Beer Infused Belgian Waffles Food

A SUPER LEKKER, AUTHENTIC (TRADITIONAL) BELGIAN WAFFLE RECIPE AND A DAY TRIP TO BRUGES!

Steps:

• Place 300 grams flour plus the 80 grams of regular sugar in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
• Warm the water until it is lukewarm (not at all hot) then add the yeast (do not add the yeast when the water is too hot or it will kill it and the recipe will be ruined) and whisk until it has melted.
• Add the eggs and 15 g of butter to the flour and sugar mixture in the mixing bowl, then pour in the water and yeast mixture, whisking to combine all the ingredients.
• Continue stirring until a sticky dough is formed.
• Then add the 200 grams of flour to the top, along with the 175 grams of butter pieces. Cover (without mixing anything) and allow to rest for 20 to 25 minutes.
• With your hands, incorporate the butter and flour into the sticky dough until all the ingredients are well combined and the dough is no longer sticky (only add a little more flour if necessary).
• Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press into a 12" x 12" square shape, then sprinkle with the Belgian Pearl sugar (*the original recipe lists 300 grams of sugar, but I found this to be much too much-add more or less to your liking).
• Note: this is less than half of the sugar in the original recipe.
• Now roll the dough from one end to the other, to form a large sausage shape.
• Cut into 100 gram pieces and form into ball shapes and set aside to rest for 15 minutes, covered with a slightly damp kitchen cloth.
• NOTE: You can cook them in the waffle iron now, however, I discovered that keeping the dough pieces in the fridge overnight, then bringing them to room temperature and then cooking them worked marvelously!
• Heat the waffle iron. This is the tricky part as all irons are different. I have a Waring Pro, now discontinued, and heated mine to the number 2 setting. The goal is to cook the waffle without making it too dry and overcooked, but caramelizing the sugar pieces at the same time. Play with the settings until you reach a result that you like. This is how the sugar looks once it's caramelized.
• Place a ball of dough in the middle of the iron and cook it until it's golden brown (I cooked mine at the number 2 setting for 4 minutes) and the sugar has caramelized. Don't worry if it doesn't look pretty.
• Carefully remove the waffle as the caramelized sugar will definitely give you a nasty burn (I used a small flat wooden utensil, but wooden tongs would also work).
• Serve as is, with a dusting of powdered sugar or melted chocolate (traditional serving ideas). These can be eaten the next day; just warm them a little first, or even put them in the toaster.

BEER-INFUSED BELGIAN WAFFLES

Steps:

• Whisk together dry ingredients, except pearl sugar.
• Whisk together wet ingredients.
• Combine wet and dry ingredients.
• Pour batter into waffle iron, one at a time, then quickly sprinkle a handful of pearl sugar over the top before closing the top. This will evenly caramelize the sugar throughout the waffle.
• These will cook sooner than the ordinary waffle because of the pearl sugar. Watch them closely and don't let the iron automatically tell you when they're done. This will result in over-caramelized (possibly burnt) sugar and an astringent aftertaste.

THE BEST BELGIAN WAFFLES

Steps:

• Oil the waffle maker.
• Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
• In separate bowl, separate egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolks, milk, oil , and vanilla, stir slightly.
• Add to dry ingredients and mix well.
• Fold in egg whites.
• Cook in waffle iron on medium-high heat for around 5-10 minutes.

BEER BATTER WAFFLES

Steps:

• Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. Combine flour, beer, butter, milk, egg yolks, honey, and vanilla in a large bowl; stir until the mixture is smooth. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter.
• Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Ladle the batter into waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Serve immediately.