Oliebollen 3 Ways: Traditional Dutch Doughnuts
More than 100 million of these are sold per year in the Netherlands, most of them around New Year's Eve, the oliebol, the Dutch equivalent of a doughnut, is the traditional snack we eat to celebrate the new year. This dutch oliebollen recipe gives you three ways: one plain and simple, the classic filled with currants and raisins, and my own variation, the cheesecake oliebol. Each batch makes around 10 large oliebollen, so multiply if you want more.
Ingredients
- 250 ml lukewarm whole milk
- 250 ml dark beer (any caramelly-tasting beer; or replace with more milk or water)
- 40 g white castor sugar
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 14 g instant yeast
- 3 l sunflower oil for frying (canola works fine too)
- to dust powdered sugar
- 9 g salt
- 180 g currant and raisin mix, soaked (150–200 g, whatever you like)
- 1 big apple (around 80 g), cut into small bits
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 200 g room-temperature cream cheese
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- 4 tbsp powdered sugar
- to top cherries in thick sauce (store-bought, or thicken cherry juice with agar-agar yourself)
Method
Plain and simple
- 1
In a bowl, combine the lukewarm milk and the beer. The beer gives the batter a lighter, airier texture, I use a seasonal Dutch winter beer, but any caramelly-tasting beer works, and plain milk or water is fine too.
- 2
Add the sugar and salt. Nothing is set in stone here; play around with the measurements to adjust the sweetness.
- 3
Add the flour and the instant yeast, and mix. And when I say mix, I mean really mix this together heavily, it's a bit of work, but it incorporates more air into the batter, which gives a fluffier oliebol.
- 4
Cover and let it rest for around an hour in a nice warm space (your oven works). Check that it's risen nicely; otherwise leave it another 30 minutes.
- 5
Heat the oil to 180°C. I set my frying station up on the balcony so the whole house doesn't smell of oil.
- 6
Scoop the dough a few times with a 7 cm ice cream scoop, trim the edges on the side of the bowl, and drop it just above the oil. If the dough won't release, use a scoop with a release mechanism and spray it with some oil so it's less sticky.
- 7
Fry for 7 to 8 minutes, keeping the oil around 180°C. The balls float on the surface, so keep turning them.
- 8
Doneness check: stick a wooden stick into a ball. No wet dough attached means done; if dough sticks, they're still undercooked inside. This works for any baked good that has to cook from the inside.
- 9
Move straight onto a baking tray with paper towels to cool a little, then tower them up on a plate and dust with powdered sugar.
The classic, with currants and raisins
- 10
Soak the currant and raisin mix. Around 180 g, but 150 or 200 g works, whatever you like.
- 11
Make the same batter as above, adding the lemon zest and cinnamon before mixing. Mix it real freaking good.
- 12
Fold the soaked currants and raisins plus the apple bits through the batter for a nice fruity bite.
- 13
Rest for 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, when it's bubbling, it's good.
- 14
Fry as above, no more than five at a time so the oil stays nice and hot, about 8 minutes. Pile them up, dust them up.
The cherry-cheesecake oliebol
- 15
Fry plain oliebollen (batter number one) and let them cool, then slice each in half.
- 16
Mix the cream cheese, milk and powdered sugar with a hand mixer until nice and fluffy.
- 17
Fill the oliebol with the cream cheese mixture, top with the cherries in thick sauce, and close it up.
7 tools I used.
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