On my first day in Amsterdam, I went to an outdoor market and discovered a stand making hot stroopwafels, and I couldn't resist the temptation!
It was delicious, especially since it had been made fresh, so it was still warm. The caramel filling was gooey and the "cookies" holding the filling tasted kind of like a waffle cone you would find at an ice cream store.
It is prepared by sandwiching a thick caramel syrup (made of molasses, brown sugar, and cinnamon) between two thin cookies. The story goes that the first stroopwafel was created by a baker, who wanted to find a way to use extra breadcrumbs instead of throwing them away. So he added syrup to them, resulting in a sweet dough that eventually turned into the waffle-like cookies we see today.
Interestingly, the first stroopwafels came from a city named Gouda, which is also where Gouda cheese is from! The Netherlands is also famous for its cheese production, and I got to experience this firsthand when I went inside a cheese shop where giant wheels of cheese were stacked higher than my head!
