Oliebollen are the traditional Dutch New Year's Eve midnight treat made from fried dough and powdered sugar.
An oliebol is a round or oval fritter prepared from yeast-based dough. The dough may contain currants, raisins, or pieces of apple, and it is deep-fried before being dusted generously with powdered sugar. Dutch families commonly buy or prepare oliebollen during the winter holiday period, particularly for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
The name combines olie, meaning oil, with bol, meaning ball. The singular is oliebol; oliebollen is the plural. Belgium has related fried dough traditions, while Dutch oliebollen are especially tied to the transition into the new year.
Oliebollen are sometimes compared with doughnuts, but they are not simply ring-shaped doughnuts. Their irregular shape and fruit-filled variations distinguish them. Poffertjes are small fluffy pancakes, stroopwafels are syrup-filled waffle cookies, and speculaas is a spiced biscuit.