Vafler – The Best Norwegian Waffles
I grew up in the US, but my mother is Norwegian so my family would often spend our summer vacation in Norway, which I loved.
Well of course I loved it, because I eventually moved to Norway. I loved the mountains, I loved the fjords, I loved my grandparents’ dog Petrushka, but most of all I loved the Norwegian heart waffles, or vafler in Norwegian. In fact if you took away the mountains, fjords, and dog, I think Norway might still have been my favorite place in the world for the waffles alone.
Am I exaggerating? Try these waffles and decide for yourself. Though be warned: Norwegian waffles might just ruin all other waffles for you because they are so much better than other waffles. Whenever I order Belgian waffles I’m now a bit disappointed because they’re simply not as flavorful as Norwegian waffles. They really are the best!
First, you will need a Norwegian waffle iron, like this one, for these. The cute thing about Norwegian waffles is that they’re heart shaped!
Norwegian waffle irons aren’t just special because of the heart shapes of the waffles, but they also make a thinner waffle than Belgian waffle irons. So you really will need a Norwegian waffle iron to make authentic Norwegian waffles. I can assure you you’ll get a lot of use out of your Norwegian waffle iron.
In fact most of my American friends who have visited me in Norway then went home and bought heart waffle irons of their own, because they loved Norwegian waffles so much.
A waffle iron was also the very first thing I bought for my kitchen when I moved to Norway. I bought one even before I had a toaster – and then proceeded to use it to toast bread for a good six months. It worked!
Tips
There are a few secrets to making perfect Norwegian vafler. And not to be a Norwegian waffle snob, but not all vafler are equally delicious. Luckily my grandmother taught me all her secrets to making the absolute best Norwegian waffles – and now here I am sharing her secrets with the Internet.
First, the batter needs to be quite thin! Norwegian waffle batter is a lot thinner than Belgian waffle or American pancake batter. You want to be able to drink it like eggnog (but don’t actually drink it). When I make these with friends from abroad they’re often surprised by how thin this waffle batter is. So don’t worry if the batter is thin – it is meant to be that way.
Second, you don’t want to add too much sugar. These should only lightly be sweetened, if at all. Of course if you really do want very sweet waffles you can add extra sugar. But traditionally Norwegian waffles are only a bit sweet and I do think they taste best that way. You can sweeten them with toppings.
You can use ground cardamom for this recipe, but if you have a mortar and pestal I highly recommend grinding cardamom seeds instead, as freshly ground seeds are much more flavorful. If you only have ground cardamom, I would double the amount in the recipe.
Also feel free to add any leftover dairy products you have in your fridge, like sour cream, heavy cream, or creme fraiche. The most important thing here is the consistency – just make sure the batter isn’t too thick. In fact I usually don’t use a recipe when i make these – I just add whatever I have in my fridge until it looks like waffle batter.
Norwegians put all sorts of toppings on their waffles. Most common toppings include Norwegian brown cheese, strawberry jam (sometimes with some sour cream) or even just plain butter.
Or they’ll make savory waffles without sugar and add normal sandwich toppings like ham, cheese, or smoked salmon. The options are endless.
And if you’re a fan of Norwegian brown cheese, you need to try this brown cheese and white chocolate chip cookie recipe.
When I have visitors from abroad I also like to serve waffles with cloudberry jam, so they can try Norway’s favorite berry as well! You can order cloudberry jam on Amazon here.
Personally I love to top my waffles with crushed strawberries instead of strawberry jam. In the summer I’ll mash some fresh strawberries, when they’re in season, sometimes adding a bit of sugar, and in the winter I’ll defrost and mash frozen strawberries.
I hope you love this Norwegian waffle recipe as much as I do, and maybe Norwegian waffles will become a weekly staple in your home as well?
You can switch the recipe from US measurements to metric by clicking from “US Customary” to “Metric” under Ingredients.
The Very Best Norwegian Waffles – Vafler
Equipment
- 1 Norwegian waffle iron
- 1 mortar and pestal (optional for grinding cardamom seeds)
Ingredients
- 3.5 tbsp butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 and 1/2 cups milk
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar.
- Add half of the milk and all the flour, salt, cardamom, and baking powder. Whisk batter until it's smooth.
- Add the rest of the milk and the butter to the batter. Whisk again until smooth.
- Optional: let batter rest for 30 minutes.
- Heat waffle iron and brush with butter each time before adding the batter. Add about 1 dipper full of batter to the iron and cook until light golden brown.
6 Comments
Rood Andersson
May 10, 2024 at 7:21 pm
OK, but how big is the dipper? How much batter ….?
Silvia
May 11, 2024 at 7:28 am
Try with your dipper and then you can add more or less batter depending on how the first waffle turns out.
Crae Crae
June 7, 2024 at 2:14 am
Where can I get a heart shaped waffle iron that makes thin waffles? They all seem to make thick Belgian waffles. Is there one you could recommend? *fingers crossed*
Sandra
November 14, 2024 at 11:46 am
Heart shaped waffle irons are the norm in Norway.
I think you can find them on Amazon though.
Daniel
November 15, 2024 at 8:49 pm
I managed to get a Wilfa 23cm waffle iron to Canada to recreate these waffles that I ate when I was in Norway. I altered the recipe and used 2 cups Buttermilk, cut the cardamom to 1/4 tsp as 1 tsp was too strong and added a tsp of vanilla. If only we could get brown cheese here for a traditional topping of the waffle.
Lesley Owen
December 3, 2024 at 9:32 am
Looking forward to making these as I have just discovered that I have some Scandi heritage (addicted to rye bread!). I will enjoy experimenting with other recipes too. Thank you!