Copycat Waffle Love Liege Waffle Recipe [+ Video]

This copycat Waffle Love liege waffle recipe is the closest we’ve found to our favorite food truck waffles here in Utah using a liege waffle. 

Remember when food trucks started popping up and became all the rage a few years back? The Waffle Love food truck was one of the original food trucks to go crazy here in Utah. They always had a line for days no matter where they were. In fact, they have now opened over a dozen brick and mortar locations in Utah, Idaho and California and their food truck is still going strong!

Waffle Love quickly became the go to family treat truck, date night truck, girls night out truck, and “I’ve got a hankering for something sweet” truck. The waffles are amazing and the little sugary bits really add something to the waffles, but you can’t forget about their awesome toppings which revolve around one of our household favorites, Biscoff. Stinking Biscoff. That stuff rocks our world.

I immediately started working on a copycat recipe so that we could make these irresistible waffles at home. After I figured out the perfect recipe, I posted it and it went crazy! So crazy that the aforementioned company contacted me and asked me to pull my recipe down because it was so close to theirs. Haha…nope! That, my friends, is when you’ve NAILED a copycat recipe! The people need to be able to make these at home, and so you shall!!

While we still love our bacon apple cider waffles, this copycat waffle love recipe is seriously fantastic, and it would be the perfect way to enjoy Christmas morning.

What is a Liège Waffle?

Liège waffles (pronounced “leej”) are a Belgian style waffle made from a yeast dough rather than traditional waffle batter. They are a little sweeter and different in texture once they are cooked.

Liège waffles are different than your normal run-of-the-mill waffle. In fact you really should forget about the taste and texture of the normal breakfast waffle because this one is seriously a totally different taste, but delicious like you wouldn’t believe.

What Ingredients are Needed for Waffle Love Waffles?

I’m including the ingredients to make delicious Waffle Love whipped cream which includes mascarpone. It is optional, but I highly recommend it! Here are the ingredients that you will need to make this liege waffle recipe:

For the Waffles

• Whole Milk: scalded, see section below for how to scald milk
• Water: helps activate the yeast
• Sugar: used to both feed the yeast as it activates and to sweeten the liege waffle dough
• Instant Yeast: we prefer instant yeast rather than active dry yeast
• Eggs: adds structure to the waffles
• Unsalted Butter: the fat needed to make these waffles so rich and fluffy
• Honey: adds a little extra natural sweetness and flavor
• Vanilla: adds flavor
• Bread Flour: the combination of bread flour with all purpose is magic
• Flour: just regular all purpose flour
• Belgian Pearl Sugar: adds texture to the cooked waffles

For the Whipped Cream

• Heavy Whipping Cream: found by the milk and half and half
• Powdered Sugar: for sweetening the whipped cream
• Mascarpone: adds richness and delicious flavor to the whipped cream
• Vanilla Extract: adds flavor

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card down at the end of the post. Keep scrolling down for all the details.

What is Belgian Pearl Sugar?

Belgian pearl sugar is small crunchy clusters of condensed beet sugar used to add pockets of sweetness and texture to liege waffles. There is also Swedish pearl sugar which has smaller clusters or pearls.

Is There a Substitute for Pearl Sugar?

If you can’t find pearl sugar then just omit it. There is no need to add more granulated sugar to the dough.

How to Scald Milk

To scald milk, just place milk in a pan over medium heat, do not bring to a boil, instead let it heat up until foam appears around the sides and a little “skin” appears on top of the milk.

How to Make Liege Waffles at Home

Ok, I’m going to walk you through each step of this recipe since it’s quite different from making traditional waffles. Here is the process:

1. Combine: Add the scalded milk, water, yeast and sugar to a bowl and stir to combine.
2. Proof: Allow the yeast to proof.
   • Proofing yeast is really just a fancy term for letting the yeast grow and get all poofy. You do have to be careful because too hot or too cold of liquid can kill the yeast so make sure you get warm water.
3. Cream: Beat the butter and remaining sugar together until creamy and fluffy in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Then add the eggs, honey and vanilla and stir to combine. Finally, add in the yeast mixture and mix thoroughly.
4. Rise: Change to the dough hook attachment and add the bread flour to the wet ingredients. Mix the dough until the flour is thoroughly incorporated. Add the remaining flour, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for up to 4 hours on the counter or in a warm place. 
   • PRO TIP: At this point, you could let the dough rest in the fridge overnight. You can let the dough rest for up to 24 hours covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. The dough will need to sit on the counter and come back to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.
5. Knead: Once the dough has risen, punch it down and knead in the pearl sugar.
   • Now this part is especially important, and you must buy a special ingredient because normal sugar just won’t work. You’ll want to buy Belgian Pearl (there’s Swedish too, but it’s smaller than the Belgian sugar) Sugar which you can find at specialty or natural food stores. In Utah we buy our sugar at Orson Gygi. You can totally buy online too.
6. Separate: Divide the dough into 7-8 balls and preheat your waffle iron. I know it’s a little odd to put a clump of dough as opposed to a runny batter in your waffle maker, but it will spread out a little when you close the lid.
7. Cook: Once the waffle iron is hot, spray it with cooking spray or melted butter and place one dough ball on and cook it. Cook until it is golden brown. Repeat with all the remaining dough balls.
   • We use a Cuisinart waffle maker and we cook our Liege waffles a little longer than a normal waffle on a slightly lower temperature so as to not burn the sugar, but you will have to just try out your waffle maker and experiment with how long to cook it. The sugar will kind of melt into the waffle and crystalize like little sugary nuggets of goodness. It’s awesome.
8. Toppings: Serve the waffles with your favorite waffle toppings (see section below)!

I can’t wait to hear how your first attempt at making homemade liege waffles goes! For those of you who have tried Waffle Love, we would love to hear how you think this recipe compares!!

Watch How This Waffle Love Recipe is Made…

Toppings for Liege Waffles

We think that spreads compliment the waffle much better than a syrup because of how dense the yeasted waffle is. A nice layer of spread that gets all melty on the how waffle, topped with some sort of fresh fruit and a dollop of whipped cream or crème fraîche is the perfect combination. Here are some ideas:

• Spreads: Nutella, Biscoff cookie butter, peanut butter,
• Fruit: strawberries, raspberries, bananas, blueberries, blackberries
• Whipped Cream (recipe for our mascarpone whipped cream included in the recipe card below!) or Yogurt
• Hot Fudge
• Powdered Sugar

And of course, going with syrup definitely wouldn’t hurt anything! Our buttermilk syrup is the syrup of the gods and traditional maple syrup tastes delicious on Belgian waffles as well. If you don’t try it on these liege waffles, definitely pour it all over our melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk pancakes.

Is Waffle and Pancake Batter the Same Thing?

The only difference is the fat content. Waffle recipes usually contain a bit more butter or oil than pancakes – that’s what gives you the slightly airier, fluffy yet crisp waffle texture.

Can Waffle Batter be Kept Overnight?

Pancake and waffle batters made with baking powder can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator overnight.

Since the baking powder may lose some of its potency overnight, add a little extra.

Are Liege Waffles a Dessert?

You might be asking yourself if these waffles really are a breakfast food or more of a dessert. The answer is yes! They are great for breakfast, brunches with friends, breakfast for dinner or for dessert. And this may sound crazy, but I actually also love to top them with a fried egg over easy and a couple strips of bacon. Sweet and savory is one of my favorite combos!

How to Clean the Waffle Iron

Making liege waffles with pearl sugar can get quite messy with the pearl sugar melting all over the hot waffle iron. I try to wipe it carefully with a paper towel between each waffle and when they are done, I use my silicon tipped tongs and a wet washcloth to wipe it down really well (unplug the waffle iron first!) while it’s still hot.

I’ve heard of people using a wet washcloth and chopsticks to clean them too. You’ll want to try and clean it as best as you can while the waffle iron is still hot and the sugar hasn’t hardened yet.

Storage Tips

Make Ahead: I mentioned above that the waffle dough could be made up to 24 hours ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator covered tightly in plastic wrap until ready to bake. Just make sure that you let the dough come to room temperature before cooking.

Freezing: These waffles freeze extremely well both before and after baking. If you want to freeze the dough, form the dough balls and then wrap them well in plastic wrap and then in a freezer bag. Let them thaw completely and come to room temperature before cooking.

You can also freeze the cooked waffles. Let them cool completely and then wrap them in plastic wrap. Store them in an airtight container or ziploc bag. Both the dough frozen or the waffles frozen will keep for up to 3 months.

Reheating: Reheat leftover waffles in a toaster or in the oven set at 250 degrees until warmed through.

Copycat Waffle Love liege waffles are a yeasted waffle dough recipe that results in waffles that are crispy crunchy, almost caramelized, on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Top your waffle with your favorite waffle toppings and indulge in this one-of-a-kind waffle recipe!

More Sweet Breakfast Options:

• Buttermilk Pancakes
• Apple Pie Slow Cooker Oatmeal
• Dutch Baby Pancakes
• Orange Sweet Rolls
• Classic French Toast
• Waffles
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Blueberry French Toast Bake
• Homemade Yogurt
• Cinnamon Roll Pigs in a Blanket
• Peach Coffee Cake
• Slow Cooker Overnight Steel Cut Oats
• All our BREAKFAST RECIPES!

Apple Bacon Waffles with Cider Syrup

There’s something about hot waffles that gets the whole family up and moving on a Saturday morning and this version adds in the crisp bacon and sweet apple cider syrup. 

The Secret to Making Boxed Waffles Awesome

If you’re in a hurry and need to make waffles from a box just make sure you use Mom’s secret. 

 

The best syrup ever, buttermilk syrup

This is the only syrup we make these days. I know it sounds crazy with that buttermilk in there, but I promise it’s the best ever.