Liege Waffles
- 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) nonfat milk
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) brown sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (7 grams) active dry yeast
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) vanilla extract
- 3 23 cups (460 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) coarse or kosher salt
- 7 tablespoons (100 grams) butter, softened
- 1 cup pearl sugar, or make your own (see note)
- Combine the milk and 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water in a small saucepan and heat until lukewarm, 110 to 116 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
- Transfer milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add brown sugar and yeast and stir to combine; set aside 5 minutes.
- (The yeast should look foamy.
- If it doesnt foam, discard and try again with different yeast.)
- Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
- Using the dough hook attachment on your mixer, stir in all but 1 cup of the flour.
- Mix in salt.
- Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition and scraping down the bowl before adding the next.
- Add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix on low speed, stopping once or twice to pull the dough off the hook, about 5 minutes, or until the dough is glossy, pulls away from the side of the bowl and has gathered in a ball on the hook.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 2 hours.
- The dough will double in size.
- Stir the puffed dough with a spoon to deflate, then re-cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Knead in the pearl sugar (or your homemade version) a little at a time.
- The dough will be stiff but will become more pliable as it warms.
- Cut dough into 16 equal pieces with a bench scraper or chefs knife and return to the refrigerator.
- Heat your waffle iron according to the manufacturers instructions.
- Working with 1 or 2 balls of dough at a time (leave the rest in the refrigerator), arrange on the waffle iron and cook until golden brown all over, 2 to 5 minutes depending on your iron.
- Use tongs to transfer waffles to a baking sheet or cooling rack.
- Some of the sugar will melt out of the waffles and collect in your iron, adding an extra layer of glossy molten sugar to each waffle as you continue.
- Serve waffles warm.
nonfat milk, brown sugar, active dry yeast, eggs, milliliters, flour, coarse, butter, pearl sugar
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017664 (may not work)