Liege Waffles

Liege Waffles

Liege Waffles: a buttery yeasted dough studded with Belgian pearl sugar and baked on a waffle iron. I've been wanting to taste these and make them for years. I finally tasted them maybe two years  ago(?) at waffle truck at a bar in Marietta, GA, on St. Patrick's Day. Then a trivia teammate shared with me ones she had made. That was the clincher. I had to make them--and here they finally are, in all their glory. The waffle dough isn't sweet at all, but the sugar pearls add just the right sweetness and crunch on the outside. 

Be sure to read the cleaning note at the end. These make a mess of your waffle iron. 

Shoutout to the blog Whipped for sharing the recipe.

Liege Waffles
Adapted from Whipped

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup Belgian pearl sugar

Instructions:

• To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Then stir ingredients with whisk to blend completely.
• Add the water and mix on low. 
• Add eggs, one at a time until they are all completely incorporated. 
• Slowly add the melted & cooled butter, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally to make sure it's evenly mixed.
• Tidy up the dough by scraping the sides with a silicone/rubber spatula.
• Cover with a tea towel, plastic wrap, or a clean plastic grocery bag, and allow to sit and rise for about 1 hour.
• Once dough has doubled, add the pearl sugar and fold it in gently, making sure to evenly distribute the pearls.
• Allow dough to sit again for about 15 minutes. 
• After dough has sat for 7-10 minutes, plug in your waffle iron (a Belgian style waffle iron is best for this because you get the thick waffles).
• When the dough and waffle iron are ready, scoop 1/4 to 1/3 cup blobs of dough onto the hot waffle iron. Close and allow to cook until medium golden brown, or browned to your liking. My waffle iron has number settings, and I set mine to 3.5 out of 5. It beeps when they're perfectly browned. 
• Use tongs or two forks to carefully move the cooked waffles to a cooling rack to cool. The sugar pearls have melted and you don't want to burn your fingers on the molten sugar.
• Allow waffles to cool about 5 minutes before enjoying. Repeat waffle cooking until all dough is cooked.
• Store uneaten cooled waffles in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also freeze these. Reheat by toasting on a light setting. 

Makes about 19 smaller waffles or 9-10 medium sized waffles

Re: Cleaning the waffle iron

While the waffle iron was still hot, I unplugged it and then I poured in water to cover the melted sugar and go up the sides about halfway.

After a few minutes I started using a paper towel held by my pair of mini-tongs to wipe it. I then used the same paper towel to soak up the water. I had to wring out the paper towel several times, but it was sturdier than I thought.

The waffle iron has never looked cleaner.