Whole Grain Liege Waffles

Three cheers for whole grains!

Posted by Caroline E.

About

It may surprise you, but when I think of the holidays, I think of Christmas breakfast first. Maybe because it’s the one meal of the day you can get away with a sweet treat for breakfast or maybe because it’ll help you start your day off right. Either way, Christmas morning with my family starts early, setting you up for a long day of family, fun, and eating!

Our holiday breakfast is typically comprised of breakfast casserole, monkey bread, and ambrosia. But, how fun would it be to change things up a bit and serve a whole grain version of Belgium’s famous liege waffles? Being as they are absolutely incredible and basically have the syrup built in the waffle (thank you pearl sugar!), they are perfect for eating on the go! Simply wrap them up in some parchment paper and you’ve got a delightfully sweet and holiday whole grain breakfast at your finger tips (pun intended)!

The beautiful thing about these waffles is the pearl sugar. You can usually find Belgian pearl sugar at natural food stores, specialty stores like World Market, or online at Amazon. The sugar throughout the yeasted dough caramelizes into these scrumptious pockets of sweet throughout the warm waffle.

Despite the waffles being made with whole wheat flour, they have a lovely soft, crunchy, chewy, and doughy texture. All perfect waffle types rolled into one!

Three cheers for whole grains!

Oh, and you’ll want to take deep breaths while you make these waffles. The scent is heavenly! There should definitely be a ‘whole grain liege waffle’ candle scent. Just saying.

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You Will Need (11 things)

  • 3 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup Unsalted Butter , melted
  • 3 Egg(s)
  • 1 cup Bread Flour
  • 1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 cup Water , lukewarm
  • 1 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
  • Belgian Pearl Sugar

Steps (3 steps, 240 minutes)

  1. 1

    Mix the yeast, sugar, and water together. Let sit for 15 minutes to proof. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the salt and flours together. Pour the proofed yeast into the center of your stand mixer and mix on medium speed until combined. Add in the eggs, one at a time until combined. Slowly add in the butter until incorporated. Add in the vanilla and cinnamon until combined. At this point the dough is very wet and that’s how it should be. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size (about 1.5-2 hours) in a warm, draft free place.

  2. 2

    Gently fold in the pearl sugar. Cover and let rest for another 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat up your belgian waffle iron.

  3. 3

    Scoop a 2″ ball into the center of your waffle iron. With the waffle iron on the 3-4 level setting on your waffle maker (which took my waffles 2 minutes to cook), allow the waffles to cook until they are golden brown. Allow the waffles to cool for about 1 minute before serving warm!