A stroopwafel is a thin Dutch cookie made of two crisp waffle wafers pressed around a layer of warm caramel syrup. The name means “syrup waffle” in Dutch. It’s pronounced STROPE-vah-fuhl, and it comes from the city of Gouda, where bakers have made them since the early 1800s.
How a stroopwafel is made
The dough is stiff and yeasted — flour, butter, brown sugar, yeast, milk and eggs — and it’s pressed in a hot waffle iron with a fine, shallow grid until it’s thin and crisp. That grid is what gives a stroopwafel its texture. It’s a much tighter pattern than the deep pockets of a Belgian waffle iron.
While the wafer is still warm and pliable, it’s sliced horizontally into two thin discs. The filling goes on one half — stroop, a treacle syrup cooked down with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon — and the two halves are pressed back together.
Then it cools, and that’s the part that matters. As the syrup sets, it binds the two wafers into a single cookie. That’s why a stroopwafel holds together in your hand but turns soft and molten the second you warm it up.
Stroopwafel vs. pizzelle vs. waffle
All three come out of a hot iron, which is where the confusion starts. The stroopwafel is the only one of the three that is filled.
| Stroopwafel | Pizzelle | Waffle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Gouda, Netherlands | Abruzzo, Italy | Belgium and beyond |
| Base | Stiff yeasted dough | Thin egg batter | Yeasted dough or batter |
| Filled? | Yes — caramel syrup | No | No |
| Flavored with | Cinnamon, brown sugar | Anise or vanilla | Pearl sugar, or nothing |
| Eaten | As a cookie, warmed on a mug | As a crisp cookie | Hot, on a plate |
Because a pizzelle iron presses the same thin, fine-grid wafer, it is the tool most home bakers reach for when they want to make stroopwafels without buying a dedicated iron. It works — the slicing and filling is the hard part, not the pressing.
Where the stroopwafel came from
Stroopwafels come from Gouda, in the Dutch province of South Holland — the same city as the cheese. They appeared sometime between the late 1700s and the early 1800s, made by bakers looking for something to do with leftover crumbs and scraps, bound together with syrup.
The most-repeated version of the story credits a Gouda baker named Gerard Kamphuisen, who opened his bakery in 1810. The oldest known written recipe for stroopwafels dates to 1840. It’s a good story and it may well be true, but it is folklore rather than documented fact — most food historians treat the stroopwafel as a Gouda invention without a single named inventor.
What isn’t in dispute is what happened next. By the mid-1800s stroopwafels had spread across the Netherlands. Today they’re sold everywhere from supermarket shelves to open-air market stalls, where you can still buy one pressed fresh and handed to you warm.
How to eat a stroopwafel
The classic method: set the stroopwafel on top of a mug of hot coffee or tea and leave it there for a minute or two. The steam softens the wafer and melts the caramel inside, and you eat it warm. In Australia they’re sometimes called “coffee toppers” for exactly this reason.
That’s the short version. We went deeper on the technique — hot chocolate, ice cream, and a few pairings that shouldn’t work but do — in our full guide to eating a stroopwafel.
If you’d rather make your own, we have a recipe for stroopwafels from scratch, pizzelle iron and all.
Does Belgian Boys still make stroopwafels?
No. Belgian Boys no longer makes or sells stroopwafels — today we make bite-sized pancakes, Belgian waffles and crêpes.
Stroopwafels were part of Belgian Boys for years. We made them in the Netherlands, in the traditional style, and for a lot of people in the US a Belgian Boys stroopwafel was the first one they ever tried. That’s a chapter we’re glad to have had, and it’s why this page is still here: the stroopwafel is worth explaining properly whether or not we have one to sell you.
If you’re looking to buy stroopwafels today, you’ll find them at Dutch specialty grocers, in the cookie aisle of most well-stocked supermarkets, and online.
And if you have a stroopwafel story from those days — a first taste, a trip to the Netherlands, a mug you ruined — we’d like to hear it. Send us a DM on Instagram.
Stroopwafel FAQs
Does Belgian Boys still make stroopwafels?
No. Belgian Boys discontinued its stroopwafel line and no longer makes or sells them. The brand’s current range is bite-sized pancakes, bite-sized chocolate chip pancakes, Belgian waffles and crêpes.
What is a stroopwafel?
A stroopwafel is a thin Dutch cookie made of two crisp waffle wafers pressed around a layer of caramel syrup. The name is Dutch for “syrup waffle.”
Are stroopwafels Dutch or Belgian?
Dutch. Stroopwafels originated in Gouda, in the Netherlands. They are often confused with Belgian waffles, which are a different thing entirely — thicker, leavened, and eaten hot rather than as a cookie.
How do you pronounce stroopwafel?
STROPE-vah-fuhl. The Dutch “w” is closer to an English “v.”
Who invented the stroopwafel?
No one knows for certain. Stroopwafels were created by bakers in Gouda between the late 1700s and early 1800s. A widely repeated story credits a baker named Gerard Kamphuisen, whose bakery opened in 1810, but that attribution is traditional rather than documented. The oldest known recipe dates to 1840.
What is the best way to eat a stroopwafel?
Rest it on top of a mug of hot coffee or tea for a minute or two. The steam softens the wafer and melts the caramel filling, and you eat it warm.
What do stroopwafels taste like?
Buttery and caramel-forward, with warm cinnamon and a light molasses note from the syrup. The wafer is crisp when cool and chewy when warmed.
Looking for something from the freezer aisle?
Belgian Boys makes bite-sized pancakes, Belgian waffles and crêpes. We don’t make stroopwafels anymore, but we do make breakfast.
