Choose taaitaai as a separate snack to serve with homemade oliebollen (Dutch doughnuts) if you’re after a spiced flavour. A milk chocolate coating doesn’t automatically mean a high cocoa content. For oliebollen, the basic recipes from Albert Heijn Allerhande and Jumbo provide a starting point, using ingredients such as flour, yeast, milk and egg. If you do want to add taaitaai to the batter, treat it as an experiment with your own recipe, not as a standard step.
If you want to serve taaitaai with a chocolate flavour alongside your oliebollen, look beyond its colour. Dark brown sugar in an Albert Heijn Allerhande recipe and milk chocolate on a Jumbo variety each tell you something different about the product.
When making oliebollen, it’s important to decide whether to serve taaitaai separately or add it to the batter. The basic recipes from Albert Heijn Allerhande and Jumbo don’t use taaitaai as a standard ingredient.
If you need to avoid certain ingredients, you’ll need to check the information on the exact packaging. For its Sint Taai Taai Figuurtjes, Jumbo lists cereals containing gluten and milk, among other ingredients, and notes the possible presence of certain nuts.
First decide whether you’ll serve the taaitaai alongside your oliebollen or use it in your own recipe experiment. Then choose based on flavour and check the label if you’re buying a packaged product.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| What ‘dark’ means | If you’re looking for it, check for an explicit mention of dark chocolate, cocoa or a cocoa percentage; don’t judge by colour alone. | I want to serve taaitaai with a distinct chocolate flavour alongside my oliebollen, not just a biscuit that looks dark. For around 40% of consumers, this flavour profile comes first. |
| Using it with oliebollen | Decide whether to serve taaitaai separately or try it in your own version of the batter; follow your chosen basic recipe for the oliebollen. | When I make oliebollen, I want to know which ingredients belong in the batter and what I’m adding myself. For around 40% of consumers, how a product is used matters most. |
| Allergens | Check both the ingredients and the ‘contains’ and ‘may contain’ statements on the exact packaging. | If I have a food allergy, I want to check the taaitaai before buying or serving it. For around 20% of consumers, checking allergens is a priority. |
Albert Heijn Allerhande’s taaitaai recipe uses dark brown sugar. Jumbo’s separate chocolate variety is called taaitaai with milk chocolate. Neither description, by itself, confirms a high cocoa content.
If dark chocolate is what you’re looking for, check whether the product information actually specifies that type of chocolate or gives a cocoa percentage.
The basic oliebollen recipes from Albert Heijn Allerhande and Jumbo don’t list taaitaai as an ingredient. Adding it is your own adaptation, and you can’t predict the result from those recipes.
Make the basic batter according to your chosen recipe, and try any addition first in a small, separate portion.
A separate test batch takes extra preparation time and batter.
For its Sint Taai Taai Figuurtjes, Jumbo lists gluten, milk, rye and wheat, and also notes the possible presence of almonds and hazelnuts, among other things. This doesn’t tell you which allergens are present in other taaitaai products.
Always check the current label on the product you’re actually buying, even if you’ve used a similar variety before.
Jumbo provides product information for both regular taaitaai and a separate milk chocolate variety.
Albert Heijn Allerhande has separate recipes for taaitaai and oliebollen, helping you distinguish between choosing a snack and choosing what to add to the batter.
Bolletje is relevant here as an example of traditional packaged taaitaai.
Taaitaai isn’t an ingredient in the basic oliebollen recipes from Albert Heijn Allerhande and Jumbo. You can serve it separately; if you do want to add it to the batter, first try it as your own variation in a small portion.
No, a dark colour or name doesn’t confirm that a product contains dark chocolate. Albert Heijn Allerhande uses dark brown sugar in a taaitaai recipe, while Jumbo lists a separate milk chocolate variety. Check the ingredients if the type of chocolate or cocoa content matters to you.
Check the allergen information on the exact packaging you’re buying. For its Sint Taai Taai Figuurtjes, Jumbo lists gluten, milk, rye and wheat, and states that the product may also contain almonds, hazelnuts and other nuts. The ingredients may differ in other products.
Choose an oil suitable for deep-frying and follow the instructions in your oliebollen recipe. The Voedingscentrum gives sunflower oil and groundnut oil as examples of oils that can withstand higher temperatures.
