Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Rest Time: 60 mins
Total: 2 hrs
Servings: 24 servings
Stroopkoeken have the same gooey caramel-cinnamon filling as their universally adored sibling, the stroopwafel. But instead of the stroopwafels’s thin, chewy wafer exterior—which comes courtesy of a piping hot specialist waffle iron—stroopkoeken can be baked in any ordinary oven and have a thicker, crispier bite that is no less satisfying. You will, however, need to track down a few typical Dutch ingredients, most of which can be ordered online quite easily, but you’ll be rewarded with a cookie that absolutely everyone will love.
This recipe has been translated from the original in Koekje cookbook and has been republished on the Dutch Food site with the permission of the publisher. We’ve converted the recipe to US measurements (as closely as possible), but you’ll get the best results using a kitchen scale and the original European measurements (in grams). Similarly, you can find good substitutes for most of these ingredients, such as cake flour instead of zaanse bloem and golden syrup or treacle instead of keukenstroop, but for that authentic Dutch taste it’s best to stick to the original ingredients.
Ingredients
- For the Cookies
- 240 g/8.5 ounces/1 cup butter (softened)
- 240 g/8.5 ounces/1 1/4 cup witte basterdsuiker sugar
- 5 g/1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 450 g/16 ounces/5 cups zeeuwse bloem flour (sifted)
- 10 g/2 2/3 teaspoon baking powder (sifted)
- For the Filling
- 200 g/4.5 ounces/1/2 cup keukenstroop syrup
- 125 g/4.5 ounces/2/3 cup bruine basterdsuiker sugar
- 100 g/3.5 ounces/7 tablespoons roomboter, or high-quality butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Steps to Make It
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Gather the ingredients.
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Mix the butter with the sugar, salt, and the egg.
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Add the flour and baking powder and knead until mixed. Cover and allow the cookie dough to rest for 1 hour in the fridge.
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Warm the syrup in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Set aside and allow to cool to lukewarm.
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Preheat the oven to 340 F/170 C. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
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Flour a clean work surface and roll the chilled dough out to a thickness of 1/16-inch/2 mm.
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Score the dough in a grid-pattern (optional). Using a cookie cutter with a diameter of about 3-inches/8 cm, cut cookie rounds from the dough and place on the cookie sheet.
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Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
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Spread a layer of syrup on the flat side of half of the cookies and cover with the remaining cookies.
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Serve warm and enjoy!
Tip
- Stroopkoeken are at their most delicious straight from the oven, served warm. You can keep cooled leftover cookies in an airtight container for a few days.
Recipe Variations
- Basterdsuiker is a typical Dutch product and cannot be easily substituted. It is manufactured by adding invert sugar and other ingredients to fine white refined sugar. This mixture helps to achieve certain textural structures and keeps baked goods moist. There are three varieties, white, brown and dark brown, called witte basterdsuiker, (licht)bruine basterdsuiker or gele basterdsuiker and donkerbruine basterdsuiker. It is widely available from Dutch supermarkets and some Dutch groceries on the internet.
- Zeeuwse bloem is a finely milled white Dutch cake flour, made from soft wheat. It is described by Holtkamp as «a flour rich in enzymes and low in gluten, which is very pliable and elastic in nature.» According to the patissier, this makes the flour suitable for cookies that have to be ultra light and crispy. What makes this flour different from regular cake flour, is the fact that it comes from an area with a sea climate, contains less starch, is moister — with an almost fatty feel — and has less thickening power. Zeeuwse bloem can be ordered at most bakeries in the Netherlands. Alternatively, go to a good bakery where you live and tell them you need a finely milled white flour, made from soft wheat, suitable for cookies.
- Keukenstroop is a molasses-colored syrup made from sugar syrup and glucose syrup. This treacly syrup (also called simply stroop) is often enjoyed with pancakes in the Netherlands instead of maple syrup. It is widely available from Dutch supermarkets and Dutch groceries on the internet.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 24 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 259 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 13g | 17% |
| Saturated Fat 6g | 31% |
| Cholesterol 30mg | 10% |
| Sodium 444mg | 19% |
| Total Carbohydrate 34g | 12% |
| Dietary Fiber 2g | 6% |
| Protein 3g | |
| Calcium 73mg | 6% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
