Are Stroopwafels Halal?

A stroopwafel is two paper-thin waffles sandwiched with a layer of caramel syrup, a speciality of the Dutch city of Gouda.^[2] Its ingredients are ordinary baking staples, and it is Halal. Packaged brands are worth a quick look at the emulsifier and flavouring lines.^[1]

What is in one

• The waffle – flour, butter or vegetable fat, brown sugar, yeast, milk and egg, pressed on a patterned iron, then split in half while still hot.
• The syrup – stroop is caramelised sugar or syrup cooked with butter and cinnamon, spread between the two halves.

Butter, milk and eggs are Halal. Lard is not part of the recipe, and the usual fats are butter or vegetable oil.

Fresh from the market, or from a packet

At Dutch markets stroopwafels are made to order and eaten warm, and a plain butter-and-caramel waffle needs no further thought. Supermarket and airport packs are made industrially, where you may see glucose-fructose syrup, vegetable fats, emulsifiers and "flavouring". Two lines are worth reading there:

• Emulsifiers – soy lecithin is plant-based; mono- and diglycerides (E471) depend on their source.
• Flavourings – usually uncontroversial, occasionally carried in alcohol; a certified or vegetarian-labelled pack settles it.

Chocolate-dipped and honey versions (honingwafels) follow the same logic: check the coating's label.

How the Dutch eat them

Set a stroopwafel on top of a hot cup of tea or coffee for a minute and the syrup softens. They are also crumbled over ice cream or yoghurt; if you do that, the Halal questions move to the dessert. For other biscuits, see cookies.