A tried and tested recipe, recovered from Me Olde Weblog: Oliebollen are a Dutch treat, generally served at New Year’s Eve. Naturally, that shouldn’t hold you back in making these things for your lunch package. The recipe beneath makes a total of 20 – 25 oliebollen, if you roll them in balls 1 -1 1/2 inch width. Naturally, this recipe scales pretty good, as any Dutch man (or woman) does, whether that’s in metric or imperial system.
1 cup lukewarm water or milk (mixed is OK too)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup softened butter
1 chopped raw apple
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup currants
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour
Put the milk on a stove, and warm until bubbles appear: make sure it’s not too hot. That kills the yeast. Pour in bowl. Add sugar, butter, yeast and egg. Mix until smooth. Add currents, raisins and apple. Add 3 cups of flour and stir until the dough appears dry. Throw 1 cup of flour on cupboard, dump dough on top and start kneading until you have a dry, smooth elastic dough. Butter a bowl with shortening (or butter), roll the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl, and let rest in the warmest corner of your house until the dough has risen twice its size (in my case it always took longer than 2 hours. Have patience). If it didn’t rise by then, it’s time to call in the artillery.
Heat up pan with oil (a wok will do perfectly) for at least 15 minutes on medium to high. Roll balls (you’ll end up with around 20 – 25) then (deep) fry them gold/ or dark brown. Let cool.