Oliebollen are the traditional New Year's Eve food eaten in the Netherlands after being fried in oil.
Oliebollen are deep-fried balls of dough, usually made with yeast, flour, eggs, milk, and sometimes raisins or other dried fruit. They are commonly dusted with powdered sugar and sold by temporary seasonal stalls during the winter holiday period.
The Dutch name translates roughly as “oil balls,” referring to the frying method. They are strongly associated with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, when families and friends eat them warm or at room temperature. Similar fried dough foods appear in neighboring European cuisines, but oliebollen are particularly linked with Dutch New Year celebrations.
They are sometimes confused with poffertjes, which are small buckwheat pancakes cooked on a griddle rather than deep-fried. Stroopwafels are also Dutch, but they consist of thin waffle rounds joined by syrup. Oliebollen's defining feature is the dense, doughnut-like ball cooked in hot oil.