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You are here: Home / Sweet baking / The waffle project

The waffle project

25 Comments Sweet baking, WKB projects Belgian, yeast

This type of Belgian waffles are also called Liege waffles or ‘gaufre de Liège’

A slight diversion from bread baking. After a quick visit to Belgium over the New Year, lured in by the delicious smell of waffles several times, we could not help but go on a quest again and make our own. Fresh from the waffle plate, still warm, they are delicious. A crispy outside with caramelized sugar and a sweet buttery fluffy interior. Who can resist?!

We found a wonderful waffle recipe with lots of background information (you can find it here) that worked very well for us, but we changed and simplified a few things. The most important thing we changed was cutting the amount of pearl sugar in half. As you can judge from the picture both sides of the waffle dough ovals are still generously coated in the sugar. For us the result is just perfect and we would not want it to be much sweeter. But of course you can experiment with the amount and see what you like best.

There were many steps to the original recipe, but we have to be honest and tell you that we skipped a few (even one described as essential) in our version because we did not detect much difference in the end result. We also changed / simplified the mixing process, based on how it behaved in our mixing bowl.

Belgian Waffles - 'Luikse wafels' - Liege waffles or ‘gaufre de Liège’
Belgian Waffles - 'Luikse wafels' - Liege waffles or ‘gaufre de Liège’
Belgian Waffles - 'Luikse wafels' - Liege waffles or ‘gaufre de Liège’
Belgian Waffles - 'Luikse wafels' - Liege waffles or ‘gaufre de Liège’
Belgian Waffles - 'Luikse wafels' - Liege waffles or ‘gaufre de Liège’

IMG_5041

Ingredients for the Liege waffles
makes 5 waffles
240 g flour (we use equal parts T55 and Manitoba)
60 g milk, lukewarm
40 g water, lukewarm
4 g instant yeast
50 g egg
120 g butter, softened at room temperature
20 g sugar (we use organic castor)
15 g honey
10 g vanilla extract
4.5 g fine salt
75 g pearl sugar

Day 1


Making the waffle dough

IMG_5033

  • In the bowl of your standing mixer, combine the milk and water with the instant yeast. Add the egg and 80 g of the flour. Mix at low speed for a minute to blend.
    Now sprinkle the remaining 160 g of flour over the mixture, but do not stir! Cover your bowl with clingfilm and let it stand for 60 minutes. After this rest you will hopefully see the batter bubble up through the flour (see picture on right).
  • Now add the sugar, salt, honey and vanilla on top of the flour bubble mixture in your bowl and combine.
  • Add the softened butter and knead for 4 minutes. Give the dough a 5 minute rest and then mix again for 3 minutes. The dough should be forming a sticky ball.
  • Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours.
  • Turn out the dough on a lightly floured work surface and give it one stretch and fold (a full letter fold, left over right, right over left, bottom over top, top over bottom) so you will end up with a squarish piece of dough. Put it back in your bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Making the waffle dough - Baking Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Making the waffle dough
Making the waffle dough
Making the waffle dough
Pearl sugar

Day 2


Preparing the waffle dough

IMG_5067

  • Take your square of dough from the fridge and divide it into 5 equal pieces of around 110 g each. Shape these pieces into ovals.
  • Sprinkle 15 grams of pearl sugar on your workbench, take a piece of dough and press both sides in the pearl sugar, like you see in the gallery below.

    Take the next piece of dough, again sprinkle 15 grams of pearl sugar on your bench and press a piece of dough in it. Continue this until the 5 pieces of dough are all covered in pearl sugar.

  • Place the sugared dough pieces in a bowl, cover and leave to proof for 90 minutes
Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège

Indication for temperatures and baking time: A professional heavy cast iron waffle plate should be around 185 ºC / 365 ºF. The waffles should take around 2 to 3 minutes to bake. A home baker appliance like ours needs to be heated to 190 ºC / 375 ºF, and the waffles take 2.5 minutes to bake to perfection.

Baking the waffles

IMG_5151

  • Preheat your waffle iron at the lowest setting. Even this can be too hot for the waffles not to burn. We open the waffle iron for 30 seconds to cool it down a bit before putting on the first piece of dough. We use a infrared thermometer to check the temperature of the waffle plates (see picture).
  • Bake your waffles in the preheated waffle iron. We use a not so professional (Tefal brand) snack apparatus with waffle plates and did a few test runs to determine the right method and temperature to turn out perfect waffles. The most important thing is to caramelize the sugar and not to burn it.
  • It is best to continue baking one waffle after the other. This way the butter and sugar residue left on the plates does not burn when the iron is without waffle! We preheat at setting 1 and bake at setting 2, but this only works if you bake continuously!
  • We also found out that with our home style waffle iron it works best to bake one waffle at a time. Even though the iron can bake two waffles in one go, we get the best and more even bake if we bake on waffle in the center of the two plates (see picture).
  • You should aim at a baking time of around 2 to 3 minutes, the waffle should have a beautiful golden color (on our waffle maker it takes 2.5 minutes). If the waffle is too light carefully raise the temperature, if it is too dark, lower the temperature. It is best not to increase or decrease the cooking time because you could end up with a dried out or undercooked waffle.
  • After the first 30 seconds of baking, without opening the waffle iron, press the two halves together once. The dough ball expands between the two plates during baking and this way the dough is forced sideways.
Baking Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Baking Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Baking Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Baking Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège
Baking Belgian Waffles - Gaufre de Liège

To clean the waffle plates of an electric waffle maker first unplug it, then carefully pour some water on the bottom plate and close the lid. The steam will clean the plates. Wait till it has cooled. Now the plates are very easy to clean under a running tap. Works perfect for us!

Sweet baking, WKB projects Belgian, yeast

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Comments

  1. Makhan says

    August 12, 2020 at 12:01

    hello,
    I am really excited to try this recipe, although I don’t have a waffle maker, would it be alright if I made it in a sandwich maker ?

    Warm regards from India

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      August 13, 2020 at 16:49

      Hello Makhan,
      We are not sure, have not tried this, but we think it could work. Just always keep an eye on the dough of course. Maybe a bit of ‘trial and error’ to get it right.
      Let us know how it goes.

      Warm greetings from an also very warm Holland (34C)

      Reply
  2. Maria da Paz says

    January 17, 2020 at 12:37

    Hello!

    I love this recipe! The waffles are a success whenever a host a brunch!
    I was just wondering if its possible to make them ahead and freeze the dough (maybe after day 1?) ?

    Kind regards
    Maria da Paz (Portugal)

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      January 19, 2020 at 18:49

      Yes Maria, instead of the fridge you can put the dough in the freezer and keep for several weeks even. Make sure to take them out with time enough to thaw completely before continuing the process of day 2.

      Enjoy your waffle baking and your brunches!

      Reply
  3. Robyn says

    December 6, 2019 at 22:55

    My husband and I enjoyed these for breakfast this morning. My previous attempts at Liege waffles (using a different recipe) resembled hockey pucks & I had nearly given up on making them. Your recipe resulted in breakfast perfection! The cooking tips were very helpful, thank you.

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      December 13, 2019 at 16:22

      Hello Robyn,
      So great to read your happy comment and the success you had with our recipe.
      Enjoy your waffle baking and eating. Isn’t the smell of fresh waffles just the best!

      Greetings,
      Marieke
      WKB

      Reply
  4. rye senjen says

    October 25, 2019 at 23:26

    made these today for the first time, they were perfect! I used no perlsugar at the end, perhaps next time i will…… wondering how to make them a a sourdough version instead…..any thoughts. and thank you so much! cheers from australia. rye

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      October 30, 2019 at 11:44

      Thank you Rye for your lovely feedback. We have never made a sourdough version but of course this would be possible. We would start with 20 grams of active culture added to the ingredients on day 1. Keep an eye on the process, maybe the time at room temp needs to be shorter, depending on the activity of your culture. So it could mean a little bit of experimenting and alteration but hope it will be great. The pearl sugar really makes them festive with that extra bit of texture too, so hope you will be able to try that next time.

      Greetings from Holland,
      Marieke

      Reply
  5. Nick says

    January 18, 2017 at 15:58

    Hi, I’m excited to try this recipe.
    Two questions for you:

    50g egg … Is that around 1 egg? I guess I can mix one up and weigh it.

    Is there something I can do to replace the honey, or if I just omit it, will it still turn out? My wife is pregnant and doesn’t want to chance eating any unpasteurized honey, which is what we have.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      January 22, 2017 at 23:39

      Hi Nick,

      We know it can be different depending on where you live, but here in Holland it is about one medium egg. Would be good to crack one in a bowl and weigh it, to know how the eggs you use compare.
      To substitute the honey we would add 10 g of sugar instead.

      Hope it will turn out great (the smell alone is worth it) and wishing you all the best with your family!

      Greetings from the low countries

      Reply
  6. Magda says

    November 11, 2015 at 18:49

    Hello, just wondering if pearl sugar can be omitted? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      November 15, 2015 at 11:09

      Hi Magda,

      Although we have never tried it without, we are sure you could omit it and add something else for sweetness afterwards. We would probably prefer to make something else altogether ourselves instead of the waffles without the sugar because the caramelized pieces of pearl are sort of the crowning jewels in these waffles and they will be a bit naked without them. We understand what you mean however and that is why we already halved the sugar compared to the traditional amount used and it is still more than enough. The dough without the pearl sugar will still have a very good taste we are sure.
      Would love to hear your results and possible additions for your waffle recipe.

      Happy baking!

      Ed & Marieke

      Reply
  7. Mike says

    July 30, 2015 at 11:13

    Hallo,

    Ziet er weer lekker uit! Ik ga de parelsuiker ook eens proberen te maken. Ik heb een wafelijzer voor op het vuur (van de rommelmarkt) 🙂 . Om de temperatuur te meten heb ik ook een digitale infrarood meter. Wat is voor jullie de ideale gemeten temperatuur van het ijzer?

    Groet Mike van Heel

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      August 6, 2015 at 19:25

      Hoi Mike, zoals in het recept staat, wij bakken op een ijzer van rond de 190C.

      Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      August 6, 2015 at 19:25

      Hoi Mike, zoals in het recept staat, wij bakken op een ijzer van rond de 190C.

      Reply
  8. Farida Robles Hermelijn says

    June 29, 2015 at 14:57

    Dear Bakers,

    You can easily make the “Parel suiker” yourself. Just Google how to make…. or search for a “Fryske Sûkerbôle” recipe .

    Happy baking to all !

    Farida

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      June 29, 2015 at 20:20

      Hi Farida, thanks great tip, never thought of making my own ‘parel suiker’. I just found a recipe on how to make them. Happy baking!

      Reply
  9. EcuaExpat says

    May 29, 2015 at 02:58

    I’d like to try these out, but I’m confused as to the baking process. The quote at the top says 2-2.5 minutes. But the instructions says to aim for 3 minutes.
    And, I do not understand the last step: “After 30 seconds, without opening the waffle iron, press the two halves together…” Are you talking about the first 30 seconds? If the waffle iron is already closed, what two halves are we pressing together?
    Thanks for any help!

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      June 13, 2015 at 19:02

      Hi, thanks for your remarks, we have corrected the recipe to make it more clear and consistent. Sorry for the inconvenience, Happy baking!

      Reply
  10. Amanda Smith says

    May 9, 2014 at 08:54

    Hi guys,
    can you help me with a Spanish equivalent to Pearl sugar?

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      May 9, 2014 at 10:13

      Hello Amanda,

      I understand that would be ‘azúcar perlado’.

      Hope you can find it there.

      Happy baking weekend!

      Reply
  11. Michalis says

    March 31, 2014 at 09:57

    Lekker recept! Het lijkt me echt beter dan de gewone Luikse variant!
    Als jullie ooit nogmaals naar België komen, laat me even weten. Ik kan jullie rondleiden in de Antwerpse bakkerijen.

    Groetjes,
    Michalis

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      April 2, 2014 at 20:30

      Hi Michalis,
      Dat klinkt als een fantastisch aanbod. Dankje! Mogen we je nog vragen wat je verstaat onder de ‘gewone’ Luikse variant?

      Lots of loaves,

      Ed en Marieke

      Reply
      • Michalis says

        April 3, 2014 at 08:29

        Bvb hier: koken.vtm.be/de-pe…kse-wafels

        Ik vind het beter dat in jullie recept de deeg in de koelkast gist ! Meer tijd voor een complexe smaak!

        Groetjes,
        Michalis

        Reply
        • Weekend Bakers says

          April 5, 2014 at 08:49

          Mee eens! De ontwikkeling van smaak en geur is echt top..verslavend lekker!

          Reply

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