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
Myriam
Hi!! I just left a comment about doubling the recipe, but now that I watched the video (don’t know why I didn’t see it the previous time I visited the website) I realize my dough is much more “wet” than yours. I double checked all the ingredients and they are right. It probably is due to heat and humidity here in Puerto Rico. Should I add more flour?
Ashlee Marie
you can knead longer or add more flour.
Myriam Reus
hi, I watched your video and when your dough comes together at the end, it looks dry and compact. Mine is very sticky and does not ball on the hook at all. I still did the waffles and the result was spectacular, but I’m still wondering what is going on with my dough.
Ashlee Marie
hmm that is weird to me, maybe a little more flour? as long as they turned out okay that’s all that matters!
Lisa Barilleau
We just finished eating waffles for dinner. These were delicious! Excellent recipe! The waffles are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with little bits of sugar here and there. Sweet, light flavor (not at all yeasty). I only made 4 of the 13. The rest are in the freezer for another time. My only issue was towards the end of cooking the last waffle my iron got too hot and the sugar started to burn. Totally my fault. I’ll have to be more careful next time.
Jera McGraw
This recipe and these waffles are my go-to for my mom’s annual birthday brunch with her daughters. We used it for the first time last year and had to have it again this year. I follow the recipe to the “T” and it’s VERY fussy and results in GREAT, AMAZING waffles. Unbelievably great waffles. Do everything Ashley tells you to do and have an amazing experience. We use homemade caramel with bananas or lemon curd and blueberries (both with homemade whipped cream of course). Thanks for a great recipe!
Carrie
Hello. Quick question please .iv made these before already and they where amazing. I wanted to make a big batch and freeze them and then eat them on weekends. Can I take some out and thaw over night and cook in morning or do I need to take them out in the morning and let them ride for the 90 min in the morning? Not sure my family can wait 90 min to rise lol ANY freezing/cook after freezing ideas or pointers you have I’d appreciate greatly, thanks
Ashlee Marie
you can totally freeze the balls, but yes you’ll need the time after you take them out of the freezer for them to thaw – they’ll rise while they thaw, but they need to be room temp before you can cook them!
Anna
Ashlee, bravo! What a great idea! Love this. I’m sure this is incredibly delicious!
Olga
Ashlee Marie, what a gorgeous idea! We absolutely love waffle! Definitely need to try these!
Joy
Wow!! I’ve tried several liege waffle recipes but this one is IT! Exactly like street waffles in Belgium. The flavor is spot on, great texture, 5stars! I did manage this without a stand mixer (amazing right?) but it’s hard and it’s messy – but can be done. The flavor of these waffles is amazing, don’t skip the overnight in the fridge, that’s what gives them depth. And for those unfamiliar with a leige waffle, it’s a yeast dough so expect that flavor! Definitely worth the work. I also manahed these in a standard ceramic waffle maker, just played with the heat dial a bit.
Alina
It looks so yummy! I love the step-by-step instructions, making it an easy recipe to follow!
Mariya
This is really a great recipe. I will make this at the next chance i get.
Kate
Ashlee, this was wonderful! Never knew that those flavors would come out as they did in this beautiful dish! Follow the recipe word for word!!!
Ashlee Marie
so glad you like the recipe
Ellery
Thank you! I made this, it was sooo yummy! Tried this yesterday and it was awesome! Thanks!
Pearl
Hi Ashlee thanks for the recipe!
What’s your take on using large chunks of brushed sugar cubes instead of Pearl sugar
Ashlee Marie
pearl sugar is IMO much better. and totally worth getting
Lotta
These are amazing, I served them at my wedding!! Big success!!
Ashlee Marie
yay! congrats on the wedding!
Phoebe Hall
Just made a double batch of these liege waffles. I followed your recipe exactly except I used a traditional plug in waffle iron. They were EXCELLENT!! Super labor intensive but A+ all the way as far as taste, texture, looks, etc. Yum!! Thank you!!!
Chrissy
My husband and I went to Bruges last year for our anniversary and had the Leige waffles there. We tried to recreate them at home following a different recipe but it wasn’t quite the same. My husband found Ashlee’s and suggested we try them. Definitely a lot of work. In fact, this morning I needed my husband’s help kneading the sugar pearls into the dough because it was so stiff. We were like, “yeah, we won’t be making this recipe again.” Then we cooked them and tried one. And we will DEFINITELY be making these again. They taste just like what we had in Belgium. Worth the extra effort.
Ashlee Marie
glad the were worth it in the end!!
Jennifer
If we’re short on time, will it still turn out good if we do the first rise for 60 min instead of 90 min?
Ashlee Marie
I’d cut the second rise time before I cut the first rise time. So I don’t recommend it, but it would simply make them a little more dense, it won’t make them unedible.
Jennifer
I have a Waring Pro wmk300a. It has temperature control settings from 1-6…but they don’t state what temperature those settings are, and I can’t find it online or in the manual. Are you able to help me with this?
Ashlee Marie
I’m sorry I have no idea – most counter waffle makers are too hot so you could try it at the number one and see how it goes. OR you could use a temperature gun to test how hot the plates get when they are on. One note though – the waffles are VERY messy and when I was looking up your waffle maker a lot of reviews said it’s very hard to clean.
Teresa
These are amazing……I had my very first Belgium Waffle from Findlay Market in Cincinnati last month, and immediately was on a mission to find the recipe…..This led me to you, and also my first purchase of a waffle iron in my 62 years…… Made this last week, and am about to start a double batch to serve my family during the holidays …… Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, and such good directions!!!
Ashlee Marie
YAY! I’m so glad you love them as much as I do, and that you found the recipe and directions helpful. I’m sure your family will love them
Arva
Wow, first of all, I can’t believe how many years back these comments go!! The comments were one of the reasons I tried this recipe. Right now, I’ve got the dough in the fridge for the overnight rest. 🙂 I hope they turn out. I don’t have any kind of mixer except my hands, so I worry I didn’t knead the dough enough. Well, we’ll see tomorrow!!
Thanks!
Ashlee Marie
I hope thy turned out! I’ve never tried to make them without a mixer, but if you have the patience to knead it long enough you can make any dough by hand! way to go!