Snacks from The Netherlands

I’ve made a lot of international friends since I moved to the Netherlands and a handful of them live in Australia. A few weeks ago one of them expressed her disappointment when her local grocery store stopped selling Dutch goods like vlokken. So I brought up the idea of sending snacks to each other. She jumped at the chance! She’s decided to send me a box with goodies that any Aussie would have. So what did Dutch snacks I send to her?

Stroopwafel
These tasty Dutch cookies are two tiny waffles with caramel sandwiched between. It’s like an Oreo but so much more sinful! It’s difficult for me to have one! They’re best when had with a hot cup of tea or coffee. You can warm them up by placing them on the rim of your hot cup. Make sure to grab them before they melt!

Katjes Drop
The Dutch have these super bitter black licorice bites that they love. It’s so bitter and they love to give it to unsuspecting victims… Needless to say it usually ends up in the trash! But if you talk to the Dutch who love this treat they can tell you it’s the best thing out there. My friend loves cats so I got her the cat shaped ones!

Ontbijtkoek
This is like soft and moist gingerbread cake. It’s delicious but some brands are spicier than others. My first slice made me feel a bit ill but I’ve had better ones that hit the spot in the winter time. It’s like just biting into a super tender gingerbread man… The Dutch often have this for breakfast but for me it’s a holiday treat.

Hagelslag
These are like cupcake sprinkles. It blows my mind how the Dutch eat them. It’s on a slice of bread with a hefty layer of butter. It’s a super Dutch thing to have this for breakfast but I’m not much of a fan of it.

Borrel nootjes
I’m not sure how Dutch these are but Sander loves them. These are nuts in a crunchy, flavored layer of batter. The flavor I sent my friend was garlic so I hope she’s got a mint on hand because it’s such a strong flavor!

Muisjes
I’ve written about these before! I loved them so much that I had to share them.

Vlokken
Vlokken are shavings of chocolate pieces. This is a mini pack that comes with dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate with fruit flavored. Sander enjoys these quite a bit too. He usually picks up the mixed box that includes white and milk chocolate. It’s enjoyed the same way as hagelslag is enough. I don’t know how the Dutch can have so much sugar so early in the morning!

Dutch tea
This isn’t anything special but anything Dutch has to do with oranges. So this is a traditional black breakfast tea with a hint of orange flavor. I enjoy it a lot and I hope she will too.

Orange chocolate spread
If you grew up in the 90’s, there was a chocolate orange ball sold in stores. The gag behind it was you can slam the ball on a table and break this “orange” into tasty slices. This chocolate orange spread is like that but with much less sugar. It’s so tasty and very much Dutch!

Kokos brood
These are tasty little slices of coconut made for putting on bread. I’ve found that if you pair them with white bread… You get something that tastes very much like a donut. If I want to enjoy a donut without eating one then I can grab a slice to snack on.