Aka the shop for all your stroopwafel needs. I honestly never knew they came in so many flavors. So…read moremany. If nothing else, come for all the samples. And if you're able to attend one of their short demonstrations. It'll happen either in the basement with the full theater kitchen or in the back of the shop at a little counter. Either way, they'll give you some of what is made for a taste, and I never realized just how good freshly made, warm stroopwafel was. It is amazing. O.o We were part of a tour group and the demo came as part of the package. If you're on your own, I think it may cost a few euros.
Woltje's Backerij, or Woltje's Bakery, consists of a shop (1st floor), bakery (downstairs), and museum (upstairs). They sell chocolates, ice creams, and waffles, but their main focus are stroopwafels. This is a Dutch signature wafer consisting of thinner brown sugar wafers with a caramel filling that was traditionally laid over the top of a steaming cup of tea, hence the circular shape. The founder/original baker was a woman (who I get the feeling was a pillar of her community) who apparently took the original recipe and made it her own into the Volendamse wafel. Nowadays, Woltje's seems to have stuck with the base recipe but have expanded in terms of variety with four base categories (caramel, speculaas/cookie butter, honey, and chocolate-covered). Seriously, there was an APPLE PIE stroopwafel. And I REALLY love the chocolate covered ones. Those are really satisfying bites.
Again, we came as part of a tour group. The majority of the group were led down for a presentation in the basement kitchen. Meanwhile, we were in the group of remaining people (who couldn't fit) and were given a much more intimate, close-up presentation at a little counter set up in the back of the store. I think the basement presentation was more of how the bakery makes or used to make stroopwafels in large batches. While I would have liked the see the kitchen myself, but seeing the actual process closely and also a lot of fun. I'd love to try to make some myself.
Overall, this was a really fun stop and I loved tasting everything. Most importantly, I thought the short demonstration was great and the discovery that warm stroopwafels are AMAZING. Additionally, the packs and tins they sell make for great souvenirs. For cookies, they're actually pretty sturdy and could actually take a bit of pressure. All of ours got back to the States without any problems.
