Liege Waffle Recipes

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.

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.

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.

LIèGE WAFFLE

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the yeast in water (or milk).
• Add half of the flour 2 cups), the eggs, 2 tablespoons of butter and the sugar. Mix until everything is combined.
• Sprinkle with the remaining flour and butter and the cinnamon (or vanilla).
• Let sit for 30 minutes in a warm place away from drafts.
• Using the dough hook, knead everything and add more flour if necessary. The dough should not be sticky.
• Let stand for 15 minutes in a warm place, away from drafts,
• Roll out the dough to a thickness of ½ inch (1 cm) using a rolling pin and sprinkle the whole surface with pearl sugar.
• Roll it on itself.
• Divide the dough into 12 pieces, and let them rest for 15 minutes.
• Bake the waffles in a waffle iron until golden, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.

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 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 WAFFLES

Steps:

• Special equipment: Good quality waffle iron with adjustable settings and that turns upside down, preferably cast iron.
• Put the flour in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Whisk together the eggs, and then add the milk, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds and honey in a large bowl. Add the mixture to the flour and mix for 1 minute. Add the yeast and continue to mix until the dough becomes smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Begin adding the butter, at low speed, piece by piece and continue mixing until it's incorporated into the dough. Add the salt, increase the speed to high and continue mixing until the dough becomes a shiny solid mass and totally pulls away from the bottom and sides of the bowl, 10 to 15 minutes. The dough needs to be very elastic, you shouldn't be able to break the dough when pulled. Add the sugar and mix until it is just incorporated, about 1 minute.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 48 even pieces, roll into balls, place on the parchment, cover with clean cotton towels and let rise in a warm area until almost tripled in size, anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Heat the waffle iron to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray the waffle iron with nonstick spray or brush with melted butter. Cook the waffles until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

LIEGE WAFFLE RECIPE: LIÈGE GAUFRE

Steps:

• 1. Place yeast, milk, and water into the workbowl of a stand mixer. Stir for a few seconds to moisten the yeast. 2. Add 80 grams of flour and the egg. Mix to blend. Scrape down sides of bowl. 3. Sprinkle remaining 160 grams of flour over the mixture. Cover and let stand 75-90 minutes. 4. Add brown sugar, salt, and baking powder to the workbowl. Mix on low speed - just to blend. 5. With machine on, add honey and vanilla. Then add the butter 30 grams at a time. Mix 4 minutes at medium-low speed. Let the dough rest for 1 minute and then continue to mix for 2 minutes. The dough will be sticking to the sides of the bowl or might loosely cling to the paddle. 6. Scrape the dough into a large bowl, sprinkle lightly with flour and let rise at room temperature for 4 hours. This step is crucial for developing the flavor. 7. REFRIGERATE FOR 20-30 MINUTES BEFORE PROCEEDING TO STEP #8. 8. Stir the dough down (meaning: gently deflate the gases from the dough, by pressing on it with a rubber spatula), scrape it onto a piece of plastic wrap, and then use the spatula to press the dough into a long rectangle. Fold that rectangle over on itself (by thirds - like a letter) so that you have a square of dough. Wrap it in plastic, weigh it down a bit (I put two heavy dinner plates on top of it) and refrigerate overnight. 9. Cut off 110 gram chunks, mix in 30 grams of pearl sugar by hand, and let rise for 90 minutes. 10. If you have a professional waffle iron (meaning: it's cast iron and weighs over 20 pounds) cook at exactly 370 degrees (the max temp before sugar begins to burn/decompose) for approximately 2 minutes.* * If you have a regular waffle iron, heat the iron to 420 degrees, place the dough on the iron, and immediately unplug it or turn the temp dial all the way down. Otherwise, the sugar will burn.