Authentic Liege Belgian waffles make a tasty dessert for celebrating a Belgium win during the World Cup!
Before setting out on this adventure to root on Belgium for the World Cup as part of the Multi-Cultural Bloggers World Cup for Kids series, I knew what a Belgian waffle was. But as it turns out, I really had no idea what a Belgian waffle is! I thought a Belgian waffle was a larger waffle with deeper holes usually served with strawberries and whipped cream. As it turns out, true Belgian waffles come in two varieties – Liege Waffles and Brussels Waffles. Brussels waffles are what we know as Belgian waffles in North America. Liege waffles, however, are more of a dessert waffle with lots of sugar, a crisp outside and a tender inside. Liege waffles use yeast for rising and while they do take a while longer to make, they are well worth the wait.
The waffle dough is pretty straightforward. Liege Belgian waffles are made with yeast – but don’t be afraid of that if you’ve never used it. I love baking with yeast and it’s easy. Heat your milk just so it’s warm – not hot – and the rest is a basic recipe. The waffle dough is not runny at all. It’s more like a soft bread dough so it’s a little tacky and stretchy. Set the dough aside and come back in about 30 minutes when it’s doubled in size.
The special ingredient in liege waffles is pearl sugar. I bought pearl sugar on Amazon – and accidentally got Swedish instead of Belgian. I had never worked with this sugar so I wanted to see what it was like. But I think there is an easier option.
I have a box of sugar in the raw in my pantry so I grabbed that to compare the sugars. I figured that part of the reason to use pearl sugar was the larger crystals. Sugar in the Raw has pretty large crystals, too.
I put the two sugars side by side and I’m fairly confident that you can substitute Sugar in the Raw for the pearl sugar. I used the pearl sugar because I had it. The Sugar in the Raw does look a little smaller, but not by much.
Stir the sugar in to the dough just before cooking the waffles. I had to play around with the amount of dough to use when cooking the waffles. You will not get full, round waffles. I found that keeping the dough in the middle of the waffle maker produced better waffles. I have an Oster Ceramic Waffle Maker, which I absolutely love. The further out the waffle got towards the edge the harder it was to get it to cook without burning the middle of the waffle. I ended up getting 7 waffles out of a single batch.
These waffles are worth the wait for the rise and fancy sugar. They were the best waffles I have ever had! These really are not breakfast waffles, though. They are very sweet and full of sugar but they make a fun dessert. I made one in to ice cream sandwiches for the kids and they keep asking for more. A waffle bar would be fun with these waffles, too!
Don’t forget to check out the other blog posts about the World Cup, too!
Liege Belgian Waffles for the World Cup
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup butter
- 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups pearl sugar
Instructions
- Heat milk in a small pan over medium low heat until the milk is warm but not hot. Pour milk in the bowl of stand mixer. Stir in sugar. Sprinkle yeast on top of milk and set aside.
- Melt butter in the small pan over medium heat. I usually melt one stick, remove the pan from heat and then add the other stick - so the butter doesn't get too hot.
- Add melted butter, eggs, vanilla and salt to the stand mixer bowl and stir to combine.
- Add flour to bowl and mix with paddle attachment until a dough forms.
- Cover the bowl with a towel and set aside until dough has doubled - about 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat your waffle maker according to manufacturers directions.
- Depending on size of your waffle maker, you may need more or less dough, but generally, 1/2 cup of dough makes 1 waffle. Cook according to waffle maker directions. The waffles will rise while cooking.
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