Waffles, Waffles, Waffles…Liege Belgian
Some of you remember Sherrie and I served on a mission’s trip to Belgium. It was really fun and exciting to see how The Lord was working in Europe at that time. We really enjoyed making new friends and helping the church to evangelize in the village of Huy. But of course, we were excited about going to Europe and experiencing the culture as well. If you haven’t read our raincoat adventure while in Huy, “Belgian Blessings: When it Rains, it Pours” don’t forget to check that out real soon. I’m grinning and snickering just thinking about it.
Great for the Holidays
Ok, with the Easter holiday approaching we thought we would give you a great idea for breakfast/brunch. These waffles are great because you really can just pick them up and eat them with no butter or syrup necessary, YES they are that good.
But who could go to Belgium and not try a famous “Belgium waffle”?
Did You Know?
Forgive me, but first I have to interject a little trivia. Did you know that “french” fries were not invented in France? We discovered this one night, when an older lady in the church invited all the missionaries to diner. She made homemade “frites” or as we call them french fries and they may have been the best I have ever tried. Just as you would suspect golden and crispy on the outside while soft and perfectly done on the inside. While remarkably at the same time, being homemade. I wish I would have talked to her about how she made them, but there was a little bit of a language barrier, I don’t speak French.
Off to Brussels
Anyway, back to the waffles. I remember we were probably a good 2 weeks into the trip and we had not gotten the opportunity to eat a waffle from Beligium. One day the pastor took all of us on an excursion to the capital city of Belgium, which is of course, is Brussels. So we thought if you are going to try Belgium waffles, the capital city would be a great place to find one.
As we were walking around and admiring all the historic architecture, we happened on to a little waffle shop. Here we go, the line was pretty long, but we thought that was a good sign of a great waffle. We wait and wait watching all the great smelling waffles being handed out to the patrons in front of us. Then finally, it is our turn… to be honest I can’t even remember what it tasted like. I just remember thinking, this is ok, but nothing special. What is all the excitement about? Quite frankly, we were disappointed and I thought this is no different than a USA waffle! Looking back we should have asked the lady who made the frites how they make great waffles.
Who would have known?
Now fast forward several years, maybe a decade later. We were watching a show on the Food Network with Guy Fieri. He was visiting a business somewhere, not even sure where, making Belgium waffles and talking about them being so good you don’t even need syrup on these things!! Well, we wanted to know more. How can Guy find better Belgium waffles in the US than we could find in Brussels Belgium?! So needless to say we were intrigued enough to watch and see how it compared to our experience.
Right away, the first major difference was a little fact that Guy said these are Liege waffles.
Liege Belgium
Liege is a town on the east side of Belgium, close to the Netherlands and Germany. We spent an afternoon in Liege and what I remember most about Liege is the 360 steps. Most say it is a challenge to climb all at once, well we needed to take the challenge. They were architecturally charming and once at the top, the view of the city was spectacular. It was a challenge to do all 360, and while climbing I was distracted by all the houses and apartments along the way!! I couldn’t stop wondering about carrying groceries and luggage up to your apartment. I hope for their sake there were other entrances.
Pearl Sugar…sounds wonderful!
Anyway, back to Guy’s liege waffles. The batter is a little different than you would expect, it won’t be a liquid consistency but more of a dough. The reason you don’t need syrup is because you’ll add sugar pearls. Let’s just stop there, think of the name, doesn’t just that ingredient entice you?! You can find them at Amazon, Wal-Mart and/or specialty food stores. Make sure you purchase the ones for waffles, they also make a decorative one as well (which you don’t want). They add quite a surprise to the bite. You’ll find these waffles crunch on the outside while the inside is moist and tender, not unlike the “frites”.
Well, I will delay no longer, this is the recipe we use. We always make a double portion so we can have plenty to freeze!
Keep Exploring & Cooking!
Notes
*Using oat flour makes them slightly sweeter and healthier. However, if you don’t have oat flour on hand, you can substitute with any regular flour.
If your gridles are removable, soak them in warm water for easier clean-up. If they are not removable, while gridle is still hot take a wet paper towel and tongs to wipe up stuck sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons white sugar
- 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup melted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup oat flour*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups of pearl sugar
Instructions
- Add yeast and white sugar to a bowl, then add warm milk. Let stand for 15 minutes until the yeast forms a creamy foam.
- Whisk the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract into the yeast mixture until blended; set aside.
- Stir together the flour and salt in a seperate large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour the egg mixture into the well then stir the flour mixture until a soft dough forms. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
- Gently mix in the pearl sugar.
- Preheat a waffle iron according to unit instructions.
- Place a fist-size ball of dough on the preheated waffle iron.
- Cook waffles until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes.
- Repeat with remaining dough. Allow waffles to cool slightly before serving.
- CAUTION PEARL SUGAR IS HOT!
