Gaufres de Liège or Belgian Liège Waffles

Ok so first things first. This isn’t a french recipe, its Belgian and comes from the Belgian town of Liège. Anyone who has visited Belgium will know that it’s not just famous for its beer and “moules-frites” (mussels and chips) but also for its unbelievably delicious waffles or gaufres !

The main difference between these gaufres and regular waffles is that they are made with a yeast raised dough, not a batter, so rather tan being light and spongy they are dense and rich.

I had been meaning to make these for ages and then finally got around to it today. Funnily enough the Tour de France is going to Liege today so it seems kind of fitting 🙂

Ingredients :

20cl lukewarm milk
1 sachet of active dry yeast
2 large eggs
500g plain flour
70g brown sugar
A good pinch of salt
1 sachet of vanilla sugar (11g)
300g of butter at room temperature
150g pearl sugar

Method :

In a bowl mix the milk with the dry yeast using a whisk
Add in the flour, followed by the eggs, the brown sugar, the salt and the vanilla sugar
Mix it all roughly together with the whisk
Then either use a mixer with a dough hook or your hands and mix well
Chop the softened butter into cubes and add to the dough
Again mix either with the mixer or your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic
Cover the bowl with plastic film and leave the dough aside for at least 30 minutes
Mix in the pearl sugar
Form balls of dough
Heat your waffle iron and use as per instructions – placing a small round ball of dough in the centre of the waffle plate
Cook for 3 minutes approx but keep an eye on them as they can cook a lot quicker!