Best Stroopwafel in amsterdam
Traditional or contemporary? The size of a side-plate or the size of a dinner-plate? If you’re looking for The Netherlands’ beloved caramel waffles you’ll find details of the best stroopwafels and poffertjes in Amsterdam right here.
Although the stroopwafel was actually invented in Gouda, Amsterdammers love their syrup and never more so than when sandwiched between two large rounds of crispy waffle, so let’s kick things off with details of where to find the best of the best…
The one from a market stall
Once you’ve finished your ‘Hollandse nieuwe haring’ (that’s new season herring to you) at the Albert Cuyp market, make sure you grab yourself a warm freshly made stroopwafel at Rudi’s – ranked as the best stroopwafels in Amsterdam by Het Parool newspaper and a fraction of the cost of the Instagram-hyped waffles in town. Watch them being prepared in front of your eyes on a Dutch waffle-iron and you’ll realise why they bear little, if any, resemblance to the ‘caramel waffles’ sold ubiquitously in Starbucks. Many of Amsterdam’s markets have their own stroopwafel guy so be sure to keep your eyes peeled. They are also the best place to pick up bags of broken stroopwafel ends which would make a pretty spectacular base for a cheesecake or banoffee pie!
The one from the oldest bakery in town
The gorgeous Art Nouveau Hans Egstorf Bakery is the place to watch a waffle being made by hand. This stunning building in the heart of town houses bakers who use an original recipe to press and fill a waffle in front of your eyes. There is nothing quite like the taste of a fresh, crispy, chewy, sweet, oozing waffle and its offset here by the stunning interior. Don’t leave Amsterdam without trying it (and be sure to grab a pack to take with you as a going-home-present)
The one from an old-fashioned tearoom
Another great place to buy a proper freshly-baked stroopwafel is from Lanskroon a small unassuming bakery on the Singel canal. This little tearoom doesn’t look like much but it’s one of the only other places left in the city making fresh stroopwafels and boy can you taste the difference if you compare them to the factory packs in Dutch supermarket favourite Albert Heijn. Tuck into a dinner-plate-sized treat with either honey or caramel fillings, for the perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee. From April, Lanskroon also produces freshly made ice-cream.
The TikTok one
If you’ve spent any time browsing Amsterdam on TikTok you can’t have missed the hype around Van Wonderen Stroopwafels on Amsterdam’s bustling Kalverstraat. This bakery serves up the most famous waffles in town. Pick your choice of toppings from M&M’s to more traditional Dutch flavours like speculaas and nut brittle. The shops have been designed with a traditional feel but this is less about getting an authentic Dutch-treat, and more about a chance to snap yourself a canal-side selfie with an eye-catching stroopwafel the size of your head! Be warned, they are currently selling for €13 a pop (outraging the locals!) and the queue can take ages.
The one that’s the best of all worlds
Looking for a stroopwafel that will make your social media followers green with envy, whilst at the same time being authentically made, absolutely delicious and not requiring yet another TikTok-mania queue? I’ve got just the place for you. Head to Muntplein and make tracks for Firma Stroop. Owned by the same wonderful people as Hans Egstorf but with a focus on stroopwafels that look as mind-boggling as they taste, this is the place to get yourself a chocolate dipped waffle for breakfast lunch or dinner (or maybe after the first bite you’ll decide on all three).
best Poffertjes in amsterdam
Poffertjes are mini cloud-like puffed pancakes made in a cast-iron pan that are served warm with butter and a drift of icing sugar. Dig your toothpick into the snowy mountain and there’s no going back. Although available in many of the city’s pancake restaurants, our favourites tend to be made fresh at street-side stalls. If you’re not lucky enough to make it to one of Amsterdam’s weekly or monthly food markets, you should find the poffertje stall daily at the wonderful Albert Cuyp market, just down from the stroopwafel guys.
Other bakery treats
If you aren’t completely sugared-out by now, you could head up the road from Lanskroon to Amsterdam’s ‘best biscuit’ at Van Stapele Koekmakerij. This now has the longest queue in Amsterdam – a victim of TikTok mania. Is it worth it? Hmmm the shop itself is cute and the biscuits, well they are a bit sickly. If you’ve queued for over an hour you probably want to convince yourself that its the best biscuit in the world but honestly, I’d spend an hour in Amsterdam doing something else myself – maybe visiting five other authentic bakeries for some superior treats.
The best speculaas biscuits (officially) are available at a very unlikely low-key local bakery near the Westerpark. We were on a mission to find the best almond-bottomed speculaas for a mega-fan and did a blind tasting from multiple lovely bakeries (it’s a hard life). Interestingly our favourites came from Bakkerij Westerpark which was awarded ‘best speculaas in North Holland’ by a baking magazine a couple of years ago and rubber stamped by Het Parool newspaper. Its not in the heart of town but its worth a trip if you are a fan of these local wonders.
Finally, for the finest traditional patisseries, there’s no other place to head than Holtkamp, suppliers to the Dutch Royal Family, and the home of Marc’s favourite -Tompouce – an incredibly Dutch confection which is basically a millefeuille topped with bubblegum-pink icing!
So, forget clogs, windmills and tulips, if you want an authentic Dutch experience, make sure you grab yourself one of these baked delights and partake in the Great Netherlands bake off – Amsterdam-style!
And for more inspiration check out this post with all our favourite places to eat around the city.