Belgian Style Yeast Waffles From Kaf Food

YEAST WAFFLES

Steps:

• Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine milk, yeast mixture, butter, salt, sugar and flour. Mix thoroughly with rotary or electric mixer until batter is smooth. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.
• The next morning, stir beaten eggs and baking soda into the batter; beat well.
• Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown.

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.

YEAST WAFFLES

Steps:

• Heat butter and milk together in a small pan until butter is melted (about 3 to 5 minutes).
• Cool milk mixture until it is warm to the touch.
• In a separate bowl, whisk flour, sugar, salt and yeast together.
• Gradually add warm milk mixture to flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
• In a separate small bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla; then add to the butter/flour mix.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
• When you are ready to make the waffles, preheat the waffle iron.
• Once the iron is hot, remove the waffle mix from the fridge (batter will be doubled in size and foamy).
• Whisk batter until smooth- it will deflate.
• Spoon 1/2 cup onto hot waffle iron and cook until waffles are crisp.
• Serve immediately or keep warm in a low temperature oven.

OVERNIGHT YEAST WAFFLES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the milk, butter and eggs; mix well. Combine flour and salt; stir into milk mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight. , Stir batter; add baking soda and stir well. Bake waffles in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions until golden brown.

BELGIAN WAFFLES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the warm milk and the melted butter. Stir in the yeast mixture, sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in the remaining 2 1/2 cups milk alternately with the flour, ending with the flour. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks; fold into the batter. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the waffle iron. Brush with oil and spoon about 1/2 cup (or as recommended by manufacturer) onto center of iron. Close the lid and bake until it stops steaming and the waffle is golden brown. Serve immediately or keep warm in 200 degree oven.

BELGIAN-STYLE YEAST WAFFLES

Steps:

• Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, leaving room for expansion; the mixture will bubble and grow.
• Stir to combine; it's fine if the mixture isn't perfectly smooth.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour; the mixture will begin to bubble. You can cook the waffles at this point or refrigerate the batter overnight to cook waffles the next day.
• Preheat your waffle iron. Spray with nonstick vegetable oil spray, and pour ⅔ to ¾ cup batter (or the amount recommended by the manufacturer) onto the center of the iron. Close the lid and bake for the recommended amount of time, until the waffle is golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes on a standard 7" Belgian-style (deep-pocket) waffle iron.
• Serve immediately.

OVERNIGHT BELGIAN-STYLE YEAST WAFFLES

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
• Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for one hour.
• Now refrigerate the batter overnight to let the flavors develop.
• Preheat the waffle maker and coat with baking spray. Use a 2/3 measuring cup to scoop batter onto the waffle maker. Cook per the manufacturer's instructions.

BELGIAN-STYLE YEAST WAFFLES FROM KAF

Steps:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl, leaving room for expansion; the mixture will bubble and grow.
• Stir to combine; it's OK if the mixture isn't perfectly smooth.
• Cover with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour; the mixture will begin to bubble. You can cook the waffles at this point, or refrigerate the batter overnight to cook waffles the next day.
• Preheat your waffle iron. Spray with non-stick vegetable oil spray, and pour 2/3 to 3/4 cup batter (or the amount recommended by the manufacturer) onto the center of the iron. Close the lid and bake for the recommended amount of time, until the waffle is golden brown. It takes us 5 to 6 minutes, using our 7" Belgian-style (deep-pocket) waffle iron.
• Serve immediately, or keep warm in a 200°F oven. Serve with berries and whipped cream, if desired.

AUTHENTIC BELGIAN LIèGE WAFFLES

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the milk, water, and yeast *.If using Active Dry Yeast, gently mix with a spatula and set aside to bloom the yeast for ~5-10 minutes. Once bloomed, add in the granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix just until combined and continue to step 2.If using Instant Yeast, add the milk, water, yeast, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix just until combined and continue to step 2.
• Stop the mixer and add in the eggs, honey, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add in 2 cups of flour and mix until the flour is hydrated and mostly mixed in. Stop the mixer, scrape down the paddle attachment, and switch to the dough hook.
• Add in the salt and 1/2 cup of flour at a time with the mixer on low until all of the flour is combined. You may not need all of the flour depending on how humid your space is. The flour dough should start to pull away slightly. Next, add in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Be patient here as the butter will take a few minutes to incorporate itself into the dough. The dough will come back together. Remove the dough ball from the bowl and transfer it to a larger clean bowl lightly greased. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter in a warm, dry place until doubled in size (1-3 hours).
• When doubled, deflate the dough by punching it down in the center and bringing the edges of the dough over the top (like you're folding it into itself). Replace the cover and put the bowl of dough in the fridge to allow it to ferment overnight.*Note you can skip the overnight fridge resting if you are short on time. Move to step 6 to continue. The cold ferment just helps develop more flavors in the waffle.
• If you cold fermented the dough, the next day, remove the dough from the fridge and allow the dough to come to room temp (about 2 hours).
• Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured board. Flatten the dough out into a rectangle and spread out 1 1/2 cups of pearl sugar. Fold the bottom third up and then the top third on top of that. Press down and add the rest of the pearl sugar. Fold the sides up to form a rectangle. Slowly cup the dough and roll it out into a log about 12-14" long Divide the dough into 12 pieces, shape into balls, flatten slightly into round discs, and place on a parchment-lined pan. Cover with lightly sprayed plastic wrap.
• Heat up your Belgian waffle maker. Since all makers are different, you'll have to fiddle around with yours. I would advise starting off on low and increase the temperature a little at a time until you find the correct setting that will caramelize your sugars and cook your waffles to the perfect golden caramel brown. Spray the iron with non-stick spray and place a round of dough in the center of your waffle maker. Close and cook until the waffle puffs up, cooked through and the sugar pearls are caramelized. Carefully remove from the maker, and serve immediately or place it on a cooling rack.

LIEGE STYLE BELGIAN WAFFLE

Steps:

• To make the sponge, place the bowl of an electric mixer onto a scale. Tare or zero out the scale and add the whole milk, preferably warmed to 110°F | 43°C, then zero out the scale again. Next add the Greek-style yogurt, again tare the scale. Add egg, coconut sugar, dried yeast, sourdough starter (if using, if not see below in the Recipe Variations), all-purpose flour, and einkorn flour (or substitute all-purpose flour). Fit the electric mixer with a paddle attachment and on low speed, mix all the ingredients together until a wet dough is formed. Mix on low for about 5 minutes, then turn off the mixer and let the sponge sit for 30 minutes.
• After the sponge has set, turn on the mixer to medium speed for a minute. This will create more gluten, stretching the flour's starches.
• Add the eggs, salt, coconut sugar, sugar, malted milk powder, and all-purpose flour. Replace the paddle attachment for a dough hook, and on low speed, mix the dough ingredients together for about 5 minutes. The dough should form into a ball, be pulling away from the sides of the bowl, while still being sticky. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
• Have the butter near the mixer, cut into one tablespoon-size piece (8 tablespoons per 4 ounces of butter per 1 stick making a total of 16 tablespoons for both sticks). Turn the mixer on medium speed, then, with the motor running, toss a tablespoon of room temperature butter into the center of the dough, near the hook. Let the butter fully incorporate before adding the next tablespoon. Continue until all the butter is emulsified into the dough. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
• Turn the mixer on medium speed for about 5 minutes, then transfer the dough to a scale. Weigh the dough. It should weigh about 1220 grams. Divide the dough into 152-gram pieces, making 8 total. Knead each dough into a ball, repeat.
• Place each dough ball into a zip-top sandwich bag, seal, then place it into the coldest part of your refrigerator. Check the time and wait for 24 - 106 hours before continuing with the recipe.
• For best results, remove as many portions of waffle dough as you are going to cook. Let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before cooking, allowing the dough to warm, waking up fermentation.
• Plugin your Belgian Waffle Iron and set the heat level to the lowest setting. Preheat the waffle iron for a good 10 minutes before cooking a waffle. Make sure the grids are clean and spray the iron with a non-stick spray before adding continuing. As the waffle dough is thicker than a pour in batter, the dough takes longer to cook. This takes more time at a lower temperature, ensuring a full bake, while not burning or over-browning of the waffle exterior.
• Take the waffle dough out of the bag. Set up on top of the plastic bag. Using your fingers, spread the soft dough out into a rectangle | oval shape. Make sure the dough is an even thickness.
• Next, add the Belgian Pearl Sugar, I usually use about 5 grams per waffle. It's up to you, how sweet you want your waffle.
• Fold over one side of the dough, onto itself.
• Fold the opposite side onto itself.
• Then fold over the two opposite sides to make an envelope, holding the Belgian Pearl Sugar in the center. This will help prevent the sugar from burning into the cracks | edges of the waffle iron, as the waffle cooks.
• Center the dough onto one side of the waffle maker. Depending on your model, cook one or two at a time. Close the lid and press the two irons together, until you hear the iron touch the Pearl Sugar.
• Cook the waffle for about 4 - 5 minutes. The outside of the waffle should turn a beautiful golden hue, with the whole kitchen smelling amazing.
• Transfer the finished Liege Style Belgian Waffle to a plate and serve. Toppings are personal, but I would suggest having the first waffle plain or with butter... To truly experience this waffle.
• If you are making several waffles, to feed friends | family, have your oven preheated to 200°F | 93°C and place the finished waffle directly onto the oven racks, to prevent them from getting soggy and staying crisp.
• These waffles can also be par-cooked about 90% of the way through, then cooled on racks, wrapped | bagged and frozen for a later date to be consumed. Like the "Eg-O", pop the frozen, unwrapped waffle into a hot waffle iron to cook for about 3 minutes, heating it through and finishing that last 10% cooking. This results in a super quick breakfast treat!