4

Last year we spent our honeymoon in Holland and Belgium, and so for Christmas this year I wanted to surprise my wife with 2 types of cookies we were introduced to while we were there - stroopwafels, and mergpijpen. Every recipe I find for the stroopwafels requires that they be sliced in half after baking in a pizelle iron or a shallow waffle iron. However, our pizelle iron makes cookies so thin that I seriously doubt that they can be cut.

Can anyone provide any insights on whether the "cut in half" step is necessary?

Matthew
  • 3,372
  • 8
  • 36
  • 55
  • Does your recipe use yeast? After a quick search I it seems there are two types of recipes: the ones with yeast are supposed to be split (probably because they "blow up" a bit), the ones without use two wafers sandwiched together. – Stephie Dec 02 '14 at 20:01
  • It'd probably work, but they wouldn't be as delicate : you'd have more wafel (twice the amount), but you'd also have more stroop (as you'd be spreading it on a textured side). I can't comment if it's 'necessary', as I've never tried making them myself. Instead, you might want to make speculaas, kruidnoten, or pepernoten (aka pfeffernuise), which are what I associated w/ Sinterklaas ... stroopwafels tended to be year-round. But check the recipe for pepernoten and kruidnoten -- some require letting them sit for a month before eating (they soften up as they age, so you don't chip a tooth) – Joe Dec 02 '14 at 20:26
  • I find this strange, maybe these are recipes which have been adapted for American cooking? The thin hard waffles used for the type of stroopwaffel I know are baked in a special waffle iron which produces thin ones. – rumtscho Dec 02 '14 at 21:25
  • @Joe: Noo stroopwafels are the best Dutch cookie ever! I don't like pepernoten nearly as much. Of course you could make borstplaat... As to letting pepernoten sit for a month, that is presumably only done to types of cookies make of taai-taai (which basically means tough-tough, and it is only rarely good). Pepernoten should be crisp. – Cerberus Dec 02 '14 at 21:26
  • @Cerberus : yes, but because they're available year-round, they're not something that I think of when thinking about holiday baking. We used to get them fresh from a stand in one of the markets in Utrect that we regularly visited ... but pepernoten and such were specifically for the holidays. – Joe Dec 03 '14 at 15:53
  • I'm not so much worried about holiday authenticity as I am about letting my wife remember our visit to one of our favorite places on earth for the holiday :) – Matthew Dec 03 '14 at 22:01
  • @Joe: That is absolutely true...but still! And do you mean the market at the Vredenburg? – Cerberus Dec 03 '14 at 23:17
  • @Cerberus : Sorry, it was ~30 years ago. I know it was in the province of Utrect (we lived in Huis ter Heide, right outside the American gate at Soesterberg Air Base). It might've been in the city of Utrect, Zeist, or even Den Dolder. – Joe Dec 05 '14 at 16:46
  • @Joe: Ahh I see. I am glad that you still have fond memories! – Cerberus Dec 05 '14 at 17:36

1 Answers1

1

I did some reading and checked several recipes. First, while all pizelle irons cook thin waffles, there does appear to be a difference in thickness from one iron to another.

From the recipes I looked at, the following information and suggestions were given:

  • In order split the pizelles in half, you must split them immediately upon removal from the iron, before they have had a chance to harden.
  • If your pizelle iron makes the thinnest waffles and it is impossible to split them you can put the filling between two waffles.

Also, regarding the comments about the hardness of stroopwafels, it seems that it is customary to sit them on top of a hot cup of coffee or tea for some seconds to soften them.

I haven't had the opportunity to try these but they sound delicious. I may try my hand at them soon. :)

Cindy
  • 18,331
  • 12
  • 52
  • 92
  • Hm, thank you! I am thinking it may be simpler to just use two wafels then as our iron makes incredible thin cookies. I'm thinking the only way I could split them is if I used our family's antique cast iron pizelle iron, but that requires constantly putting the iron in the oven OR over an open flame. Thank you so much for looking into it! – Matthew Dec 05 '14 at 15:39