Belgian liege waffles are made from a yeasted bread-like dough and contain pearl sugar. These, my friends, are some of the best waffles you’ll ever have!
OK, so you’re probably wondering… what are Belgian liege waffles? Well, my friends, they are AMAZING. Since the waffles are made from yeast, they have to proof and rise. The batter is actually closer to a bread dough than it is a typically waffle batter. Sounds strange right? But it’s not!
The other difference between Belgian style waffles and these Belgian liege waffles is in the sugar. Typical Belgian waffles contain regular sugar, while Belgian liege waffles contain pearl sugar.
How did we decide to make these? Well, one evening, my husband and I were watching a cooking show which featured these waffles. Surprisingly, the waffles were made from a yeasted break-like dough. It sounded strange, so of course we wanted to try it. Since I didn’t have any pearl sugar, I ordered some online.
I made these the night before Addie’s birthday and let them sit overnight in the refrigerator. Then I thawed them out the next morning (I turned my oven to 175 degrees F and placed the bowl in there for about 30 minutes). Because we don’t have a Belgian waffle iron, these weren’t completely authentic. But, they were still pretty awesome regardless.
The texture is definitely different than regular waffles. The exterior of these are very crisp, and the melted pearl sugar made the waffles slightly caramelized. Since the dough is similar to a bread, the waffles are a bit bread-like. The three of us enjoyed these waffles. I highly recommend making these the night before you want to eat them.
We topped our birthday girl’s waffles with some chocolate chips. You can certainly add fresh fruit, whipped cream, or anything else that makes you happy. Hope you enjoy these!
Belgian liege waffles
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk warm
- 1/3 cup water warm
- 3 teaspoons instant yeast if you don't have instant yeast, you can substitute with active dry yeast - just combine it with the warm milk and let it sit for 5-10 minutes or until frothy
- 2 eggs beaten and at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 and 2/3 cups bread flour divided; can substitute with all-purpose but the texture will not be exactly the same
- 2 sticks unsalted butter softened
- 1 and 1/2 cups pearl sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix together the milk, water, yeast, eggs, honey, vanilla extract, brown sugar and salt on medium speed until well combined.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in 2 and 2/3 cups of the flour.
- Add in the butter, one Tablespoon at a time until well combined. Then add in the remaining flour and mix well until the dough is smooth.
- Transfer the dough to a well-greased bowl. Cover and allow to rest for 2 hours. Punch the dough down and either cook or re-cover and allow to chill overnight in the refrigerator.
- Preheat your waffle iron (a Belgian waffle iron is preferred here) and grease it. Knead in the pearl sugar, divide the dough into 10 equal parts and roll each into a ball.
- Place a dough ball on your waffle iron and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately.
When do you add the pearl sugar?
Author
You knead it in right before you divide the dough into 10 pieces. Thanks for pointing this out – I just updated the recipe!