Liège waffles
The two best-known Belgian waffles are the Brussels kind, made from batter, and the Liège kind, which is quite different. They are made from a buttery brioche-style yeast dough with nuggets of pearl sugar, which caramelises on the outside in the hot iron and stays crunchy within. The waffles are irregular in shape, with a dense, springy centre and a sweet caramel crust — usually eaten plain, straight from the iron. Pearl sugar is sold in baking shops and online; ordinary sugar will not do, as it dissolves in the dough.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Dough 15 min
- Rising 90 min
- Pearl sugar 5 min
- Resting the balls 20 min
- Baking in the iron 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake the dough
Mix the flour with the yeast, sugar and salt. Add the milk, eggs and vanilla and knead with a dough hook 5 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 g plain white flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 7 g dried yeast · 2 pcs eggs · 30 g sugar · 5 g salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 250 g butter, very soft
Add the butter
Add the butter a piece at a time, kneading until each is absorbed. Knead another 5–8 minutes, until smooth, glossy and elastic.
Ingredients: 500 g plain white flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 7 g dried yeast · 2 pcs eggs · 30 g sugar · 5 g salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 250 g butter, very soft
Glossy and elastic — like brioche.Leave to rise
Cover the dough and leave somewhere warm (about 25°C, no warmer, so the butter in the dough does not melt) for 1½ hours, until doubled. Dough rich in butter rises more slowly than ordinary dough, so in a cool kitchen it may take longer.
Ingredients: 500 g plain white flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 7 g dried yeast · 2 pcs eggs · 30 g sugar · 5 g salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 250 g butter, very soft
Knead in the pearl sugar
Turn the dough onto the worktop and knead in the pearl sugar by hand until evenly spread. Do not use the mixer now — it would crush the nuggets.
Ingredients: 200 g pearl sugar
By hand — the sugar nuggets must survive.Divide into balls
Divide the dough into 12 pieces of about 105 g, roll into balls and rest under a cloth 20 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 g plain white flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 7 g dried yeast · 2 pcs eggs · 30 g sugar · 5 g salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 250 g butter, very soft
Heat the waffle iron
Heat the waffle iron to medium. Too hot, and the sugar burns before the inside is cooked.
Ingredients: 500 g plain white flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 7 g dried yeast · 2 pcs eggs · 30 g sugar · 5 g salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 250 g butter, very soft
Bake the waffles
Place a ball of dough in the centre of each plate, close and bake 3–4 minutes, until deep golden and the sugar caramelised. In an iron that bakes two at a time, all the waffles take about 30 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 g plain white flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 7 g dried yeast · 2 pcs eggs · 30 g sugar · 5 g salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 250 g butter, very soft
A ball in the centre — it spreads by itself.Cool briefly
Lift out each waffle with a fork or tongs and leave on a rack 2–3 minutes. Melted sugar is extremely hot and sticks to skin — do not touch it with your fingers, and let the waffles cool before giving them to children. Between batches scrape burnt sugar off the plates with a wooden spatula.
Ingredients: 500 g plain white flour · 150 ml lukewarm milk · 7 g dried yeast · 2 pcs eggs · 30 g sugar · 5 g salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 250 g butter, very soft
Before you start
Pearl sugar
Pearl sugar is hard nuggets that do not dissolve in the dough. Crushed sugar cubes can stand in — the nuggets will be irregular but the effect similar.
Cleaning the iron
Caramelised sugar sticks to the plates. Scrape it off straight away with a wooden spatula while soft (never with your fingers) — once cold it sets like glass.
Storage
The waffles are best warm. Refresh cooled ones 3–4 minutes in an oven at 180°C. They also freeze well.
