by Marianne Graff
Published March 20,2025
Photo credit: Marianne Graff, taken in Guanajuato, Mexico at Amarte Cafe (translation: Love you cafe) that features thin, organic, wholesome waffles cooked in heart shapes
I still remember the sweet smell of cooking waffles wafting in the steam billowing from a kiosk in an outdoor mall in China, and the wave of homesickness it brought. Nothing reminds me more of home like the smell of breakfast. In that moment my eyes pricked with tears as memories surfaced of
of home cooked waffles topped with butter and a layer of fresh bananas topped with a Summerland Sweets berry syrup of some sort: chokecherry, strawberry , raspberries or saskatoon berry syrup. Then on special holidays muyMum would add dollops of sweeten whipped cream drizzled with maple syrup that soaked into the crispy bacon served on the side.
But despite the familiar smell, these waffles looked entirely different than the square and soft waffles of my youth.
These waffles looked like ping pong balls stick on a stick, drizzled with sauces and dusted with icing sugar. They were delicate,hollow and crispy.A very light snack, not a substantial meal like I remember from my youth.
I found out these were called ‘egg waffles’ and a popular waffle treat made in many Asian countries. Last week I even saw this kind of waffle being sold in small kiosk in Mexico, where I live now.
This is why I decided to do a deep dive into the wide world of waffles to see what other variations exist around the world. By the way, here is an entertaining comparison of the 4 types of waffles, according to Epicurious, and great tips from a chef.
Here is a brief overview of the types I have found so far.
Belgium Waffles
Photo Credit: Easy Belgian Waffle Recipes by the Preppy Kitchen
Let’s start with the most famous waffles, of which the Beligian waffle is arguably the most famous.
These waffles are very common in fancy restaurants, in part because they are more involved to make and so easy to dress up. Belgium waffles are a make ahead treat,since they are made using a yeast risen dough, not a batter. Many recipes call for egg whites instead of whole eggs, which contributes to the light and crispiness of the waffles.
They feature deep pockets and crispy edges, with a light and fluffy interior. They hold filings and toppings well, without turning soggy or collapsing.
These are distinctly different than pancake batter cooked in a round waffle iron machine.
Belgium waffles are not to be confused with Liege waffles, which are also apparently popular in Belgiuim.
Liege Waffles
Photo Credit: the Pancake Princess
Liege waffles are made of a thick, rich, sweet dough that has some sugar chunks in it, such as pearl sugar. The sugar caramelizes on the outside into a sweet and crunchy exterior. It’s so sweet and flavourful that it is often eaten as a snack, without any toppings. These don’t have the perfectly round edges of Belgium waffles, and look more like ovals with uneven edges.
Look here for a good overview and the best of 9 different liege waffle recipes.
Flemish Waffles
Usually eaten cold and topped with sugar, these yeasted waffles can be made with orange blossom water, fruit slices, berries, ice cream, whipped cream or syrups. They are usually made in large batches because they keep well for several weeks.
Dutch Waffles
Called Stroopwafels, these are often considered closer to a cookie than a meal, but would make an excellent add on for coffee time or as a take away item sold at the till.Starbucks recently made these a worldwide phenomenon.
There is a good (and entertaining) tutorial for making these here. Originally created by a baker in Gouda, the Netherlands. The first recorded recipe for them dates back to 1840 there. Stroopwafels translates to ‘poor waffles’ since they were created for people who could not afford to buy bread and pastries. The recipe was concocted by a baker from left over bakery ingredients, just to use them up.
The original filling featured a molasses syrup made of molasses, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Modern variations include fillings of nutella, and chocolate dipped and anything else you have ever seen as a donut topping or flavour.
Vietnamese Pandan Waffles
Allegedly created by a Vietnamese woman, Mama Lamb, in San Jose, USA, these waffles are very green. I have seen recipes for Pandan waffles posted by people in Viet Nam and Thailand.
The pandan waffles are made of pandan leaves, coconut milk, flour and sugar. They are cooked for 3 minutes each.
Photo Credit: Eatsbyrachel. “Meet the Creator of the Original Pandan Waffle”
Sweet Thai Coconut Waffles
on the other hand, are made with coconut milk and shredded coconut, called something that translates to mean ‘ beehive snack’ . These thin waffles are more of a snack than a breakfast, but you can serve them for breakfast They freeze very well.
They are made using palm sugar (don’t substitute this for other kinds of sugar), coconut milk, dry sweetened coconut, rice flour and all purpose flour, baking powder,and eggs.
No toppings are necessary, but you could always add ice cream or whipped cream.
Add-ins for the batter can be sweet corn, or raisins, or cooked taro, or shredded young coconut.
Soft and tender, not hard and crispy, these are more like donuts than cookies or Belgian or other kinds of waffles. They are often eaten as Thai tea snacks.
Photo credit: screenshot of ‘beehive waffle’ from Thailand from Thai Coconut Waffle Recipe by Pailin’s Kitchen
Indian waffles
There are a number of different moong dal waffle recipes on YouTUbe. They all feature Moong Daal (lentils) soaked and blended with water, and sometimes with oat flour or semolina.
Ravi is the name for the waffles from South India.
This batter is seasoned with finely chopped green chilis, red onion, cilantro, ginger and salt, chopped spinach, carom seeds,and aesofatida. Some recipes show adding grated vegetables such as chopped purple onion, peans, minced bell peppers, grated carrots and chopped herbs. These can be eaten as breakfast or as snacks or appetizers, with a curry dipping sauce, chutney, and / or Indian pickles..
Photo credit and tutorial for Ravi Waffles by ·Savory Waffles with an Indian Twist“
Japanese Waffles
These waffles are fish shaped and filled with bean paste.
Photo credit: screenshot of a video showing how to make Japanese fish shaped waffles filled with bean paste.
Norwegian waffles
Photo credit: How to make the famous Norwegian Waffle
Norwegian waffles are cooked in pretty heart shapes, using a special waffle griddle. They are some of the first known waffles made. Traditionally they were made with unique Norwegian waffle irons with intricate patterns, usually with heart shaped sections that look like petals on a flower. They are made of flour, sugar, salt , milk, eggs, and spiced with cardamom.
They are usually served with sour cream and a dollop of strawberry jam or Norwegian brown cheese ‘called’ Brunost’ which is a whey cheese, sliced very thinly, topped with sour cream and strawberry jam.
They look similar to the Swedish Waffle, but apparently taste a bit different.
Swedish Waffles
Photo Credit: Vafflor, or Swedish Waffles.
Swedish waffles have no leavening agent. They are incredibly airy and light as a cloud. They are a little finicky to make but only need three ingredients.Here is a link to a Magnus Nilsen -Swedish style, inspired waffle that is light as a cloud by a creative Dad.
The three indmgrdients are cake flour, ice cold water, and salt whisked together. You whip cream until quite stiff and almost turns into nutter (just use the cream for the waffle batter and sweeten some to top the waffle). The trick is not to over mix and gently fold the whipped cream it so that it is still light and fluffy and full of air when put on the waffle iron, and to use very cold ingredients.
This makes an almost hollow waffle. This is why it’s like eating a cloud.
These are served with a dusting of icing sugar . Layer sweetened whipped cream inbetween two waffles for a cloud sandwich treat. This is a great weekend treat. You could add strawberries or other fresh fruit if in you want.
Below is a photo clip from a video about a Swedish waffle restaurant on a ski resort serves many different types of waffles, sometimes as many as 712 per day, and one of the favourites is a waffle topped with rhubarb compote, topped with whipped cream and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.
Photo credit: screenshot from a video taken in a Swedish Waffle restaurant, showing their famous waffle with rhubarb compost topped with whipped cream dusted with cinnamon sugar
Canadian Waffles
Butter Tart Waffles
Photo credit: Butter Tart Waffles (Canadian Waffles)
Butter Tarts are a uniquely Canadian thing.
This recipe describes how to make butter tart styled waffles, that are not a widely known recipe but definitely smacks of something you could indeed find in Canada that wouldn’t surprise anyone there (and would delight them).
For those that don’t know, a butter tart is a small pastry tart filled with a very buttery, extremely sweet (brown sugar, corn syrup or maple syrup) sauce, flavoured with a few raisins.
Canadians are also famous for adding grated or pureed vegetables to sweet baked things, such as chocolate zucchini cake, carrot cake, and below, a squash waffle topped with candied bacon and real maple syrup. Canadians are also famous for their love of bacon, and they will put the bacon right on the waffles and pancakes and slather it all with maple syrup.
Photo credit: https://www.canadianliving.com/food/breakfast-and-smoothies/recipe/squash-waffles-with-candied-bacon
Korean Waffles- Home of the Croiffle
Korea has become known for its street food sensations, which include waffles on a stick, and croiffles, which are uncooked, sugar coated croissants cooked in a waffle iron. They look a lot like a liege waffle when cooked this way. And advantage to this style is that there is no batter to prepare and no sloppy mess to clean up since there is no batter that could spill over during the cooking process, and the finished croissants do not need to be trimmed with scissors as in other styles of serving waffles.
Screenshot from Croissant Waffles, with various toppings. This shows what six croissants cooked in a waffle iron look like. They look a lot like liege waffles when cooked this way.
They also use croissant dough cooked this way as bread for sandwiches. After cooking a croissant (that has not been coasted with sugar) in a waffle iron, they layer sandwich toppings on one half and fold the other
half over like a stuffed sandwich.
Photo credit “Croiffles from Korea served seven different ways”
Korean Pizza Waffles
This waffle is a meal. I have seen this idea in videos from the US and other places too, not just Korea, but these seems to be very popular in Korea judging from the number of videos about them.
This waffle dish features savory waffles as a base, topped with a thick pineapple puree squeezed into each square depression of the waffle using a pastry or icing piping tube, topped with a few spirals of tomato sauce, and finally with grated cheese and slices of ham or pepperoni and a bit more cheese sprinkled on top. Of course, they can make any kind of pizza this way. They just pop the waffle and its pizza toppings into a pizza oven or toaster oven to melt the cheese, and then they delivery or serve in a special box made to fit the round waffle shape.
Thought it was clever to put the pineapple on as a thick purree UNDER the tomato sauce and other toppings, instead of pineapple chunks that oculd make the whole thing soggy.
Korean Style Waffle Pizzas, served up in specially made boxes.
Hong Kong
Egg or Bubble Waffles
Hong Kong style bubble waffles feature a batter that is light and thin and it is poured into a special waffle maker. They use thin chopsticks or wooden skewers to peel it off the waffle iron once cooked, and thread them through each side to lift and position it over a curved cooling rack to make it into a loose cone shape.
Then they filled with all manner of toppings, such as marshmallow cream or flavoured whipped cream and sprinkles or every kind of ice cream known to humankind.
Here is a quick tutorial.
Photo credit: Quick Bubble Waffle Maker | Yummy Waffles Served In A Cone | Street Food Deserts
North American Waffles
Classic Buttermilk waffles
These might best be attributed to Europe, but they are very popular in the US and Canada.They are light and airy, with a crisp outside and a soft and chewy inside. They are often cooked using square waffle irons, a popular shape in the US and Canadam because you can make more than one at a time.
Here is a full article with tutorial and recipe from Canadian Living Magazine,
And here is a classic buttermilk waffle video tutorial by professional baker Anna Olson.
Photo credit: Professional Baker Teaches You How to Make Waffles
Stuffed Waffles
A recent phenomenon is the stuffed waffle, a trend that has mushroomed with the advent of special waffle makers for home use.
Practically any sandwich filling or meal you can think of can be cooked as a filling inside waffle batter and turned into a stuffed waffle with this device. Below you can see hamburgers, eggs and cheese and omelettes baked inside the waffle batter. I have also seen pizzas, tacos, and complete roast beef and vegetables, and fried chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes layered and cooked inside the waffle batter and cooked this way.
There are oh-so-many more variations on the waffle theme that I could show you, but I will end this article here, with this quick world tour of some of the innovative ways waffles are being made around the planet.
Be sure to check out my next article about creative toppings so you can keep that waffle iron earning its keep on the counter in your kitchen,and in your kitchen appliance line up! There are so many ways to keep your guests and customer’s taste buds excited with the waffle and waffle topping choices available.
Next article: Unusual Waffle Toppings and Creative Ways to Serve Waffles That Will Delight Your Tastebuds