oliebollen in a bowl dusted with confectioners' sugar
Dutch Oil Balls (Oliebollen)
Dutch Oliebollen (roughly translated ‘Oil Balls’ or ‘ Oil Spheres’) are also sometimes called Dutch Donuts or Dutch Dough Balls. Make your own Dutch Oliebollen with this easy recipe.
oliebollen in a bowl dusted with confectioners' sugar
Dutch Oil Balls (Oliebollen)
Dutch Oliebollen (roughly translated ‘Oil Balls’ or ‘ Oil Spheres’) are also sometimes called Dutch Donuts or Dutch Dough Balls. Make your own Dutch Oliebollen with this easy recipe.
Servings Prep Time
15oliebollen 20minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
30minutes 1hour
Servings Prep Time
15oliebollen 20minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
30minutes 1hour
Ingredients
Batter
Frying
  • sunflower oilor peanut oil – as much as needed to fill a pan or deep fryer
Instructions
  1. If you don’t have a warm place to keep your batter, preheat the oven to 95°F – 104°F ( 35°C – 40°C. Turn the oven off when it gets to 104°F. The oven will act as a warm place for the batter to rest and help it rise.
  2. In a large bowl mix the 3/4 of the lukewarm milk with the yeast and sugar. (Make sure to use a bowl large enough for the batter to rise in without it overflowing)
  3. Add egg and flour and use a mixer with a dough hook to mix the batter. When the batter/dough starts to form, add the lemon zest and keep adding the rest of the lukewarm milk a little bit at a time while continuing to mix the batter. Keep mixing until you have a smooth batter.
  4. Add the melted butter and the salt and mix for a few more minutes till fully incorporated.
  5. Add raisins, currants, and apple to the batter and mix with a spatula till incorporated.
  6. Cover the bowl with a warm, damp cloth and put it aside in a warm place (or your preheated oven). Leave to rest for at least one hour.
  7. Once the batter has rested, take off the cloth and with a spatula, mix through the batter once.
  8. When the batter is almost ready to fry, turn on your deep fryer to 356°F / 180°C or you can fry the Oliebollen in a deep pan on the stove, just make sure you check the temperature regularly to ensure consistency while frying the Oliebollen.
  9. Dip with a metal ice-cream scoop into the hot oil, then scoop some of the batter with the ice-cream scoop and gently let the batter ‘drop’ in the hot oil. The batter will form immediately and float upwards. Depending on the size of your pan, you can fry several oliebollen at the same time. Just be careful not to overfill the pan. The oliebollen will expand a bit when they’re in the oil and they need space to cook properly.
  10. Fry the oliebollen for about 5 minutes until golden brown and done, turning them halfway. Remove them from the oil and drain them in a dish covered with some paper towel or in a colander covered with paper towel.
  11. Serve the oliebollen lukewarm with some powdered sugar.
Recipe Notes
  • If you feel the batter needs more time to rise, just leave it in the warm place for longer. If you keep it in the oven, make sure the oven still is warm enough for the batter. If needed you can increase the warmth to 122°F – 50°C max. Make sure you don’t increase the warmth any higher.
  • Always use either sun flower oil or peanut oil for frying for the best result, don’t use the type of oil you use for fries because that will leave a white residue of fat on the Oliebol once it has cooled down. I always use sun flower oil. If you can’t use sun flower or peanut oil, you can use another type of neutral vegetable oil.
  • Oliebollen freeze well. Just add them to a Ziplock bag. Let them thaw in the bag and warm them up in the oven or microwave once thawed. Don’t heat them up too much, Oliebollen are best eaten lukewarm.

Please note:

  • Please note that the US cup measurements in this recipe are approximate and are not the exact equivalent of the grams mentioned in the recipe. Either use US cup measurements OR grams.  I have added cups for those that prefer using cups. The recipe is most accurate using weights/metric measurements.