Waffles from Liège (Belgian Yeast Waffles)
Even though there is already one waffles recipe on the blog, Liège waffles are a completely different dimension! There will probably be other waffle recipes in the future, but for now I think these are the best waffles I have ever eaten!
Belgian waffles, very sweet, crispy, irregularly shaped. There is no need to add powdered sugar to them, they taste best with sour jam or fruit or dry! Really, they are so sweet that I eat them plain.
If you’re looking for a recipe for really crispy waffles, you’ve found it! Thanks to large lumps of pearl sugar, which caramelize during baking, a crunchy, caramel glaze is created on the waffles. Of course, if the waffles are left for a few hours, they will soften, but they will be super crispy for a few minutes after baking!
How do Belgian waffles differ from regular waffles?
- Let’s start with the fact that Belgian waffles are a very broad term. We can divide them into two types: Brussels waffles (light yeast dough, without sugar) and Liege waffles or Leodian waffles (thick yeast dough with lumps of sugar). However, the waffles that we eat in Poland by the sea and those that we most often prepare at home are roughly pancake dough with the addition of baking powder or baking soda.
- What is necessary to prepare sugar waffles is pearl sugar. That is, sugar in pearls – matte, round lumps of sugar, smaller or larger, milky white in color with smooth edges that do not resemble classic crystals. It’s really worth looking for it in the store because it is responsible for its unique taste. We won’t achieve such structure and crunchiness with regular sugar.
- Thick yeast dough. The dough is a bit like donut dough and it doesn’t need to be kneaded for long.
- Shape: Liege waffles are smaller, irregular in shape, and thicker. They are not perfect rectangles, rather rounded. They are usually lighter on the perimeter because the dough is not evenly distributed in the waffle iron and therefore not evenly baked.
How to prepare yeast waffles like from Belgium?
Take the yeast out of the fridge, melt the butter, warm the milk slightly, take the eggs out of the fridge, measure out the dry ingredients. Make the leaven, add the rest of the ingredients, mix, let the dough rise, add the secret ingredient, mix and bake!
ATTENTION!
Remember to add pearl sugar immediately before baking the waffles so that the yeast does not eat it. The larger the sugar particles, the tastier the waffles will be.
What do you need for waffles?
To prepare Belgian waffles you will need: flour, sugar, yeast, milk, butter, eggs, salt and pearl sugar!
What is pearl sugar? What is Belgian pearl sugar? Is pearl sugar the same as sugar pearls?
Sugar pearls are sugar decorations that look like real pearls or glass beads. Pearl sugar is not the same as coarse crystal sugar. Pearl sugar has much larger particles that do not dissolve like crystal sugar. It looks a bit like large lumps of powdered sugar.
Where to buy pearl sugar for waffles?
I bought my sugar at Auchan, but you can buy it online, it’s also worth looking for it in other large supermarkets. If you find it somewhere else, let me know in the comment. 😉
What can you replace pearl sugar with?
Nothing! It must be pearl sugar to get the effect we want.
How long should waffles be kept in the waffle iron?
It all depends on what waffle maker you have. I bake the waffles for about 4 minutes at maximum power. Every waffle maker is different. It has different power, different plates, and heats up differently. Therefore, it is best to determine the time and power at which you bake waffles yourself. I use a 1400 W waffle iron with non-replaceable plates covered with Teflon coating. If you use a waffle iron with lower or higher power, you may have to change the baking time and set the temperature differently.
How to make waffles crispy?
Do not open the lid while baking! Of course, if you are making waffles for the first time, you need to check whether the waffles are ready or whether they need some more time, but with the third or fourth waffle you will already know how many minutes they need. It’s worth having a watch nearby or turning on the stopwatch on your phone to control the baking time.
What to add to make waffles fluffy?
Yeast is responsible for the fluffiness of Belgian waffles. A well-risen dough has a lot of air bubbles, which makes the dough fluffy.
Why do waffles stick to the iron?
To prevent the waffles from sticking to the waffle iron, grease the form with a thin layer of oil. Belgian waffles may stick more to the pan because caramelized sugar is very sticky. But I’ve never had a problem getting the waffles out of the mold.
Can I leave the waffle dough for another day? Can the waffle dough be made in advance?
You can leave the dough in the fridge and make waffles the next day, provided you haven’t added pearl sugar yet! Overnight, the yeast would eat the sugar, the dough would still be sweet, but the waffles would not have a caramelized coating or a sugary, powdery structure. Pearl sugar would simply be wasted and it is more expensive than granulated sugar. Therefore, putting pearl sugar dough in the fridge, even for just a few hours, would make no sense.
What do waffles taste best with?
You can serve the waffles with powdered sugar, jam, whipped cream, fruit, sweet sauce, chocolate icing, Nutella, pistachio cream, peanut butter, etc. Belgian waffles are sweet on their own and taste great dry without any toppings.
Yeast waffles contain gluten. The proportions given below will give you approximately 14 waffles (approx. 60 g). Read the step-by-step recipe on how to prepare Belgian yeast waffles and watch the video below the recipe.
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Waffles from Liège (Belgian Yeast Waffles)
Liège Belgian Waffles Recipe
Ingredients
Leaven
- 16 g fresh yeast (or about 5 g dry yeast)
- ½ cup milk (luke warm)
- 2 cup Flour (about 320 g)
- 1 tsp sugar
Dough
- 100 g pearl sugar
- 3 eggs
- 12 g vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional)
- 100 g butter (melted)
- salt
- oil to grease the waffle iron (optional)
Instructions
Leaven
- Prepare the solution. Crumble the yeast and sprinkle with sugar. Pour lukewarm milk and add 2 tablespoons of flour. Mix. Sprinkle with the remaining flour so that the entire mixture is covered. Then cover with a towel and leave to rise for 5-10 minutes.16 g fresh yeast, ½ cup milk, 2 cup Flour, 1 tsp sugar
Dough
- Add salt, vanilla sugar (or extract) and eggs to the risen mixture (when the foam starts to come out from under the flour). Start kneading the dough. After about 5 minutes, slowly add the melted, cooled butter. Knead for another 3 minutes. Set aside to rise for approximately 30 minutes.3 eggs, 12 g vanilla sugar, salt, 100 g butter
- Add pearl sugar to the risen dough. Stir the dough so that the sugar mixes well with it.100 g pearl sugar
- Preheat the waffle iron to maximum power. Before making the first waffle, grease the waffle iron with a thin layer of oil. Place one tablespoon of dough in the center of the tin (1 tablespoon of dough – 1 waffle), close the waffle iron and bake for approx. 3-4 minutes. Do not open the waffle iron while baking! You need to feel out how long you should bake waffles because each waffle maker is different. Use a stick to pull the finished waffles in and place them on a rack to cool. Hot waffles placed on a plate may steam up and will not be crispy. Waffles taste best immediately after baking. Enjoy your meal!oil to grease the waffle iron
Video
Nutrition
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
