Liège waffles are one of the two most popular waffle varieties in Belgium. These unevenly shaped, chewy treats are made with a thick, brioche-like dough which is sweetened with pearl sugar and baked in a specially-designed waffle pan. During the baking process, the pearl sugar melts and gives the waffles a unique caramel flavor. Although the origin of Liège waffles is somewhat vague, it is believed they were influenced by French culinary traditions and made famous by the skillful Liège bakers. In Liège, these waffles are usually enjoyed plain, but they can also be topped with powdered sugar, whipped cream, chocolate, or various fruits.
These delicious Dutch cookies consist of a very thin layer of syrup, sugar, butter, and cinnamon that is sandwiched between two thin wafers. Stroopwafels were invented in the late 18th century in the city of Gouda, and many sources give credit to a baker named Gerard Kamphuisen as their inventor. In the Netherlands, stroopwafels are traditionally consumed with tea or coffee, and it is a custom to place a cookie on top of the cup and let it steam for a few minutes, so that the cookie is heated and the syrupy layer softens.
Brussels waffle is one of the two Belgian waffle varieties, a delicious cake enjoying the status of Belgium's national dessert. The waffle is made from a thin, yeasted batter that is baked in a specially-designed appliance, giving the waffle an unusual, checkered pattern. The thin, runny batter helps in creating defined edges and a perfectly rectangular shape of the cake. However, the most important addition is the leavening agent, in this case, yeast, providing airiness and lightness. Although the waffle is light on the inside, it is crunchy and crispy on the outside, with an appealing golden-brown color. This traditional Belgian dessert is usually sold at bakeries and numerous food stands across Belgium. It is almost always eaten by hand and is rarely served in restaurants. Traditionally, it is served plain or dusted with powdered sugar. However, modern Brussels waffles are often topped with ingredients such as chocolate, whipped cream, caramel, or sliced fruits.
Bergische waffles are traditional German waffles originating from the Bergisches Land area. They’re usually made with a combination of flour, sugar, butter, vanilla, eggs, baking powder, and milk. What differentiates these waffles is that they are always heart-shaped but also more crisp and less dense than their Belgian cousins. Traditional accompaniments include whipped cream and pitted sour cherries. Bergische waffles are usually not served for breakfast but as an afternoon treat, especially on Sundays, when they’re occasionally served with rice pudding.
The lacquemant is a thin, oval, syrup-filled waffle from Liège, closely associated with the city’s fairgrounds, especially the large October fair held along Boulevard d’Avroy. Unlike the thick, pearl-sugar-studded Liège waffle, a lacquemant is made from a relatively thin yeast dough that is pressed in a fine-patterned waffle iron, sliced horizontally while still warm, filled with a fragrant sugar syrup, and then covered with more of the same syrup on the outside. The result is soft and slightly chewy rather than crisp, with syrup working its way through the waffle so thoroughly that eating one without sticky fingers is nearly impossible. Orange blossom is one of the flavors most strongly associated with the syrup, often accompanied by cinnamon or other warm spices, but each fairground family tends to guard its own formula closely. The sweet is so strongly identified with Liège today that its arrival at the fair is treated almost as a seasonal event. Yet, its beginnings appear to lie partly across the Belgian border in northern France. Regional accounts generally credit Désiré Smidts, better known as Désiré de Lille, with creating the lacquemant around 1903. According to the best-known version of the story, Smidts worked for a fairground business in Lille known as the Établissements Lacquemant, where he and a pastry cook developed a thin waffle served with syrup. He later returned to Belgium and brought the preparation into the Liège fairground world, naming it after his former employer. Family and fairground accounts have repeated the details, but no single contemporary recipe document preserves them; still, local sources consistently link Désiré de Lille, the early 20th century, and the emergence of the Liège lacquemant. Over the following decades, other fairground families began producing their own versions, and the sweet became inseparable from the Foire de Liège. By the 1920s, businesses such as the Plouette family operation were already building reputations around their own lacquemants, and competition between sellers became intense enough that recipes, suppliers, and preparation details were treated as commercial secrets. The waffle itself begins with a soft yeasted dough rather than the pourable batter used for many breakfast waffles. Flour is mixed with yeast and liquid, usually together with sugar, eggs, butter or another fat, and salt, then allowed to rise until light enough to produce a flexible rather than dense wafer. Small portions of dough are rolled or shaped into elongated ovals and cooked in a waffle iron with a fine grid. Some recipes use pieces of roughly twenty grams, which gives an idea of how much smaller and thinner they are than a standard Brussels or Liège waffle. As soon as the waffle leaves the iron, split it horizontally while it's still flexible and warm. This step must be done quickly and cleanly: once the waffle cools, cutting it without breaking the two thin layers becomes much harder. Syrup is spread generously between the halves, the waffle is closed again, and additional syrup is poured or brushed over the surface. The syrup is what truly defines the lacquemant. Recipes differ, but sugar syrup flavored with orange-blossom water is one of the most recognizable forms, while some family versions include cinnamon. Differences in spice balance distinguish one fairground seller from another. The syrup needs to remain fluid enough to penetrate the warm waffle rather than setting immediately into a hard glaze. As the lacquemant rests, the dough absorbs some of it and softens, so a freshly assembled one has more contrast between waffle and filling, while one that has sat for a while becomes more uniformly tender and saturated. This also explains why lacquemants differ from syrup simply poured over a finished waffle: the waffle is designed to become part of the syrup rather than merely carry it on top. The fine grid on the surface catches extra syrup, while the thin dough keeps the sweet from becoming overwhelmingly bread-like. They are generally stacked or served on small plates at fairground stalls, often with extra syrup pooling underneath, and many people buy several at once rather than eating only one. The Foire de Liège remains their most famous setting, and the lacquemant is widely regarded as one of the defining foods of the event. Although they can now be found elsewhere in Belgium and have occasionally been sold in cities such as Namur, they remain much more closely tied to Liège than most Belgian waffles. That geographic identity is strong enough that chefs around Liège have begun using the flavor of lacquemant outside its original format, turning the syrup into components for ice cream, macarons, panna cotta, tiramisu, and even savory sauces for duck, game, veal sweetbreads, and Liège-style meatballs. These reinterpretations show how recognizable the syrup itself has become, but the classic version is still a fairground sweet eaten warm or at room temperature, usually by hand and with no accompaniment more complicated than a napkin. Coffee is probably the easiest beverage pairing because its bitterness cuts through the concentrated sugar without interfering with the orange-blossom aroma, while strong black tea works for the same reason. Café au lait suits a softer, breakfast-like serving, although lacquemants are much more closely associated with fairs and afternoon or evening snacking than with breakfast. If an alcoholic drink is wanted, a small glass of peket, Liège’s juniper spirit, is a fitting regional choice, particularly after rather than alongside a very syrupy portion, while a dry sparkling wine can provide acidity and refresh the palate.
Våfflor are extremely popular Swedish waffles, consumed since the early 1600s, when they were shaped into squares. Today, the waffles are traditionally shaped into hearts and served with fruit jams, whipped cream, and ice cream. Because våfflor are made without yeast, they are much thinner than Belgian waffles, with a texture that is similar to pancakes. There are two popular waffle varieties - egg waffles and crispy waffles, the egg variety being more filling than the other one. Waffles are consumed throughout the year in Sweden, but they are at the peak of their popularity on March 25th, which is known as Waffle Day. Earlier, it was an important day because it marks the start of the crop-growing season, and with it, the increased availability of eggs and milk used in the production of waffles. Today, there is also a variety of salted, savory waffles that are served with various ingredients, from shrimps to cheese.
Flemish waffle is a traditional product consisting of flour, yeast, butter, milk, eggs, salt, and vanilla sugar. Unlike Brussels and Liège waffle, the Flemish variety is usually consumed without any toppings after it has cooled down. It is recommended to prepare the waffles in large batches as they can be preserved for a few weeks if stored properly.
Also known as Kempense galetten, these flavorful waffles are mostly popular in Belgium. They are characterized by a hard and crunchy texture. Upon consumption, the waffles become crumbly and buttery in the mouth. Despite their name, galettes campinoises should not be confused with the French galettes, which are essentially savory buckwheat pancakes.
Kanom rung peung is a Thai coconut waffle known for its honeycomb-patterned surface, lightly browned exterior, and soft, chewy center. Its name literally means “honeycomb snack,” referring to the patterned iron or mold used to cook it, and it is widely sold at street stalls, markets, school areas, and small neighborhood snack shops across Thailand. The snack belongs to the broader family of molded griddle cakes found throughout East and Southeast Asia, but the Thai version developed its own character through the use of coconut milk, palm or coconut sugar, rice flour, and shredded coconut, ingredients that give it a richer aroma and more elastic texture than a typical European-style waffle. Its exact development is not well documented, although the use of patterned irons and molded cakes has long circulated through Chinese and Southeast Asian food cultures, and Thai versions became firmly established as an inexpensive everyday snack rather than a formal dessert. The batter usually combines wheat flour with some rice flour, eggs, coconut milk, sugar, and salt, with baking powder or another leavening agent used in many modern recipes to make the interior lighter. Fresh or dried shredded coconut is often mixed directly into the batter, and sweet corn is one of the most common additions, giving the waffle small bursts of sweetness and texture. Other versions may include taro, pandan, young coconut, raisins, or sesame, but these are variations rather than defining ingredients. The batter is poured into a hot honeycomb-patterned iron and cooked until the ridges are golden and slightly crisp while the inside remains moist and tender. Unlike Belgian or American waffles, kanom rung peung is generally thinner, softer, and less dependent on toppings, because the batter itself is already sweet and aromatic. It is usually eaten plain and warm, often folded or held by hand, making it especially suited to street vending and quick snacking. The combination of coconut milk, sugar, and a lightly caramelized surface gives the snack a rich but straightforward flavor, while the rice flour helps produce the characteristic chewiness that separates it from cake-like waffles. Kanom rung peung is commonly eaten in the morning or afternoon and is especially popular as an inexpensive snack for children and commuters, though it also appears at fairs, temple events, and night markets. It pairs naturally with Thai tea, iced coffee, soy milk, hot tea, or black coffee, and sweeter versions can also be served alongside fresh fruit, although in Thailand it is most commonly enjoyed on its own straight from the iron.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot,
nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable.
For the “9 Gaufre Varieties Ranked From the Best To the Worst” list until October 17, 2026, 811,838 ratings were recorded, of which 532,919 were recognized by the system as legitimate.
TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods,
instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.
What People Say