Liam Beran
From right to left: Program chair Edgar Steenwinkel, crewmembers Jenny and Katrina.
The basement kitchen that’s home to Especially Stroopwafels is easy to find— just follow the sweet smells of warm dough and syrup.
Inside the small kitchen in the Waunakee Village Center, four crew members place dough they’ve made from scratch on a hot iron, slice the results into two layers, and stick them together with a hearty helping of homemade stroop, the Dutch word for syrup. The desserts take about 15 minutes to fully cool. Crew member Katrina tells me that the group has made about 55 stroopwafels in the three hours they’ve been there today.
Edgar Steenwinkel is chair of the program, which provides such work skills as food preparation, packaging, and operating a cash register to individuals with cognitive disabilities who have left high school. The crew members make stroopwafels, package them, and sell them at local stores and the Waunakee farmers' market. Packages contain six large stroopwafels and cost $15.
“The idea is that we give them meaningful jobs going forward,” says Steenwinkel. This model is used in the Netherlands by the popular restaurant chain Brownies and Downies, which has 59 locations at which people with Down syndrome bake and serve desserts to customers. Steenwinkel calls it a “good example of what we could achieve.”
Steenwinkel chose the Dutch treat for the program because it’s relatively unique in Wisconsin. And, most importantly, it’s fun to make.
“There's multiple different steps involved, and everyone can kind of do their own thing,” says Steenwinkel. The recipe took a bit of tinkering, as Steenwinkel notes that some Dutch ingredients are different from those available in the United States. It’s currently on its 27th iteration; Steenwinkel says he’s proud of the caramel's “pull” when you split the wafer in two.
Steenwinkel hails from Haarlem, a city in the Netherlands about half an hour from Amsterdam. His son, Nick, has Down syndrome and went through a post-graduation apprenticeship program offered by Waunakee High School, meant for students aged 18-21.
Steenwinkel found the program helpful for Nick. But he says “once [the students] turn 21, they’re kind of let loose in the world.”
In 2025, Steenwinkel created the program as a way to bridge that gap. Local arts and culture nonprofit Create Waunakee provides fiscal sponsorship to the group, meaning donations are tax-deductible. Steenwinkel says that the organization is working on gaining its own nonprofit status as a separate entity, Culinary Training Academy, Inc.. There’s not a set time limit on how long the crew members serve, but they are intended to eventually move on from the program and find permanent jobs.
So far, the program has been a success. Marketing and business development director Shelly Norris, who also serves as head baker, says that the four current crew members have become somewhat of local celebrities at the Waunakee Farmers and Makers Market. Steenwinkel and Norris are currently deliberating expansion into other farmers' markets. They’ve also recently landed their first wholesale order with Marieke Gouda of Thorp, Wisconsin, which specializes in Dutch cheese.
To boost production, an additional waffle iron is on its way from the Netherlands. Steenwinkel hopes to have around 10 crew members and a dedicated kitchen, rather than the one in the Waunakee Village Center, by the end of the year.
Steenwinkel and Norris are also proud that the crew members have shaped the program’s directions, such as when younger crew members dinged a coffee-flavored stroopwafel.
“They're very active at doing this, and very excited about making the product and selling it,” says Steenwinkel.
