Belgian Liege Waffle Recipes

AUTHENTIC BELGIAN LIèGE WAFFLES

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the milk, water, and yeast *.If using Active Dry Yeast, gently mix with a spatula and set aside to bloom the yeast for ~5-10 minutes. Once bloomed, add in the granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix just until combined and continue to step 2.If using Instant Yeast, add the milk, water, yeast, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix just until combined and continue to step 2.
• Stop the mixer and add in the eggs, honey, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add in 2 cups of flour and mix until the flour is hydrated and mostly mixed in. Stop the mixer, scrape down the paddle attachment, and switch to the dough hook.
• Add in the salt and 1/2 cup of flour at a time with the mixer on low until all of the flour is combined. You may not need all of the flour depending on how humid your space is. The flour dough should start to pull away slightly. Next, add in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Be patient here as the butter will take a few minutes to incorporate itself into the dough. The dough will come back together. Remove the dough ball from the bowl and transfer it to a larger clean bowl lightly greased. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter in a warm, dry place until doubled in size (1-3 hours).
• When doubled, deflate the dough by punching it down in the center and bringing the edges of the dough over the top (like you're folding it into itself). Replace the cover and put the bowl of dough in the fridge to allow it to ferment overnight.*Note you can skip the overnight fridge resting if you are short on time. Move to step 6 to continue. The cold ferment just helps develop more flavors in the waffle.
• If you cold fermented the dough, the next day, remove the dough from the fridge and allow the dough to come to room temp (about 2 hours).
• Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured board. Flatten the dough out into a rectangle and spread out 1 1/2 cups of pearl sugar. Fold the bottom third up and then the top third on top of that. Press down and add the rest of the pearl sugar. Fold the sides up to form a rectangle. Slowly cup the dough and roll it out into a log about 12-14" long Divide the dough into 12 pieces, shape into balls, flatten slightly into round discs, and place on a parchment-lined pan. Cover with lightly sprayed plastic wrap.
• Heat up your Belgian waffle maker. Since all makers are different, you'll have to fiddle around with yours. I would advise starting off on low and increase the temperature a little at a time until you find the correct setting that will caramelize your sugars and cook your waffles to the perfect golden caramel brown. Spray the iron with non-stick spray and place a round of dough in the center of your waffle maker. Close and cook until the waffle puffs up, cooked through and the sugar pearls are caramelized. Carefully remove from the maker, and serve immediately or place it on a cooling rack.

A SUPER LEKKER, AUTHENTIC (TRADITIONAL) BELGIAN WAFFLE RECIPE AND A DAY TRIP TO BRUGES!

Steps:

• Place 300 grams flour plus the 80 grams of regular sugar in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
• Warm the water until it is lukewarm (not at all hot) then add the yeast (do not add the yeast when the water is too hot or it will kill it and the recipe will be ruined) and whisk until it has melted.
• Add the eggs and 15 g of butter to the flour and sugar mixture in the mixing bowl, then pour in the water and yeast mixture, whisking to combine all the ingredients.
• Continue stirring until a sticky dough is formed.
• Then add the 200 grams of flour to the top, along with the 175 grams of butter pieces. Cover (without mixing anything) and allow to rest for 20 to 25 minutes.
• With your hands, incorporate the butter and flour into the sticky dough until all the ingredients are well combined and the dough is no longer sticky (only add a little more flour if necessary).
• Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press into a 12" x 12" square shape, then sprinkle with the Belgian Pearl sugar (*the original recipe lists 300 grams of sugar, but I found this to be much too much-add more or less to your liking).
• Note: this is less than half of the sugar in the original recipe.
• Now roll the dough from one end to the other, to form a large sausage shape.
• Cut into 100 gram pieces and form into ball shapes and set aside to rest for 15 minutes, covered with a slightly damp kitchen cloth.
• NOTE: You can cook them in the waffle iron now, however, I discovered that keeping the dough pieces in the fridge overnight, then bringing them to room temperature and then cooking them worked marvelously!
• Heat the waffle iron. This is the tricky part as all irons are different. I have a Waring Pro, now discontinued, and heated mine to the number 2 setting. The goal is to cook the waffle without making it too dry and overcooked, but caramelizing the sugar pieces at the same time. Play with the settings until you reach a result that you like. This is how the sugar looks once it's caramelized.
• Place a ball of dough in the middle of the iron and cook it until it's golden brown (I cooked mine at the number 2 setting for 4 minutes) and the sugar has caramelized. Don't worry if it doesn't look pretty.
• Carefully remove the waffle as the caramelized sugar will definitely give you a nasty burn (I used a small flat wooden utensil, but wooden tongs would also work).
• Serve as is, with a dusting of powdered sugar or melted chocolate (traditional serving ideas). These can be eaten the next day; just warm them a little first, or even put them in the toaster.

LIèGE WAFFLES

Steps:

• Combine the milk and 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water in a small saucepan and heat until lukewarm, 110 to 116 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add brown sugar and yeast and stir to combine; set aside 5 minutes. (The yeast should look foamy. If it doesn't foam, discard and try again with different yeast.)
• Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Using the dough hook attachment on your mixer, stir in all but 1 cup of the flour. Mix in salt. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition and scraping down the bowl before adding the next. Add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix on low speed, stopping once or twice to pull the dough off the hook, about 5 minutes, or until the dough is glossy, pulls away from the side of the bowl and has gathered in a ball on the hook.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 2 hours. The dough will double in size. Stir the puffed dough with a spoon to deflate, then re-cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in the pearl sugar (or your homemade version) a little at a time. The dough will be stiff but will become more pliable as it warms. Cut dough into 16 equal pieces with a bench scraper or chef's knife and return to the refrigerator.
• Heat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions. Working with 1 or 2 balls of dough at a time (leave the rest in the refrigerator), arrange on the waffle iron and cook until golden brown all over, 2 to 5 minutes depending on your iron. Use tongs to transfer waffles to a baking sheet or cooling rack. Some of the sugar will melt out of the waffles and collect in your iron, adding an extra layer of glossy molten sugar to each waffle as you continue. Serve waffles warm.

LIEGE BELGIAN WAFFLES WITH PEARL SUGAR

Steps:

• Sprinkle the yeast and white sugar over warm milk in a small bowl. The milk should be no more than 100 degrees F (40 degrees C). Let stand for 15 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
• Whisk the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract into the yeast mixture until evenly blended; set aside. Stir together the flour and salt in a separate large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour the egg mixture into the well, then stir in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Gently mix in the pearl sugar.
• Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.
• Place a baseball-size ball of dough on the preheated waffle iron. Cook waffles until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Allow waffles to cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

GAUFRES DE LIèGE (LIèGE BELGIAN WAFFLES)

Steps:

• Combine the lukewarm water, brown sugar, and active dry yeast in a mixing bowl. Whisk all the ingredients then let them rest for about 5 minutes and/or until the mixture is foamy.
• In a separate mixing bowl that can be used with a standing mixer, combine the all-purpose flour and salt. Mix for about 30 seconds at medium speed.
• Make a "well" in your dry mixture and then pour in the yeast mixture in the middle. Mix for 1 minute at medium speed. #SpoonTip: The "well" in the dry mixture is made so the dough when mixed will incorporate the yeast mixture in a manner that will result in the batter resembling "crumbly". If your batter is thick, you may want to start over.
• Add 1 egg to the mixture and once again mix at medium speed for about 30 seconds. Repeat this step two more times with the remaining 2 eggs. At this point your dough should look quite sticky and chunky.
• While the mixer is still running, melt the two sticks of unsalted butter. Then combine the melted butter with the vanilla extract, and pour this butter mixture into the flour mixture while again still mixing. Mix for about another minute. Make sure to pour in the butter mixture SLOWLY (if you pour it in too quickly you will end up with super soggy waffles).
• Once all the mixing is complete, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest (or proof) for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. This is so the dough can rise and the yeast can work its magic.
• After the dough has risen, add 1 cup of Belgian Pearl Sugar and fold the sugar into the batter. The dough will be VERY sticky, but make sure to really integrate the sugar.
• Prepare your waffle iron. Once it's ready and hot enough, brush some melted butter on both sides of the waffle iron. Then place about 1 cup of waffle batter on the lower portion of the waffle iron and lock in place.
• Cook waffles for about 3-5 minutes, or whatever standard timing your waffle maker has programmed. Take your waffle out and enjoy! #SpoonTip: For Waring waffle makers, like the one used in the video, it takes about 3 1/2 minutes to cook these waffles.

LIEGE BELGIAN WAFFLES

Steps:

• Combine yeast, lukewarm milk and two table spoons of sugar into a bowl and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until bubbles appear.
• Combine the flour, reminder of sugar and salt in a separate bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the bubbly yeast mixture into the well and mix until combined. Into the mixture, add eggs, one at a time.
• Add melted butter and vanilla extract to the dough. The dough will turn out sticky. Let the dough sit for about an hour in a warm place or until it doubles in volume.
• Heat the waffle iron to a medium. Place a spoonful of the dough in the middle of a waffle iron and flatten it slightly.
• Cook waffles until they turn golden brown.

LIEGE WAFFLE RECIPE

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm milk in bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast begins to foam.
• Add 2 eggs, melted butter and whisk together with fork.
• Add 3 cups flour, salt and vanilla to yeast and milk mixture. Mix on low with dough hook until mixture is smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour and mix on low for 2 minutes.Place in a warm location, covered for 30 minutes.
• After dough has risen, fold 8 oz of Belgian Pearl Sugar into dough using a large spoon or by hand. Divide dough into pieces about 3-4 oz each. You should have 9-10 balls of dough.
• Preheat waffle iron for 10 minutes before cooking dough. Generously grease waffle iron using cooking spray. Cook one piece of dough at a time, placing dough in middle of waffle iron, close and cook until outside is crispy and center is cooked through. Cooking time will vary depending on heat level and waffle iron used. Watch carefully, as sugar will burn if cooked at too high temperature.
• Lay cooked waffles on a wire rack while cooking remaining dough. May be kept in warm oven (225 degrees) until ready to serve, or serve immediately with toppings.

LIEGE STYLE BELGIAN WAFFLE

Steps:

• To make the sponge, place the bowl of an electric mixer onto a scale. Tare or zero out the scale and add the whole milk, preferably warmed to 110°F | 43°C, then zero out the scale again. Next add the Greek-style yogurt, again tare the scale. Add egg, coconut sugar, dried yeast, sourdough starter (if using, if not see below in the Recipe Variations), all-purpose flour, and einkorn flour (or substitute all-purpose flour). Fit the electric mixer with a paddle attachment and on low speed, mix all the ingredients together until a wet dough is formed. Mix on low for about 5 minutes, then turn off the mixer and let the sponge sit for 30 minutes.
• After the sponge has set, turn on the mixer to medium speed for a minute. This will create more gluten, stretching the flour's starches.
• Add the eggs, salt, coconut sugar, sugar, malted milk powder, and all-purpose flour. Replace the paddle attachment for a dough hook, and on low speed, mix the dough ingredients together for about 5 minutes. The dough should form into a ball, be pulling away from the sides of the bowl, while still being sticky. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
• Have the butter near the mixer, cut into one tablespoon-size piece (8 tablespoons per 4 ounces of butter per 1 stick making a total of 16 tablespoons for both sticks). Turn the mixer on medium speed, then, with the motor running, toss a tablespoon of room temperature butter into the center of the dough, near the hook. Let the butter fully incorporate before adding the next tablespoon. Continue until all the butter is emulsified into the dough. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
• Turn the mixer on medium speed for about 5 minutes, then transfer the dough to a scale. Weigh the dough. It should weigh about 1220 grams. Divide the dough into 152-gram pieces, making 8 total. Knead each dough into a ball, repeat.
• Place each dough ball into a zip-top sandwich bag, seal, then place it into the coldest part of your refrigerator. Check the time and wait for 24 - 106 hours before continuing with the recipe.
• For best results, remove as many portions of waffle dough as you are going to cook. Let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before cooking, allowing the dough to warm, waking up fermentation.
• Plugin your Belgian Waffle Iron and set the heat level to the lowest setting. Preheat the waffle iron for a good 10 minutes before cooking a waffle. Make sure the grids are clean and spray the iron with a non-stick spray before adding continuing. As the waffle dough is thicker than a pour in batter, the dough takes longer to cook. This takes more time at a lower temperature, ensuring a full bake, while not burning or over-browning of the waffle exterior.
• Take the waffle dough out of the bag. Set up on top of the plastic bag. Using your fingers, spread the soft dough out into a rectangle | oval shape. Make sure the dough is an even thickness.
• Next, add the Belgian Pearl Sugar, I usually use about 5 grams per waffle. It's up to you, how sweet you want your waffle.
• Fold over one side of the dough, onto itself.
• Fold the opposite side onto itself.
• Then fold over the two opposite sides to make an envelope, holding the Belgian Pearl Sugar in the center. This will help prevent the sugar from burning into the cracks | edges of the waffle iron, as the waffle cooks.
• Center the dough onto one side of the waffle maker. Depending on your model, cook one or two at a time. Close the lid and press the two irons together, until you hear the iron touch the Pearl Sugar.
• Cook the waffle for about 4 - 5 minutes. The outside of the waffle should turn a beautiful golden hue, with the whole kitchen smelling amazing.
• Transfer the finished Liege Style Belgian Waffle to a plate and serve. Toppings are personal, but I would suggest having the first waffle plain or with butter... To truly experience this waffle.
• If you are making several waffles, to feed friends | family, have your oven preheated to 200°F | 93°C and place the finished waffle directly onto the oven racks, to prevent them from getting soggy and staying crisp.
• These waffles can also be par-cooked about 90% of the way through, then cooled on racks, wrapped | bagged and frozen for a later date to be consumed. Like the "Eg-O", pop the frozen, unwrapped waffle into a hot waffle iron to cook for about 3 minutes, heating it through and finishing that last 10% cooking. This results in a super quick breakfast treat!