BELGIAN LIEGE WAFFLES

By chris5863

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk (lower fat milk can be substituted)
• 1 package (0.25 oz) active dry yeast (not instant or rapid rise) (2 1/4 tsp if measuring from bulk yeast)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 2 eggs, room temp
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 oz sugar cubes, broken into large pieces (or pearl sugar)

Details

Servings 10
Preparation time 105mins
Cooking time 120mins
Adapted from bakerbettie.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until it just starts to barely bubble. Just under a simmer. Remove the milk from the heat, pour into a bowl, and let cool for 5 minutes.
When the milk is cooled to warm, add the active dry yeast to the milk and stir together. Let sit for 5 minutes to proof.
In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, butter, eggs, salt, and flour. Add the milk/yeast mixture and stir together until it forms a dough.
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 5 minutes until its smooth and elastic. Alternatively, you can knead with a dough hook in a stand mixer. The mixture will seem quite wet at first, but will form a smooth soft dough once kneaded in the mixer for the full time. If the mixture is too wet after kneading, add more flour 1 TBSP at a time until a soft but sticky dough forms. This will not be wet like a traditional waffle batter. It should be like a bread dough.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Deflate the dough by gently pushing your fist in the center and folding the sides over.
Place the dough back into the mixer fitted with the dough hook and pour in all of the sugar cube pieces (or pearl sugar). Mix until evenly incorporated.
Break the dough into small pieces, about 2 1/2 oz each. You should get about 10-12 pieces. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes.
Heat your waffle iron up. Remember, sugar begins to burn at temps above 350ºF. If your waffle iron doesn't have a temp dial you may have to do trial and error to see the setting that will give you the best caramelization without burning. Most waffle irons heat much hotter than 350. My medium setting was perfect for these, however some other recipes suggest getting your iron hot and then turning it off as the waffle cooks to prevent burning. I had no problems with burning, but test your iron to see what works best.
Lightly grease the heated iron then place a piece of dough in the center of the iron and close the lid.
Remove the waffles from the iron with a spatula (caramelized sugar is really hot!) once the waffle is golden, puffed, and crispy.
Enjoy plain or with cinnamon sugar, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, or your favorite topping!