The Dutch have definitely got the monopoly on fun food names. Stroopwafels? Speculoos? The only thing better than saying these things is eating them. You might know speculoos better as the cookie that goes into Trader Joe's Cookie Butter or the Biscoff cookies you get on airplanes. They're kind of like gingerbread cookies but less spicy and more caramelized.
I was introduced to stroopwafels back when I worked at a company that had their European headquarters in the Netherlands. It was pretty much required for all colleagues visiting our office in the U.S. to bring stroopwafels as a gift since we loved them so much. They're basically two thin, crispy waffles sandwiching a layer of delicious caramel. You're supposed to put them on top of a mug of hot coffee or tea so that the steam melts the caramel before you eat it.
For the ice cream sandwiches, I experimented with freezing the stroopwafels vs. warming the stroopwafels in the microwave first. Surprisingly, the warmed stroopwafels worked better for the ice cream sandwiches because the cookies were soft enough to bite through without smooshing the ice cream out the other side. Of course, the warmed stroopwafels cause the ice cream to melt more quickly, but because these are mini ice cream sandwiches, it's pretty easy to finish them in just a couple of bites. —Joy Huang | The Cooking of Joy
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