Ollie Bollen are the traditional Dutch doughnuts or 'oil balls' eaten on New Year's Eve. This year, I decided to make a vegan version while my father still made the traditional version. Ollie Bollen really don't need to be non-vegan, many recipes are made with milk instead of water for extra richness, and some have egg, but it isn't necessary, so it wasn't too difficult to find a recipe.
Vegan Ollie Bollen
170mL warm non-dairy milk (110◦F)
2 teaspoons granulated (white) sugar
1 package (8 grams) quick-rise yeast
2 teaspoons oil
1 1/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
splash lemon juice or lemon extract
handful of raisins
Dissolve the sugar in the milk in a medium bowl, then sprinkle the yeast over top. Let stand for ten minutes or so until frothy. Stir in the oil, then gradually mix in the flour to form a sticky dough. Cover the bowl tightly and let rise in a warm place.
Stir in the remaining ingredients. Drop dough by tablespoons into hot oil (375◦F) in a deep fryer. They should begin to turn golden and be crispy, flip them over halfway through cooking. Then immediately drain on paper towels and douse in icing sugar.
The difference between these and regular Ollie Bollen? No discernible difference. The only thing I noticed was the color of them does not become quite as brown, likely due to the lack of egg and milk. However, despite their slightly paler color they still are incredibly crispy.
Here are the Dutch Ollie Bollen our Dutch family traditionally makes every New Year's Eve. We have been making them for the past four years - ever since we got a deep-fryer. A better explanation of Ollie Bollen can be found in my past two posts: {2011} and {2012}.
We have tried plain Ollie Bollen, apple, raisin, raisin and apple, candied fruit, and chocolate chip. The conclusion? Plain are a bit too plain, apple adds a little moistness and flavor but still lacks a little, raisin are good, apple and raisin are better, candied fruit are good but very sticky, and chocolate chip are delicious but not ideal for doing large batches, as it is also messy. How do you like your Ollie Bollen?
Ollie Bollen
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
1 package yeast
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
raisins and/or diced, peeled apple (1-2 cups total)
oil for deep-frying
icing sugar for dusting
In a large bowl, stir together the water and sugar. Sprinkle yeast over top, let stand for ten minutes until frothy. Stir to dissolve.
Beat in next seven ingredients. Allow dough to rise for an hour and a half until doubled in bulk.
Heat oil to 375◦F. Drop dough by tablespoon into the oil. Cook until crispy, a few minutes per side. Drain on paper towels then coat in icing sugar.
I know I featured these last year as well, but the occasion for Ollie Bollen only comes around once a year, so I figured I would share them again! Besides, this is only our third year making them, and every year we are improving more and more and discovering different techniques that work better. Just as a brief recap, Ollie Bollen are deep fried Dutch fritters, literally translated as "oil balls", but commonly referred to as Dutch doughnuts. They are traditionally made and enjoyed once a year on New Year's Eve, and any leftovers (which doesn't always happen) are enjoyed for breakfast the next morning with a steaming cup of coffee. Ollie Bollen are best eaten fresh of course, but they do reheat fairly well the next day in the toaster oven. And of course, you cannot have Ollie Bollen that have not been sprinkled (or more commonly, drowned) in a layer of icing sugar.
My father is always the master of the Ollie Bollen dough and deep fryer at our house. This is likely because he grew up in the Dutch household and was already familiar with the process. I believe he uses a recipe that is a combination of a modern recipe we found in one of our breads cookbooks, and his mother's old recipe. Ollie Bollen are okay plain, but they taste better with some chopped apples or raisins and the best with both. We also tried chopped, mixed glazed fruit (leftover from Christmas), which was good but a tad sticky and messy in the deep-fryer. We have even tried adding miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips, but be advised that this turns the oil a little messy, so if you really want chocolate Ollie Bollen, wait until the end of the batch. They are quite tasty though!
Ollie-Bollen are deep-fried Dutch fritters traditionally made on New Year's Eve. There are several different spelling variations of the name, including Olie Bollen, Oliebollen and Oliebol, but they all refer to these delicious Dutch doughnuts. The literal translation of Ollie-Bollen is "oil balls" as they are deep fried. This doesn't make them sound very appealing, but they really are good, and don't turn out very greasy at all. Although they are referred to as doughnuts, Ollie-Bollen are closer in taste and texture to little fritters. They are made from a yeast dough enriched with flour, eggs, milk, salt, and vanilla. They are usually flavored with something too, commonly apples, raisins, citrus zest, or combinations of these; although we have also successfully made plain ones, a bit bland, but nothing a pile of icing sugar can't fix! Ollie-Bollen are dropped by teaspoons into hot oil and fried just until crispy and golden. Then they are drained and dunked in as much icing sugar as possible. It isn't considered Ollie-Bollen unless you can inhale icing sugar while biting into a fritter.
My father's family used to always make Ollie-Bollen on New Year's Eve, and we recently began continuing the tradition. The leftovers are commonly eaten for breakfast the next morning with a cup of coffee. Ollie-Bollen are said to have originally been in eaten in the Netherlands by Germanic tribes during the Yule period.
Ollie-Bollen are not particularly difficult to make, but they do take some practice, and you must be familiar with a deep fryer to make them. Although they can be fried in a pot of hot oil on the stove, this can be dangerous and is not recommended. Ollie-Bollen dough also requires some rising time, so plan ahead. You may find some fritters close to Ollie-Bollen in coffee shops, especially in Europe, but homemade are much better. Ollie-Bollen are nice and crisp on the outside and tender and flaky on the inside. They also have a nice flavor and a sweet coating. There is nothing like a fresh Ollie-Bollen on New Year's Eve!
