The Best Sweet Snacks in Amsterdam City Centre

The Best Sweet Snacks in Amsterdam Fity Centre

Got a sweet tooth? Then you've just found your list. People sometimes call Amsterdam a Disneyland for adults, and between the Red Light District, the open cannabis culture and the sheer number of coffeeshops, that comparison holds up in one more surprising way: the queues. Real theme-park queues, the kind with a little sign telling you exactly how many minutes you've got left in line. No joke, some of these run past an hour, and they're not for a rollercoaster. They're for something sweet.

So we put together a list of the best sweet snacks in Amsterdam City Centre, and split each category in two: the one everyone lines up for because it's all over TikTok, and the one Amsterdammers actually walk in for when they want something sweet without the wait. Here's what's currently on the menu.

1. The Stroopwafel

A bit of Dutch pride when it comes to signature cookies. Centre is packed with shops selling stroopwafels made fresh in front of you, piled with toppings of your choice, at prices that can run absurdly high, up to thirteen euros for a single one. Hans Egstorf, one of the older names in the game, leans hard into the trend these days, and it's hard to argue with the theatre of it: the shop is open to the street, the wafers are made right in front of you, and the smell alone pulls people in. Ask an actual Amsterdammer, though, and they'll turn their nose up at paying a Joetje (€10) for a cookie. Locals head straight for the Koningsstroopwafel at Lanskroon on the Singel instead, baked fresh daily since 1958 with honest ingredients and none of the gimmicks. Now that's a proper cookie.

2. The Cinnamon Roll

Cinnamon rolls have taken over Europe in recent years, and Amsterdam Centre has followed suit with several spots now built entirely around them. Cinnamood is the name on everyone's feed, and for good reason: flavours like tiramisu, pecan maple, oreo and red velvet, each one handed over in a neat little box, not unlike the way Boerejongens presents its own treats. Our suggestion: grab one for after your viral red velvet cake, right around the time the munchies kick in. Amsterdammers will admit to being tempted every now and then, but when it counts, they head to Bakkerij Wolf instead. You won't find them on display, but ask and they'll pull out a tray of rolls made from layered croissant dough, finished with an icing you'll want to lick off your fingers.

3. The Sweet Edibles

Every street corner and market stall in Centre seems to have lollipops, brownies and other treats with a little cannabis leaf printed on them. Most of it is tourist-trap level and won't give you what you're actually looking for. Dig a little deeper and a handful of genuinely good shops reveal themselves. The viral cakes from Boerejongens are just as loved by tourists as by locals, and the shop is set up so the line never gets out of hand, meaning you'll be enjoying the best cannabis and cake combination in the city centre in no time. Paradox is the other well-known name, a real classic that puts just as much care into its edibles. The only difference is that theirs is, at the end of the day, a slice of cake, and let's be honest, you can get a slice of cake at your grandmother's kitchen table. If you're after something with genuine bakery-level craft behind it, the choice is easy.

4. A Proper Ice Cream on a Warm Day

No shortage of ice cream in Centre, but most of it is worth a wide detour. The Dutch take hygiene seriously, and ice cream has a bit of a reputation for cutting corners on it. Consider yourself warned, don't let a bad ice cream ruin your trip. Rule of thumb: anywhere selling stroopwafels off the street, don't get your ice cream there too. Right on the Spui, House of Rituals might sound like it's all about scented candles, but tucked inside is chocolatier Madaq, serving genuinely excellent house-made ice cream in little tubs with flavours worth lingering over. Or you can do one thing very, very well, the way Banketbakkerij Van der Linde has for decades. They're mainly a pastry shop, but the soft serve is the real draw: a vanilla whipped-cream ice cream in a cone, made fresh daily, and once it's gone for the day, it's gone. Every Amsterdammer has grabbed a cone here at some point, and somehow visitors walk right past it.

Amsterdam city centre will happily sell you a viral snack with a queue attached, and there's nothing wrong with joining it once for the experience. But the real sweet spots are usually a few doors down, unbothered by the crowds, doing the same thing they've done for decades. Stroopwafels at Lanskroon, cinnamon rolls at Bakkerij Wolf, a proper edible at Paradox, soft serve at Van der Linde. Skip the hour-long wait if you want to, the good stuff was never standing in line to begin with.