Liege Waffles

Oh man - if you ever make Waffles, or even if you never have (borrow or buy a waffle maker NOW!)....  forget about the recipe you have. Just toss it out the window, throw it on the floor, rip it up, stomp on it. Even if it's your great-grandmothers famous secret recipe, there's no way it's as good as these waffles!!!

I was watching a countdown of America's best Food Trucks the other day, and they featured a Belgian Waffle truck - Wafles & Dinges. Now this guy is from Belgium. And he says there's not really such a thing as Belgian waffles, because there are two different kinds. One is from Brussels, and it has beaten egg whites so it's light and fluffy. The other is from Liege, and this one is made with a TON of yeast and a special kind of large grain sugar, so it's crispy and chewy. SAY NO MORE. My goodness.

I used the Liege recipe from this blog with a couple modifications. I didn't even know where to start looking for the special sugar, so I subbed in normal sugar and used a little less - about 1/2 cup. I wasn't going to have time to make the whole recipe in the morning, so the night before I made the sponge part and put it right in the fridge. It rose just fine! My dough was more on the sticky/runny side so I just used an ice cream scoop to transfer it to the grill and they were the perfect size!

These waffles freeze very well - just reheat them in a toaster or toaster oven and you're good to go. They also really love fruit and whipped cream. :) I will try the Brussels waffles soon, but I have my doubts. The yeasty taste of these waffles is so unique, I think this will be my recipe from now on.

Go make waffles!

The first half of the recipe is for the "sponge", or the yeast mixture.

Later on you add the "batter" which is pretty much like a cookie dough - butter, sugar, flour etc.

I borrowed my mom's ancient waffle-maker. It's probably about 25 years old!

I topped mine with Strawberry Preserves, Peaches, Whipped Cream, and ground Almonds for some extra crunchy texture.