Scandinavian countries make crisp waffles in Sweden and soft waffles in Norway as a typical pleasure. They are a delight with coffee or as a snack, especially when topped with jam, berries and whipped cream, wafer-thin slices of gjeitost (Norwegian brown goat cheese), or both. This dish is an adaption of the waffles Megan and Sverre, two of my friends from Trondheim, Norway, presented.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 5 |
| Yield: | 5 waffles |
Ingredients
- 2 eggs, separated
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Place egg yolks into a large mixing bowl with white sugar; beat until light and frothy. Mix in vanilla sugar and water until evenly combined; stir in 1/2 of the melted butter, 1/2 of the buttermilk, and 1/2 of the flour. When mixture is smooth, mix in remaining butter, buttermilk, flour, cardamom, and salt; beat again until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks; gently fold egg whites into batter, incorporating as much volume as possible.
- Preheat a waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s directions.
- Spoon about 1/3 cup of batter into the preheated waffle iron, close the lid, and cook until the waffle is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove waffle to a plate. If using a heart-shaped iron, break the waffle into individual hearts to serve. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Almost all Scandinavian specialty shops carry both vanilla sugar and nonstick heart-shaped waffle irons. If vanilla sugar is not available, vanilla extract may be substituted.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 288 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| Cholesterol | 95 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 130 mg |
| Sugars | 13 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’ve had a Swedish Waffle recipe that called for whipped egg whites for 30 years. Always got compliments. Tried this recipe this morning and it was next level batter errr better. I don’t think that buttermilk is a thing there and was more than likely a Norwegian version of Fil Mjolk. Which is available in the states now under the brand name Siggis. The cardamom was a great secret ingredient. Thanks for sharing.
I make these with whole wheat flour and skip the Cardomom. Also, if I make extras, I interleave them with parchment paper and freeze. Simple toasting makes them almost as good as fresh…. Great for quick breakfasts.
Delicious. Note: the “leavening” comes from whipping lots of air into your egg whites, then folding them gently into the rest of the batter. And these will work best in a Scandanavian waffle iron, rather than a Belgian / Anerican waffle iron. Yum.
Love these waffles! Very light and fluffy. I doubled the cardamom and served them with berries.
Slightly sweet and perfect for no syrup mornings! I left out the cardamom since I was making them for my toddler.
Tasted like a waffle cone and didn’t have that slight salty baking soda sour kind of taste that perfectly pairs opposite sweet syrup so no, did not like it. Followed the recipe exactly.
Good! Only made three waffles though, so unless there only three of you… Also could try doubling the recipe.
Not sure where I went wrong but it seemed like there was too much flour which made the waffle a bit drier and almost gritty. Will try this recipe again with small tweaks
Best ever waffles!
These are delicious! My only change was to use gluten free flour, I had the vanilla sugar and even a heart shaped waffle iron. I will be making these again.
Amazing flavor, you don’t won’t want to ruin the flavor with syrup. Takes much long to cook than normal waffles, but they come out super moist like a decadent cake inside.
I’m rating this 5 stars, even though I didn’t make it as written, because I followed the recipe exactly, merely swapping some ingredients in order to make the recipe fit our dietary needs. I used a GF blend of flour instead of all-purpose, soured coconut milk instead of buttermilk, and coconut sugar instead of white sugar. Fantastic waffles! Worth the time and effort.
I doubled the recipe in hopes of some left-overs; however, there were none! Even my health conscious husband couldn’t resist coming back for seconds and commented on how ‘really good’ they were. They exceeded our expectations. I would make them again, but add a little more cardamom.
So glad I tried this recipe. I had a good waffle recipe and thought, “A waffle is just a waffle.” Boy, was I wrong! I will forever put cardamom in my waffle batter. Thanks, ScandoGirl!
This is a great recipe. The added steps of beating the yolks and whites separately results in supremely fluffy waffles. Totally worth the effort!
These waffles were incredible! Easily the best homemade waffles I have ever had. They’re very light and fluffy and the little bit of spice makes them heavenly and unique. The only thing I changed was using vanilla extract instead of vanilla sugar because it was all I had and it seemed to work perfectly.
Made exactly according to recipe and offered our guests the traditional maple syrup, whipped cream (here in Finland it is traditional, go figure), or Citrus Wild Blueberry Sauce from this site as toppings. This was our brunch last Sunday and we gobbled these babies up. Wonderful. Fluffy while thin, the cardamom becomes a slight hint of flavor after a few bites (with that I mean that it is not overwhelming as it can get in some Northern desserts like bullar) and just great. I would only like to mention that I had to double this recipe to feed four people. one child had two of these, and the three adults had three whole waffles each -that is 12 hearts per person,the whole thing as it comes off the iron- because well, yes, they are as thin as thick pancakes. For those wondering how to measure 1/3 cup into your iron: a regular soup ladle full is just about the right size 🙂 Thank you for the recipe, we all loved it.
Worked excellent on our George Foreman grille (with waffle attachments). I used the vanilla extract as I had no vanilla sugar. Also added 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 2% milk to make buttermilk. If I can pull this off anybody can, I am the furthest thing from a master in the kitchen.
These waffles tasted delicious! I followed recipe exactly, except vanilla extract instead of vanilla sugar, and used an All-Clad brand waffle maker on setting 3. They were perfect!
Super delicious and yummy!!!!!!! Been looking for a waffle recipe for a while now. It is now my go to waffle recipe. Instead of buttermilk I used 2% milk, and also used vanilla extract in place of vanilla sugar; because I didn’t have either of these in my kitchen. It still turned out very nice! Thank you ScandoGirl!
I love this recipe! I didn’t have buttermilk so I substituted plain lowfat yogurt and a little milk, and it seemed to have worked great! Next time I’ll try it with less sugar…