Letting this yeast waffle dough rest overnight gives the dough a chance to develop better. Start it the night before and enjoy fresh waffles in the morning. With a crunchy melted sugar crust and soft on the inside these belgian waffles are one of the most popular items I make!
How I created this Liege waffle Recipe
Over the past few years Belgian Liege waffle trucks and restaurants have showed up everywhere. My Dad was obsessed with them and asked me to figure out how to make them!
It’s so rare that he really LOVES a food item enough to request it that I got RIGHT on it! I scoured the internet and found quite a few recipes.
It seems like there were two camps, the traditional overnight 2nd rise recipe (developing flavor and texture) and the quicker few hour version.
You guys KNOW I’m all about getting the best possible flavor and not cutting corners when it comes to… well anything, but esp GOOD food. So I went for the authentic overnight version and WOW sooooo good.
I’m all about preping the night before for a big meal anyway, then the day of everything is ready to go and serve to my guests! So the time it takes doesn’t bother me at all.
I’ve TRIED quicker versions and they are OKAY, but still lacking the flavor that the overnight rise gives these waffles.
Just take me to the Belgian Waffle Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip the tips and tricks and tools to make these Liege Waffles, and more Belgium waffle recipe ideas – and get straight to this delicious Liege waffle recipe – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
How to make Belgian Waffles – tips for cooking
Sugar burns at 375, so you want to cook your waffles at 365-370 degrees (you don’t want those big sugar chunks to start burning, trust me, nasty to eat and nasty to clean).
Regular home waffle irons heat anywhere from 420-550, which is a problem. So to make what I had work what I did was heat it up, put the dough in for 1 min then unplug the machine for 3 mins.
Depending on how hot your machine gets you might have to play with the time a bit (make an extra large batch the first time so you have extra dough to play with).
The professional liege waffle irons are cast iron, weigh over 20 pounds and cook at exactly 365-370 degrees. But I DOUBT any of you have one at home, I don’t.
So being annoyed with my regular electric waffle iron I bought this stove top waffle iron to see if I could control the temperature better on the stove top.
Stove top temperate range from 200 – 500, so I went just above the middle, trying to achieve 360. I found mine cooked best 1 1/2 min on the first side (where the side was already hot) and then 2 1/2 on the other side (started cooler).
OR I would put the dough in and immediately flip, cook 2 mins, flip again and cook another 2 mins. BEST purchase EVER, and it made a HUGE difference in my waffles.
Can you freeze Liege waffles?
YES there are a few times you can freeze them.
After the first rise you can freeze the dough ball – wrap it in plastic a few times and use 2 freeze bags as well. When you’re ready to make them place the dough in the fridge for 12-24 hour then go on from there.
The second good time for freezing is AFTER the overnight refrigerator time – you can place the dough in two layers of freeze bags and freeze. when your ready to make the waffles leave out on the counter until soft enough to knead in the pearl sugar.
The third place is after you have kneaded in the pearl sugar and divided the dough into balls – leave out what your going to cook and wrap each of the extra balls in plastic, place the wrapped balls in two layers of freezer bags and freeze. Pull out the balls a few at a time – let come to room temp and cook. This is great when you want just a few at a time.
Finally you can freeze the already cooked waffles – this is my LEAST favorite way as they never are as good as they are fresh.
To make Liege Waffles you’ll need:
- Sugar Pearls
- Stove top waffle iron
- Waffle Iron with temperature controls and removable plates for cleaning
- a good non stick spray
Traditional Belgian Liege Waffles
If you love this liege waffle recipe as much as I do, I’d love a 5 star review. Be sure to share on social media and tag me if you make it @ashleemariecakes! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love this Belgian Waffle recipe you’ll love these other Liege Waffle recipes!
Coconut Liege Waffles | Pumpkin Liege Waffles | Lemon Raspberry Liege Waffles
Connect with Ashlee Marie Online!
To watch me make these liege waffles play the video in the recipe card. You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Traditional Belgian Waffles aka Liege Waffle recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 C whole milk warmed, 110-115 degrees
- 2 lrg eggs room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 3 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
- 3 1/2 C Bread flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 C butter softened
- 1 1/2 C belgian pearl sugar not Swedish pearl sugar
Instructions
- Place yeast, sugar and milk into your mixer and proof yeast 5-10 mins
- Add the egg, vanilla, honey, 2 1/2 C flour, brown sugar and salt and mix until cohesive
- add butter 4 Tbsp at a time kneading until totally incorporated
- Add the rest of the flour and knead 5-10 mins
- Cover and let rise until doubled in size, around 2 hours.
- Then knock the dough down and wrap the dough in plastic wrap, 2-3 times around
- refrigerate the dough overnight, 8-24 hours.
- The next day, let the dough come to room temp, about an hour and knead in all the pearl sugar
- Once mixed, divide the dough into 12-13 pieces of equal size.
- Cook in a waffle iron for about 4 mins at 360 degrees (see note for regular waffle iron)
- Give each waffle a few minutes to cool slightly before eating. that sugar melted on the outside is HOT!!!! I serve mine with fresh whipped cream and strawberries, but they are also good stuffed with dark chocolate, or served with with bananas, blue berries, nutella, cookie butter, ice cream, or plain with some powdered sugar!
- you can keep the cooked waffles warm in an oven at 200 degrees while you cook them all so they will all be ready to serve at the same time
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Cassity
Oh My goodness! Why must you do this to me?? Ashlee, where do you buy your sugar, are there any local shops. I am totally pinning this, you know I am going to have to make them!
Ashlee
YES! I get mine on amazon simply because I can get 5 lbs at once. But Orson Gygi’s carries it, and I’ve heard that some Ikea’s does to, but I haven’t been down in awhile to see if that’s true. I have some in my freezer RIGHT NOW! come on by and I’ll cook some up for you!
Calli
Pirate-O’s in Draper carries Belgium pearl sugar too.
Ashlee
thanks, that’s good to know!
Deidra
You can also buy the sugar at Orson Gygi which is where I found mine.
Ashlee
yup they sell it there too!
Karina
Wow! This looks really good :)! I’m always looking for waffles recipes too since my family loves them! I might have to stop at ikea this weekend to see if they have that sugar! Pinning for later! Yumm!
Kaylynn
Don’t waste your time at IKEA Karina – Amazon is seriously your best bet. Trust me, I’ve done the search.
Ashlee
HA! Gygi’s does have them if you don’t want to wait for amazon prime…
Karina
Ha! good to know :)! I will have to either go to amazon or Gygi’s!
Ashlee
Don’t forget to let me know when you try them out!
Ashlee
these are so so SOOOOOO good, Gygi’s has them for SURE, but Amazon is the best price, the small containers, one box is 1 1/2 cups so perfect for a batch, but as I plan on making them all the time I ordered a 5 lbs bag! If we lived closer I’d say come on buy and borrow a 1 1/2 C!
Kaylynn
Oh divine. You are so lovely to share!
Ashlee
glad you liked them! You never did say if you thought the fast version was as good?
Kami
I have been waiting for this recipe all my life!! Ever since going to Bruges for the first time Ive been needing this. Thanks!!
Ashlee
my dad went for the first time and IMMEDIATELY called me to tell me I had to figure out how to make them at home! I’ve made them for him twice now!
marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings
feed me, please. these looks so good. pinned
Ashlee
you got it, just let me know when your coming by to fit me for a costume for Salt Lake Comic Con and I’ll have a batch ready for you 😉
Jenny
I’ve wanted to try making these forever…Love liege waffles!
Ashlee
the first time I made them did take some trial and error, but now it goes really fast! They are oh so amazing!
Chris
I made these a couple times and finally got it right (using your recipe!) Just want to say thank you… also, curious, do you find the yeast taste a bit overwhelming? I actually didnt add exactly as much as you suggested. Maybe about 3/4 of your amount.
Any tips on how to lower that yeast taste a bit? Add more honey? Brown sugar?
Other than that.. they were perfect. Your instructions were the most helpful as you even include how much time to beat them and let them rise.
THANKS!
Ashlee
What kind of yeast are you using? if you use a fast rising yeast it will be too strong, try a regular yeast if that’s the case. have you had other liege waffles that your trying to match the flavor to? These are yeast based waffles and the flavor is strengthened by the rising times, but some recipes have optional cinnamon, you can try that too.
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious
What gorgeous waffles! I could have this every single morning!
Ashlee
they are so so SO good! I recently made a double batch and froze all the dough balls! So now I just pop one out in the morning before dropping the kids off and when I get home it’s thawed and ready to make myself a quick treat (and because the kids are in school I don’t have to share – ha!)
Carlie
I tried this recipe for the first time last week and the waffles were incredible! I can’t wait to make them again! Should I freeze the dough balls before or after letting them rise 90 mins that last time?
Ashlee
no I freeze them before the rise – then when they will rise while thawing – if you freeze them after they will over rise while thawing
Yvonne @ TriedandTasty.com
These turned out AMAZING!! Made them Christmas morning! Thankfully I had read the recipe over and over before taking the plunge. Ordered my pearl sugar (and I’m SO glad you specified Belgian and not Swedish)! They were SO yummy! Tons of work, but worth it once or twice a year. Doubled my batch, so I should be set for a while. How long did you say the dough is good for frozen? Also do you have any tips on cleaning the waffle iron – with all of the sugar, that was a beast!
Ashlee
YAY! I’m so glad you loved them. For cleaning I tried to do it while it was still warmish the first time, and the second time I let it dry all the way then tried to clean it, either way it was tough, warm damp rag and qtips. With my stove top waffle makers that I use now i just soak them then re-season, probably not the best, but super easy! They are good frozen for 4 months at least, never tried to go longer. and it goes faster and gets easier every time. now i make them once a month!
wendyb964
I first had Liege waffles in Belgium then found them at Northstar ski resort. They need no embellishment, imho, and are only worth eating piping hot almost burning your fingers. Yum! I have read much about them and decided they wouldn’t be possible for me to make with even a borrowed waffle maker. After these clear instructions I’m toddling over to my Amazon Prime account to order some of the Belgian sugar which is key. BTW, Liege waffles are my second fav food after freshly-squeezed orange juice. Thanks!
Ashlee
Mmmm I agree, I eat them straight with nothing on them, but it’s a great way to get some strawberries into my kids and fill them up. the local waffle store and waffle truck both offer a ton of toppings, but I’ve never gotten into that (cookie butter, nutella, stuffed with chocolate, etc…). Anyway, it took a few tries to get it right for my machine, but it was totally worth it, I make them once a month now! (more dessert than breakfast)
Dindi
Thanks for the recipe. I don’t have a dough hook with my stand mixer, can i use either the paddle or the stiff whisk instead?
Ashlee
I wouldn’t use the whisks, it will probably break them, the paddle MIGHT work, it’s an incredibly thick dough, I know my girlfriend who made a single batch with her kitchen aid said it almost burned it out, but my bosch handles a double batch easily. I think it depends on what model of stand mixer you have, the higher end kitchen aid would probably be okay.
Natalia
Hi Ashlee!
I´m writting from Mexico City we don´t have bread flour here, can I use all purpose flour instead??
Im dying to make this recipi
Ashlee Prisbrey
you can make your own bread flour
here are a few different recipes http://smittenkitchen.com/tips/2009/08/20/how-to-make-your-own-bread-flour/ or http://www.domesticandgeeky.com/2012/01/homemade-bread-flour.html
you can make it with regular flour, it won’t be quite the same, but it will still be pretty darn tasty!
Stephanie
What kind of butter are you using? Salted or non salted? I’m making 6 batches for my French Club kids and I don’t want to ruin all my batches!
Ashlee
I use salted, it’s much cheaper. But you can use unsalted to control the salt in the recipe if you want. But I always make my recipes with salted since its what I always keep in my fridge
Sean L
Hi Ashlee,
We manufacture Liege waffle dough for wholesale and you’re right on about the waffle iron being critical. We searched and searched for an affordable household waffle iron that not only cooks the dough properly, but also gets a close to authentic shape (oval). The best we found is from Hamilton Beach, Model 26009, and it’s sold on Amazon for only $25. If you set it to the lowest temp setting, it gets to about 350F which is nearly perfect. 3 minutes cook time. If you use a 3-4oz dough ball, you’ll get a close to authentic shape with this waffle iron. Remember to stretch the dough into an oval shape before pressing it b/c it gives the waffle a slightly lighter texture. We recommend it to our smaller customers who don’t want to invest in a $1k commercial waffle iron.
Cheers,
Sean…
Ashlee
thank you so much! that’s great advice and good to know! Next time my waffle iron breaks I’ll try this one out!
Jade
Hi,
Let me start off by saying thank you so much for this recipe. It’s exactly like the place where I was spending a fortune on buying liege waffles. I wanted to let you know that I cheated and pulled a dough all out at the 2 hour mark of the 4 hour rising and put some pearl sugar on it and cooked it in my waffle maker it came out fluffier and tasted just as good as the rest of the waffles that I made according to the recipe. I now have made a entire batch stopping at the two hour mark pouring pearl sugar in and mixing it and cooking and it came out great. Thank you again for all this great info.
Ashlee
you stop it really early, before the overnight rise even? it prob tastes okay, but seriously so much better with the double rise IMO. But glad you enjoy it
SONJA HANSEN
These look delicious! Any suggestion for dairy free conversion?
Ashlee
i have no experience with dairy free. If it’s something that your used to doing I’d go with whatever usually works in baking/batters for you. a nut milk? or soy milk maybe? if you usually change the amt I’d do that too. Sorry I don’t have any experience in this area.
Brittany
These were perfect! I made these for the whole family for Christmas and everyone raved. As a matter of fact they’ve already requested I make them every Christmas. I had tried a different recipe previously from a different source and yours was far superior! The extra steps are totally worth it. Thanks for the excellent recipe.
Ashlee
I’m SOOO glad to hear it! I am glad I’m not the only one in LOVE with this recipe, it’s our Christmas morning tradition too!
Kelly
I really want to try your recipe, but I saw the other comments about not using an instant yeast. Sadly, I just bought myself a 2 pound bag of instant yeast…do you think if I cut the rising time in half using the instant yeast, I would get the same results?
Ashlee
WOW that is a LOT of instant yeast, I never use instant yeast except in a bread machine, I use active 90% of the time. to substituted instant for active you use less (about 75% of what the recipe calls for) and you don’t proof it (adding it to warm water with sugar). I’m not sure about the time, it’s really more about getting the size right, doubling, etc… so you’ll have to watch it more closely
Chiki
Hi,
I have tried the recipe and the waffles are perfect. Thank you so much. They are chewy and bit crunchy. I stored few in a zip lock bag for two day at room temp. Today i heated it in toaster for approx 60secs. However now the waffles are more chewy and lost its crispiness. is there anyway i can again make it crispy?
Ashlee
YAY! I’m glad you loved them as much as I do! What I do is only make what I’m going to eat and freeze or refrigerate the other dough balls, then I can make fresh ones, nice and crisp, when I want another one. The other thing you can do is instead of storing them in a plastic bag store breads in a brown paper bag on the counter for a few days at room temp, it won’t get as soft.
Crystal
When you store your dough balls in the freezer for future use, do you mix the pearl sugar in it already? Thanks!
Ashlee
it depends on which stage you freeze them in – I mix in the sugar make balls then freeze before the final rise personally.
Luka
Hi Ashlee,
thank you so much , for this detailed and super recipe
i have a few questions
how much Percentage of fat should the milk have?
Ashlee
Whole milk, I believe that’s 4%!
Tammy
These waffles look perfect. I love the texture…pinning! 😀
Ashlee
Thanks so much! let me know when you try them what you think!