Gaufres de Liege

Two years ago, I went on an awesome trip to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam with my aunt. In Brussels, we would go to the waffle place near our hotel, and I would order the gaufres de Liege with whipped cream and chocolate every time. My aunt always got the fluffy belgian waffles, but I was loyal to the gaufres de liege. I became a little obsessed with those chewy little waffles.


Those waffles are actually a major part of why I decided I needed a waffle maker. And the only reason it's taken me almost two months to make them was because I didn't have the pearl sugar that goes into them. Then I happened to be in Ikea over the weekend buying some picture frames (and a couple of plants and pots for them to go in), and I was walking through the little Swedish market on my way to buy a 50 cent hot dog and there was the pearl sugar! I love Ikea...


I used a recipe I found on not martha, which was originally from the Kitchn. These are yeasted waffles, so it does take a little longer than a regular waffle to make. Definitely a lazy weekend waffle.


And I'm not sure if I lost track of my measuring, but when I had everything mixed together, my dough was definitely not yellow and stiff. So I added about half a cup more flour, and then it was fine. I may have been distracted, I was making the baked oatmeal in my last post at the same time.


This recipe makes 12 waffles, which is a little more than I should be eating on my own. I put them in a tupperware container between layers of parchment paper, and I just toasted one and it still was yummy two days later.

The verdict? They were really good. Definitely not as good as the ones I ate in Brussels, but a good substitute until I can go back.


Gaufres de Liege
recipe found on not martha from the kitchn

6 tablespoons warm milk (no hotter than 110ºF)
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 cups (230 grams) bread flour, sifted
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 medium egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, slightly cooler than room temperature
140 grams turbinado sugar or pearl sugar (it was slightly more than 1/2 cup pearl sugar)
cooking spray

Dissolve the sugar in the warm milk and then add the yeast. Cover with a plate and let sit for about 5 minutes. It should look bubbly.

In a stand mixer, mix together the flour, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt. Add the yeast mixture, then the egg and yolk. Mix on medium speed until a stiff yellow dough is formed.

Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes.

Cut the butter into pieces and add the pieces one at a time to the dough while beating in the mixer. Once about half of the butter has been added, the dough will start to look like a thick paste. Keep mixing on medium high and add the rest of the butter. The dough will become smooth and elastic. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Gently knead the sugar into the dough until it's evenly distributed. Work quickly so that you don't soften the dough. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form into balls.

Set on a cutting board and let sit for about 15 minutes. During the last 2 minutes, preheat your waffle iron to a low setting (should be very warm, not hot).

Spray your waffle iron with cooking spray. When the waffle iron is heated, place one ball of dough into waffle maker (you might be able to fit two, but I didn't). Cook until the dough starts to puff up and the surface of the waffle is golden to dark brown. Mine took about 2 - 2/12 minutes.

When the waffles are done, carefully remove from the waffle maker. Beware of dripping sugar. Cool on a wire rack to keep crispy. Serve with powered sugar (or plain or with whipped cream and chocolate - I went with plain this time).

You can store waffles in an airtight container between layers of parchment paper. To reheat, toast for about 30 seconds.

Makes 12 waffles.