Norwegian Waffles
Thin, soft heart-shaped waffles flavoured with cardamom, served warm with jam and soured cream or brown cheese.
Photograph credit: Heart-Shaped Waffles with Cream and Fruits on Top by Nguyen Ngoc Tien · Pexels License · Pexels
Can a waffle be soft? In Norway, it must be. Vafler are thin, floppy, heart-shaped waffles, not the crisp deep-pocketed ones of Belgium, and they are eaten folded or rolled, warm, with jam and a spoonful of soured cream. The batter is closer to a pancake batter than to a waffle one.
The flavour is cardamom, a Scandinavian signature. Use freshly ground seeds if you can: a teaspoon is enough to scent the batter without dominating. The liquid is part milk and part soured cream or buttermilk, which gives a gentle tang and tenderness. Melted butter goes into the batter, so there is hardly any need to grease the iron.
Mix the batter just until smooth and let it rest for 10 minutes. Do not beat it hard. Overmixing makes the waffles tough, which is the opposite of what you want here.
Heat the waffle iron and pour in a ladle of batter. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the steam slows and the waffle is pale gold. Stack them on a plate and keep warm. Serve with strawberry jam and soured cream, or with slices of brunost, the sweet brown cheese.
How to Make Norwegian Waffles
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Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom and salt.
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Whisk the eggs, milk, 150 ml soured cream and melted butter. Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk until just smooth. Rest for 10 minutes.
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Heat a heart-shaped waffle iron. Pour in about 100 ml of batter and cook for 2 minutes until pale golden.
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Repeat with the rest of the batter. Serve warm with the jam and soured cream.
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Worth Getting Right
- Do not overmix the batter.
- Serve folded or rolled.
- Keep cooked waffles warm in a low oven.
What to Serve With It
Strawberry jam · Soured cream · Brunost · Coffee
Keeping and Reheating
Best eaten warm. Keeps in the fridge for 2 days and freezes for up to 1 month.
Norwegian Waffles Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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