Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Liege waffles


My parents-in-law fell in love and got married in a small chapel in Louvain, Belgium. They often spoke of waffles that were sold in street stands and were eaten as midday snacks. Starbucks in Manila sells these sweet treats as Belgian Pegi Waffles and I loved having them with my coffee back home.

I searched Toronto high and low but alas could not find these slightly crunchy, slightly chewy, slightly sweet, and oh so delicious little morsels of waffle heaven. So, I decided to make my own...

Belgian/Liege Waffles


Batter 1:
4 tsp. instant dry yeast
1/4 cup water
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup warm milk


Batter 2:
8 tbsp. butter, room temp
6 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tbsp. sugar
3/4 cup pearl sugar


Make batter 1.
1. Dissolve yeast in water, 1 tbsp of flour and sugar.
2. Let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Make well in remaining flour, add in yeast mix, egg and milk.
4. Mix and let rise until double or triple in volume.


Meanwhile, make batter 2.
Mix butter, flour, salt, vanilla, baking powder and sugars.


Mix batter 1 and 2.


Heat Belgian waffle maker until good and hot. I use a Cuisinart 4-waffle Belgian waffle maker (mine is an older model though) and I put about 1/4 cup of batter per square. The waffles come out roundish, which is how they're supposed to look anyway. For my waffle maker, I cook each batch at power number 4 for 4 minutes.

The waffles taste best on the day they're made but keep for a day at room temperature. They may also be frozen and reheated in a toaster.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Liege waffle can be purchased in the grocery freezer a both Whole foods locations.(Yorville and Oakville)

Mazinger Hasselhoff said...

These are amazing...best waffles I've ever tasted. Thanks for making them...mmm...mmm...good...

Rating: Just like the 95-96 Chicago Bulls...scary good

Anonymous said...

Just discovered your blog! There are actually two kinds of Belgian waffles - the Liège ones, my favorite, with the pearl sugar and denser batter; and the Brussels waffles, which are rectangular, unsweetened, and with a much lighter batter. These are usually topped with whipped cream and other ingredients while Liège waffles are best eaten alone. Best when eaten straight from the waffle van in the park!

Christ In Me said...

Your recipe is superior to others I've tried. Those taste too "eggy" to me. Not only that yours is simpler. Some have you make the batter the night before, and weight it, etc. Too much for me! I highly recommend your waffle recipe.