Airline travel these days is trash. Even for those of us too young to remember its glitzy heyday, airlines seem to reach new lows daily: “Basic Economy,” seats that couldn’t fit a 10-year-old, emotional support hamsters. And today we learn that one of the last best details about flying has been ripped from our cold, chapped hands: stroopwafels.
Fast Company reports United Airlines quietly switched from serving stroopwafels on morning domestic flights to offering some obviously inferior maple wafer cookie. What the hell? Stroopwafels, for the uninitiated, are adorable filled wafer discs from the Netherlands. The version served on United flights is Daelmans brand, and is typically caramel-filled. What makes them such a great in-flight snack is that they’re made for coffee: Order a cup, place the unwrapped wafer cookie atop the cardboard cup, and the coffee steam ever so gently melts the caramel interior. Between screaming babies and the dude next to you constantly touching your arm, this is the best thing that’s going to happen to you on a flight by far.
But now it’s being torn away in favor of maple wafer cookies, Fast Company reports, because United noticed a lot of people Googling maple stuff. How many times do I have to Google stroopwafel for it to come back? Because I am prepared to die on that hill. Or in Basic Economy.