Liege Waffles

Bring a taste of Belgium into your kitchen with these Liege Waffles! A wonderful special breakfast or afternoon treat, these yeasted sugar waffles are irresistible.

When you need a special breakfast, these Liege Waffles are the answer! Some other favorites are these French Toast Cups, Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, or this Overnight French Toast Casserole.

I have had a love affair with liege waffles for some time now. We have a local place that makes amazing liege waffles with all of the toppings. And we always go crazy for them.

They have always been a special treat, so I figured that I might as well make some at home so I could share them with others, right?

I have seen many recipes where you can bake the waffles the same day they are made, and many that require an overnight proof. I decided to go with the overnight proof for a few reasons. First, if I want them for breakfast, there is no way I’m getting up at 3am to start waffles. It’s so much easier for me to do all the work the night before, then just have to bake them up in the morning.

Ingredients:

• Yeast: These liege waffles are a yeasted waffle. I like to use active dry yeast.
• Sugar: You will use both regular granulated sugar and brown sugar in the waffles.
• Milk: The milk needs to be lukewarm, which is just above 100ºF. You don’t want it too hot or it will kill your yeast.
• Eggs: It’s best if your eggs are at room temperature.
• Butter: The butter needs to be melted, but let it cool for a bit after it has been melted.
• Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract is the best.
• Salt: I like to use fine sea salt.
• Flour: These waffles call for bread flour. Bread flour has a higher protein content, so the end result is a chewier texture to the waffle. If you don’t have bread flour, you can sub in all-purpose flour. The result won’t be exactly the same, but it will still be similar.
• Pearl Sugar: This is probably not something you keep in your pantry, but it is something that you can’t skip for this recipe. For more information about pearl sugar, read the section below.
• Toppings: One of my favorite parts of having liege waffles is all of the different toppings! See the section at the end of this post for all of my favorite topping suggestions.

What is Pearl Sugar?

These waffles require a specific ingredient that you can’t skip out on – Belgian Pearl Sugar. You can’t skip it. The sugar is what totally makes these waffles. It melts in the waffle, creating these little pockets of deliciousness.

But what is pearl sugar?

Pearl sugar is a type of specialty sugar that is used in baking. You can tell by looking at it that it does not look like your regular granulated sugar. Because it’s not!

Pearl sugar is made by compressing sugar together into larger “chunks” of sugar. It is more popular in Europe (especially Belgium and Sweden). It won’t dissolve in your baked goods because of the size of the pearls. The Swedish pearl sugar tends to be smaller, perfect for topping baked goods to give them a nice crunch. The Belgian pearl sugar is slightly bigger – perfect for liege waffles! The sugar will slightly melt and caramelize as the waffle cooks, leaving a slightly crunchy, delicious little sweet pocket of flavor.

It is sometimes harder to come by in the United States. I usually buy mine at a specialty store, but you can order pearl sugar on Amazon as well. (Affiliate link.) I have also heard of people crushing sugar cubes to substitute, which is much cheaper, but I haven’t tested that.

How to Make Liege Waffles

1. MAKE THE DOUGH: Combine the milk, sugar and yeast and let it bloom. Add the eggs and butter, followed by the sugar, vanilla and salt. You’ll start adding the flour, but just enough to make it smooth. It will still be slightly sticky, but should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
2. LET IT RISE AND REST: Let the dough rise until doubled, then refrigerate the dough overnight.
3. ADD THE PEARL SUGAR: The next day, take your dough and knead in the pearl sugar carefully.
4. BAKE: Divide the dough into portions, then bake them on your waffle maker. Make sure to read the tips and tricks section below, as it has more information about baking the waffles.
5. TOP AND ENJOY: Top your warm waffles with your desired toppings and enjoy!

Tips and Tricks

Most home waffle makers cook way too hot and the outsides of the dough will be cooked before the sugar has a chance to melt in the waffle.

If you have a waffle maker that allows you to control the temperature, turn it down to around 360º and cook until they are golden brown. If your waffle maker is like mine, and only has one heat setting (HOT!), I found that the only way I could get them to cook a little longer without overcooking or drying out was to turn the waffle maker off after I had added the dough. It was a bit of a pain, but totally worth it in the end! With the waffle maker on the whole time, I was only cooking them about 2 minutes, but with turning it off, I could stretch that to 4 1/2 minutes, and the sugar was able to melt nicely.

My waffle maker does have 2 sides, so I could bake 2 at a time, so that helped as well. You’ll have to experiment with your waffle maker to see what works best.

These are definitely best when they are served warm – so be prepared to serve them right after they are made.

Best Liege Waffle Toppings

The sky is really the limit when it comes to toppings, but here are a few of our favorite liege waffle toppings:

• Nutella
• Cookie Butter
• Peanut Butter
• Fruit – bananas, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
• Whipped Cream
• Chopped Nuts
• Chocolate Syrup

More Waffle Recipes

If you are looking for a traditional waffle recipe, this Best Waffle Recipe is the only one you need!

My husband loves these Blueberry Waffles the most!

These Red Velvet Waffles with Cream Cheese Drizzle are perfect for a holiday morning.

Have ripe bananas? Skip the banana bread and make Banana Waffles instead.