Honey Stinger Waffles

Honey Stinger makes a variety of snacks for athletes (cyclists in particular), designed to be used either before, during, or after sports.  Most are not interesting to me: energy chews, protein bars, energy bars, energy gels, and the like.

"Utilizing an ingredient engineered by nature as opposed to in a laboratory has its benefits, like higher quality and no additional flavoring or coloring. We use honey, a natural form of energy and antioxidants, as the main carbohydrate source for all products. Research in endurance athletes has proven that a mixture of carbohydrates is better tolerated by the body, prevents fatigue and enhances performance more than a single carbohydrate form."

But one product is ... waffles.

Depending on what aspects of Honey Stinger Waffles you consider, these could be something I'd love, or, they could just as well be something I hate.

Waffles?  Excellent.  You know I have a thing for waffles.

Excuses to eat dessert at times other than after a meal, because, they are for sports?  Awesome.

But ... honey is rarely a draw for me.  And I've never found stroopwafel that I actually like, even though I've tried quite a few, like Lady Walton's or Bay Area favorites Rip Van Wafel.

Of course I still tried them though.  The results were surprising, to say the least.

Individual Packaging.

"For years, similar waffles have been sold on street corners throughout Europe and eaten by professional cyclists, so we decided to create our own by sandwiching honey between two thin waffles. Honey Stinger Organic Waffles are easy to digest, certified organic and available in a single-serving wrapper."

The waffles are packaged individually, in colors to match the flavor (here, pink for strawberry).

Waffle: Top.

Each waffle is a round disk, standard stroopwafel shape.  Standard hard yet slightly soft form, designed to be placed over your coffee cup to soften it.

I, uh, of course took a bite first.

Regular Waffles

The regular waffles come in 7 flavors: honey, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, lemon, and gingersnap.  I tried several.

The waffles are .. well, dry hardish cookie-like things that I didn't care for at all.  I didn't like the honey flavor present in all of them.

I basically hated them all.

Strawberry Waffle: Side.

"A thin layer of our classic honey with natural strawberry flavor sandwiched between two thin waffles. Sure to satisfy your taste buds and keep you going as an afternoon snack, during your favorite activity or go great with your cup of coffee or tea."

I expected it to have more strawberry filling, but actually, there was very little, as you can see from the cross section, and what was there was mixed with the aforementioned honey.

It did taste strawberry however.  Which I didn't like at all.  A softish, crumblyish, staleish strawberry tasting thing?  Serious meh for me.

For me, this was just the opposite of what I'd ever want, not the form, flavor, nor texture I like.  And certainly not a waffle.

I disliked the strawberry so much that I didn't bother trying the warmed up version over my cup, and just tossed it.

Chocolate.

"A thin layer of honey infused with natural cocoa flavor and sandwiched between two thin waffles. The delicious taste of chocolate and honey will satisfy your taste buds and keep you going as an afternoon snack, during your favorite activity or go great with your cup of coffee or tea."

A friend gave me several flavors to try, so, even though I wasn't excited for it, I also tried the chocolate.

It was marginally better, in that chocolate made more sense as a waffle, but I still did not like the honey notes, and just don't care for the stroopwafel concept in general.

Gluten-Free Waffles

And then, because I truly am insane, I tried the gluten-free one.  Because, if the regular one isn't good, try the gluten-free?  Ha.

Gluten-free waffles are available in 5, different, flavors: vanilla & chocolate, chocolate mint, salted caramel, cinnamon, and of course, honey.  Their flavors at least sounded better.

But the real shocker?  I liked this one.

Gluten-Free Cinnamon.

"A thin layer of honey infused with delicious cinnamon sandwiched between two thin waffles. The gluten free all-time classic flavor of cinnamon combined with honey will satisfy your taste buds and keep you going as an afternoon snack, during your favorite activity or go great with your cup of coffee or tea."

The one I was given was the not very exciting sounding cinnamon variety.  I had zero hopes of liking this, given my history with stroopwafel in general, with the brand, with gluten free, and with the flavor choice (so boring!).

It looked just like all the others.  I felt guilty, honestly, even bothering trying it, as I thought it would be headed into the trash.

But ... um, I liked it?

The honey flavor wasn't nearly as strong as in the others, nearly nonexistent actually, and since that was an element I didn't care for, this was a great improvement for me.  So, first taste, it didn't have the honey forward nature I was expecting.

The texture was basically the same as the regular, and although it definitely had the distinctive taste of gluten free flour blends, it actually worked here, creating a slightly hearty taste.  I think the honey and other sweeteners balanced it out nicely.

And the cinnamon, while boring, also worked.

Overall, um, it all worked.  I still don't really just think of these as an item I want alongside (on top of) a coffee, but I like the idea of dunking them in whipped cream, or using as a garnish on ice cream.  Or, making ice cream sandwiches with these thin crispy waffles as the cookies, as they really are like sweeter, chewier waffle cones!