The History of Stroopwafels

Credit for inventing the precursor to the modern stroopwafel is often given to Gerard Kamphuisen, a baker who lived in the Netherlands. While working in his home city of Gouda circa 1810, he reportedly combined breadcrumbs and other scraps at his bakery, then added syrup and formed a dough. He then filled the cookies with more of the syrup and cooked them, creating an early version of stroopwafel. Originally known as armenkoeken, meaning “poor man’s cookies,” the treats quickly caught on among the local working class as they were both delicious and inexpensive. Roughly 30 years later, Kamphuisen’s cookies had become so popular that they were being mass-produced at a factory in Gouda. At some point, the name was changed to stroopwafel, meaning “syrup waffle.” Over the next 40 years, stroopwafels became increasingly popular all across the Netherlands and upper-class citizens soon took notice of the humble treats, too. The invention of the waffle iron in the middle of the 18th century made baking thinner, crispier cookies possible and gave rise to the snack’s iconic crisscross texture. In fact, stroopwafels became so popular that at one point, there were 17 different factories in the Netherlands making them (a few of them still exist today). Many bakeries also continued to make the cookies by hand and still do so. Over time, a traditional way of eating the cookies emerged as citizens began placing their stroopwafels atop a mug of coffee or tea, allowing the waffle portion to warm up and the inner filling to melt slightly. Today, stroopwafels remain extremely popular in the Netherlands and have also spread to many other parts of the world, including the United States, where they are available in many grocery stores.