How to Eat a Stroopwafel

An illustrated guide

You may already know what a stroopwafel is, but please let me re-introduce you.

A stroopwafel is the narwhal of cookies. This is a thing you are so glad exists that you can hardly believe it does exist. And, when you are sure it exists, you want to tell everyone about it: “Can you believe there is such a thing?” you might say, or, better yet, you might invite someone to have one with you, whether that be with someone in your house (because we are, you know, still in shelter-in-place) or a friend on the internet.

To my mind, this is the whole point of a stroopwafel. Its very construction is about two things coming together; in its case, two soft layers of waffle cookie sandwiched around a thin layer of caramel. But the stroopwafel doesn’t just bring together two delicious foodstuffs. No, it requires a little more alchemy.

When you pair the stroopwafel with a happy floating warm head of steam, you get a soft, melty caramel middle (as opposed to a chewier caramel middle). This allows you to sit and do a few things while the steam does its work.