Liege Waffles

A few months ago, my son in law sent me a post. I can't remember what it was about, but it mentioned liege waffle. (That, I remember.)

After doing some research, I found a recipe that looked good. I bought a bag Swedish pearl sugar, and made a batch. They weren't anything like I  hoped for. The pearl sugar was hard, and crunchy. 

Back to more research. It turns out there are 2 different types of pearl sugar. I needed Belgium pearl sugar. 

Eureka!! That's what I was looking for.

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup warm water

 1 package instant yeast 

2 tablespoon granulated sugar

3 tablespoon brown sugar

2 XL eggs, room temp and lightly beaten

2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 

6 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon salt

Start by mixing the yeast, sugar and warm water in the bowl of your stand mixer. Allow to rest a few minutes making sure the yeast is active. It should be foamy. Add the other ingredients and mix with a dough hook for about 5 minutes. Dough should be smooth and slightly sticky. 

Transfer the dough to a lighty buttered bowl. Cover and allow to double in size. Punch down and refrigerate over night.  

 

 In the morning, take out you dough and allow to warm slightly. Preheat your waffle iron. In a bowl add a small amount of pearl sugar. Divide the dough into 12 equal size balls. Roll a ball of dough in the sugar coating the outside. I should point out that I use a lot less sugar then most recipes you find on line. I use just enough to carmelize the top and bottom of the waffles. I find they are plenty sweet and use about 1/3 of the sugar this way.

When the waffle iron is hot, place a dough ball in the center and bake as you would a regular waffle. Use tongs to remove the cooked waffle from the iron. Remember, they are now covered in hot carmelized sugar and can cause burns if not careful.

Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!