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Perfect Liège-Style Waffles
Belgium, deep inside we all just wished you never left the Netherlands️...
4 Aug 2023
Difficulty:
Easy
Servings:
7 to 8 waffles
Prep time:
15 minutes
Waiting time:
Baking time:
1 hour
30 minutes
Total time:
1 hour, 45 minutes
How about something actually simple for a change? :) And with that I mean something you could easily just make for breakfast one day without having to start prepping days in advance. These Liège-style waffles (or gaufres de chasse as they're apparently called across the border) are chewy, sort of bready and contain those lovely, crunchy sugar pearls and only take 4 steps to make! Easy peasy.
I like using ghee or clarified butter to grease the waffle iron as it has the delicious taste of butter but only starts burning and smoking at 250°C (temperatures you probably won't reach) instead of 150°C. That way you don't have to constantly be scraping the disgusting black stuff off your iron every time.
We Dutch love messing with the Belgians - making them out for fools, joking about their "politics" and laughing at their amusing, completely unintelligible accent. However, we collectively choose to forget our friendly rivalry when waffles are involved. Sure, we have stroopwafels, but Belgium is the true king of waffles! To be honest, deep inside we all just wished you never left the Netherlands... ❤️
Ingredients
7 g yeast
75 g full fat milk, room temperature
100 g butter
200 g sugar
2 eggs
250 g flour
6 g salt
2 tsp vanilla paste
100 g pearl sugar
Clarified butter (ghee), melted*
* You could also use oil or butter, but ghee combines the flavour of butter and lack of burning of oil
Instructions
Mix the yeast and milk and set aside until foamy.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir ⅓ of the flour and salt mixture into the butter until incorporated (scrape down the sides), followed by ½ of the yeast mixture, repeat until both the flour and yeast mixtures are incorporated. Stir in the vanilla paste. Once combined, cover and allow to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
Stir in the pearl sugar. Heat the waffle iron and grease lightly (but properly) with the clarified butter. Scoop a couple of tablespoons of batter into the iron and close the iron. Immediately flip the iron once and bake for a few minutes until both sides are golden brown.
Allow the waffles to cool down on a baking rack.
Notes
Eat as fresh as possible, but can be stored in an airtight box at room temperature for a few days. Put them in the oven for a little bit to get them back to tasting fresh!