As a daughter of a full Dutch father, this is what we would look forward to EVERY New Years day. It was a tradition. These are very good but I made them the way my dad did. I did a double batch and used 1 cup of beer (rrom temo) and 1 cup warm water. Did not use milk. Also only used 1 cube of yeast because of the beer. He also made it and let it rise all night and made them in the morning. I have done this tradition with my kids since my dad has passed and hopefully they will carry it on.
They were very good but way to much salt. I had to throw away the first few batches. Once I cut back on the salt they were fine.
This is the second year I've made this recipe for my Dutch husband on New Years. He swears it's just as good as his Dad made while he was growing up in Holland. A few tips - one package of active dry yeast works the same as the fresh yeast, and I also reduce the salt to 1 tsp. I like to do have the batch with cinnamon mixed in with the powdered sugar. Make sure to finely chop the apples - they should only add flavor, not a lot of texture. Lastly, the balls need to be at least golf ball size - so use an ice-cream scoop to drop them (gently) in the oil.
My grandma's both use to make these (in the basement 'cuz of the oil smell!) for the holidays. Another German woman I knew made them and call them "Futchins". They are DELICIOUS!! Gramma never added currants just raisins and apple but she shook them in cinnamon sugar rather than powdered. Accurate recipe!! Thanks for the memories!!
Oliebollen has always been a huge tradition in my family for New Years Day. It was my favourite thing of the New Year. I decided to make this for my first New Year in China and it was terrible! The dough didn't rise and it was so salty the apples even took on the taste of the salt. I thought maybe I had made a mistake somewhere and forgot to add the sugar but there's no sugar in this recipe. I'm glad to hear some people enjoyed this recipe...but I think next time I'll stick with my mom's
Just like mom used to make! Well not quite but I think it'a more a question of technique. I had to add more milk to make the dough smooth but they tasted great! Lekker!
My mom used to always tell us about a little bakery in Washington state where she would buy Oliebollen and we've never been able to find them in CA. I was so glad to find this recipe! We made them and had a great time enjoying them! They are delicious!
My grandmother used to make these for my sister and i when we slept over her grams made them on easter in her youth. these are more authentic according to my gram then how she taught me (using pancake mix as kids we knew these as pancake balls) but I still added her "secret ingredient" a dash of orange juice. if you can find one there is a type of cast iron pan with ball shapes cut out that we fry these in it cuts the need for a vat of oil. though I inherited the pan from my grams and haven't been able to find a duplicate
I was a fan. I used a candy thermometer to make sure my oil was exactly at 375. They only needed to cook for about 4 minutes not 8. I used 1 1/2 tsp of regular yeast 1/4 cup sugar and reduced the salt to 1 tsp. Very yummy!
