, elastic, very sticky batter.
3. Fold in the dried fruit and apple. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled and full of bubbles.
4. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pan or deep-fryer to 180 °C (355 °F). Set a tray lined with kitchen paper nearby.
5. Dip two tablespoons or an ice-cream scoop in the hot oil, scoop up a ball of batter about the size of a golf ball, and slide it into the oil with the second spoon. Fry 4–5 at a time; do not stir the batter between scoops.
6. Fry for about 5–6 minutes, turning once if they do not turn themselves, until deep golden brown all over. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
7. Drain on kitchen paper. Let the oil return to 180 °C before frying the next batch.
8. Pile into a bowl or paper bag and dust very generously with icing sugar. Serve warm.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Trust the wet batter. It should be too sticky to handle. Adding flour to make it manageable produces dense, bready oliebollen.
• Let it rise fully. The batter should double and be full of bubbles. Under-risen batter gives heavy, greasy balls.
• Do not knock the air out. Scoop straight from the risen batter without stirring it between batches.
• Keep the oil at 180 °C. Use a thermometer and fry in small batches; the temperature drops quickly when you add batter.
• Dry the fruit. Wet raisins make the oil spit and burn on the surface of the oliebol.
• Test the first one. Break open the first oliebol to check the centre is cooked; adjust the size or frying time accordingly.

vi. Variations

Oliebollen zonder ('without') are plain, without fruit. Krentenbollen-style oliebollen are packed with currants. Modern stalls sell versions filled with custard or whipped cream, and with chocolate, cinnamon-apple or banana. The New Year's Eve spread usually also includes appelflappen, apple turnovers fried in the same oil, and appelbeignets, apple rings in batter.

Oliebollen are cousins of the German jam doughnut Berliner, also eaten at New Year, the Norwegian smultring and the Middle Eastern fried dough balls luqaimat. Other Dutch classics include the buttery boterkoek and spiced speculaas.

vii. Serving & storage

Oliebollen are eaten warm or at room temperature, by hand, from a bowl or paper bag, with plenty of icing sugar. On New Year's Eve they are served through the evening with coffee, hot chocolate or a glass of champagne at midnight. They are messy food: the icing sugar inevitably ends up on clothes and tables.

They are best on the day they are fried, but they keep reasonably well: once completely cool, store them in a paper bag or a container lined with kitchen paper at room temperature for a day or two. Reheat them in an oven at 180 °C (355 °F) for 5–10 minutes, not in the microwave, which makes them chewy, then dust with fresh icing sugar. They also freeze well, without sugar, for up to two months; reheat from frozen in the oven.

ix. More from Austrian & German

• Berliner — German jam doughnuts
• Boterkoek — Dutch butter cake
• Speculaas — Dutch spiced biscuits
• Schneeballen — fried pastry snowballs
• Smultring — Norwegian doughnuts
• Luqaimat — Gulf fried dough balls