Olie Bollen- a Gluten Free/Dairy Free Dutch Family's Halloween Tradition

Okay, so Halloween is here again, and I realized two things, first, there was no way I was going to pull together a brand-new costume with less than twenty-four hours to spare, and second, there was no recipe for gluten free/dairy free version of Olie Bollen on Instructables or the internet at all.

Let me back up. My family's Halloween tradition has always been to head to a relative's house and eat this unique, deep-fried Dutch treat while handing out candy to tricker-treaters. About a year ago, I had to go gluten free and dairy free, which of course, meant that I could no longer eat my favorite fall treat. Since I couldn't live with that, I decided to make some of my own, but wasn't sure how gluten free flour would affect the process.

Unfortunately, I have a very low tolerance for sub-par imitations of my favorite foods, and thus decided to look for a tried-and-true recipe to try before I went for broke and simply substituted my ingredients into an existing recipe. I couldn't find one, so I adapted my family's favorite recipe, and it turned out great (My dad, who has a very high standard for my food experiments, approved of them.)

Now, some of you may be wondering, "What in the world is 'Olie Bollen'?"

Olie Bollen is Dutch for "oily balls" (which tells you exactly how healthy they are, but hey it's Halloween), and they are traditionally a Christmas or New Year's treat. My family likes them for Halloween because while my great grandmother was still living, she decided that she wanted her family to have a brand-new tradition to confuse all the "normal" Dutch folks in our town. Anyway. They are really hard to compare to any other food, but the best comparison we've come up with is a really dense cake doughnut hole.

All that said, you really have to try them :)

P.S. I apologize for the blurriness of the first two photos. They compressed in the transfer from phone to computer.

Ingredients

1 c. Sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk (I used Almond Breeze Vanilla Almond milk, but any dairy free substitute would work.)

2 tbsp oil

3/4 c. grated apple

3/4 c. dried fruit (traditionally, currants, but I used dried blueberries and cranberries due to a lack of currants.)

*Above ingredient is optional. Half of my family likes currants, the other half does not, so we normally make half with and half without.

3 1/2 c. flour (I like Premium Gold's Ancient Grains blend. It worked really well.)

3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

*Make sure that you remember this/your baking powder is good. Otherwise, they won't look pretty. We speak from experience.

1/2 tsp salt

Tools

Large Mixing Bowl

Liquid measuring cup (if you have a tablespoon liquid measuring cup, it's really helpful for the oil. I spill a lot less when I use it.)

Assorted measuring spoons

Grater (for the apple)

Deep frier

Pan

Spider (Not a fake plastic kind. A kitchen spider. It's like a wire net attached to a long handle. It makes grabbing to Olie Bollen a lot easier. A slotted spoon would probably also suffice if you don't have a spider.)

This part is REALLY easy. Mix the above ingredients together in the order given. If you don't want currants, skip that step. If you're making part with and part without, leave them out and when you have your desired amount of currant-less Olie Bollen, add them in. The dough will keep in the fridge, so you can make it ahead of time too. The gluten free/dairy free version should look like cookie dough.

*I don't know how LONG it will keep in the fridge though. Sorry.

Heat oil in your deep frier to 375 degrees F and drop the dough in about a tablespoon at a time. Our deep frier fits about seven balls at a time. As they cook, they will flip themselves over, which is really cool to watch, though I suggest watching them carefully to make sure that they do flip over. (If they are too misshapen, they won't flip, and one side will burn.) Use the spider or slotted spoon to fish out your Olie Bollen and drop them onto a pan lined with paper towels to absorb any access oil.

If you want to, you can roll them in sugar. :)