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
Alexandra
Hello Ashlee. I hope you see this ASAP, cause I’m baking these this evening, your recipe says butter, but I have just cooking margarine on hand, can I substitute that for the butter? Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Ashlee Marie
I’m anti margarine, I only use real butter
Aleksandar
well, I made these, with bread flour and well they taste like bread 😀
they’re still tasty, but I would rather eat em with bacon 😀
I’ll try the all purpose flour or the one just for baking sweets see how it goes.
Yeah, but pour chocolate over them and they’re still awesome. Just not what I had intended
Ashlee Marie
sorry to hear that – I haven’t been told that before, there isn’t a difference in taste between the flours, the only difference is in the protein level of the flour. Did you maybe use a different yeast? an instant yeast would be a much stronger flavor and maybe give more of a “bread” flavor.
B
My waffle dough isnt very thick should i keep adding flour i hsve already added a generous amount.
Ashlee Marie
no, only add enough flour to get the dough right
Robbert De Haas
I am from the Netherlands and I just had to try this. I have never in my life made anything like this before, but thought I could do it with your excellent video instructions. I bought an electric Oster CKSTWFBF22-TECO waffle iron (makes thicker waffles) and followed your recipe to a T and wow! I only added some cinnamon to the dough. The waffles came out so good! I wish I could post some photos. I followed your advice to heat the waffle iron, put the dough in, and turn off after 1 minute. Works! Love them! Thank you so much for posting this!!!
Robb
I made this recipe in a bread machine set to dough mode.
I added all the ingredients pretty much at once except the pearl sugar, which I folded into the dough after the proof cycle ended. Tasted great!
Way less work too.
Marianne
What brand waffle maker do you use?
Ashlee Marie
I use these on the stove https://amzn.to/2Vw1nco cause I can control the temp and it’s easy to clean
Greg
I’m very late to the party, but very excited to be trying this recipe. A most important question that I’m kind of surprised hasn’t come up yet … the ingredients state 5 cups of bread four but the directions state mix in 1 1/2 cups then after the first rise add the remaining 2 1/2 cups – which total 4 cups of flour vs. the 5 cups in the ingredients. So should we be using 4 or 5 cups of bread flour? Thanks!
Ashlee
I think when I changed recipe cards a few months ago it messed up some of the recipes – that’s why it didn’t come up before – yes you are correct and it has been changed, thx!
Greg
We have a Krups waffle maker (2×2) with adjustable temperature. Using an infrared thermometer I found I could achieve 360F in the middle of the dial range. These waffles are AWESOME! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe Ashlee!!! My only caution to someone trying this recipe for the first time is to use 4 cups of flour per the directions, not the 5 cups called out in the ingredients list. Everything else is spot on!!!
Ashlee
you are very right – I think when I changed recipe plugins something got messed up – thank you for pointing it out! Fixed now
silvia
Hello, I am planning to buy a waffle maker. I would like a good one, thats lasts for years, although it is expensive, easy to clean and if possible, where we can make 2 waffles at the same time.
Please, could you let me know your preferences?
Thanks,
Sílvia.
Ashlee Marie
I like this one https://amzn.to/2Vw1nco and use the stove for heat, but this one has been recommended as well https://amzn.to/2z4Z9t2
Diane
If I have frozen the dough balls (it’s just two of us, so 13 is way too many in one sitting) – do I let them thaw in the fridge and or the counter? How long would I let them thaw (in fridge or and/or on counter) before they are ready to cook?
Ashlee Marie
I let them thaw on the counter, on silpat mats, covered in plastic wrap
Carrie
Soooo I doubled it and froze the second batch. We want them for breakfast in the morning so I just took them out of the freezer now and put them in the fridge to thaw over night. Is this the right way to thaw them for morning? Thank you! Delicious
Ashlee Marie
I thaw them on the counter, not in the fridge
Judy
One of the greatest things I’ve learned about making THE perfect waffles is separating the eggs. Mix the yolks in with the liquids and beat the whites til they’re stiff~think meringue~ and gently fold them into the batter. The meringue makes the waffles light and fluffy, even the next day.
Amber
Hi Ashlee, I’m making your waffles for a bridal brunch on Saturday. I made a test batch tonight, it’s rising for the 4 hours now and in the morning I’ll test them out on my fam 😀 Is the dough supposed to be smooth before the 4 hr rise? It seems that after I mixed in the rest of the flour, br sugar and honey it was pretty clumpy. The butter helped a bit but it’s still bumpy. I used my kitchen aid and used both my hook and paddle (trying to help smooth it). Thanks for your help!
Ashlee Marie
yes it should be smooth
Nouf
Hi Ashlee,
Many thanks for this recipe, I made the waffle yesterday but when I left them to rise for 90 minutes, they became very puffy and huge (did not look like your dough) also it had a strong yeast flavour which I didn’t like. Do you have any tips on how to make it better? Thanks.
Ashlee Marie
you can cook them as soon as they get puffy, you don’t have to let them get huge. The overnight time is what’s giving the yeast flavor time to develop – so you can cut down on fridge time and see if you like the flavor better
silvia
Dear all,
Could you please tell me which is the best belgian (or liege) waffle maker? One that I can use for all types of waffles, please.
I would like to begin with waffles recipes and I would really like to buy a good one that lasts long time.
Also, Thanks for your recipe in here! Please, if there are other recipes for a waffle maker beginner like me, kindly email me please 🙂
Thanks!
Sílvia from Barcelona.
Ashlee Marie
since your not living in America it’s hard to recommend one as you’ll need one that’s made for the plugs and power in Spain. look for one that lets you control the temperature.
Chelsea Howard
I would LOVE a video. Also, if my dough forms a ball before the 4 minute mark, should I continue with the prescribed time? ALSO! I used the paddle attachment for the first 5 steps; should I use the dough hook from the beginning? Sorry if these are super basic questions!!
Ashlee Marie
the longer you knead the smoother the dough will get, I just use a dough hook the whole time so I don’t get anything else dirty
Sam
Hi Ashlee! When you freeze the dough balls, how much time do you leave for them to rise while thawing? Do you thaw them in the fridge or at room temp?
Ashlee Marie
I freeze them right away – they’ll rise while they thaw!
Joan
Am making these right now. I see in the US version it says 4 cups of bread flour but in the metric version it says 625 grams. King Arthur bread flour is 120 grams per cup, so 4 cups would be 480 grams, not 625 grams… so I’m not sure which way to go, as I usually measure by weight. That’s a big difference. I’m going to cross my fingers and go with 480 grams but would love if you could clarify.
Ashlee Marie
the metric conversion on my site is just computerized – I didn’t create it, it’s an automated service. i’d add the flour until the texture is right
Ginger Adrian
thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU, for sharing your liege waffle recipe!!! Had my 1st liege waffle in Brugge this summer and then searched the internet so that I could replicate them at home. Your recipe is da bomb! Since I’m not exactly Suzy Homemaker, I really appreciated your video. It helped me get it right the very first time. They’re our new “feel good” food. Thanks again for sharing.
Marilene Buenaventura - Marilene Buenaventura
I super admire and love your recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Ashlee Marie
thank you so much!
Myriam
Hi!!! I love this recipe, and I want to double it so I can make more waffles in one batch. It’s for a special occasion for the anniversary of my nephew’s coffee shop. I have a big mixer, the commercial 8qt. Kitchenaid, so I’m sure there’s plenty of space for the dough. Do you have any recommendations?