Overnight Belgian Waffles: Worth it!

According to Pinterest, I pinned this Belgian waffle recipe 27 weeks ago. I'm not sure what took me so long to finally make them, but it could have something to do with the 18-hour cook time!

Belgian Waffle [source]

Ok, most of that is not hands-on cooking time, but still, it's a long time to wait for waffles. You know what though? They were totally worth it! Do yourself a favor--find some Belgian pearl sugar and make these waffles.

Recipe, slightly adapted from here.

Overnight Belgian Waffles

makes 10 waffles

Ingredients

• 3 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup whole milk at 110-115 degrees
• 1/4 cup + 2 tsp of water at 110-115 degrees [I added milk and water together and microwaved for 20 seconds]
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 large room temperature egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp + 2 tsp light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 1/2 ounces soft room temperature unsalted butter [don't think too much about this or you'll never make these!]
• 2 tbsp honey
• 4 tsp vanilla
• Several handfuls of Belgian Pearl Sugar [I used Parelkorrel]

Directions
1. After warming milk and water, pour into the bowl of a standmixer and add yeast. Stir for a few seconds to moisten yeast.

2. Add eggs and 1/3 of the total flour. Mix to blend. Scrape down sides of bowl.

3. Sprinkle remaining flour over the mixture, but do not stir it in. Cover and let stand 75-90 minutes (at the end of that time, you’ll notice the batter bubbling up through the cover of flour.)

4. Add brown sugar and salt to the dough. Mix on low speed – just to blend.

5. With machine on low, add honey and vanilla. Then add 2 tbsp of butter at a time. Mix 4 minutes at medium-low speed; scrape down sides once or twice in that period. Let the dough rest for 1 minute and then continue to mix for 2 minutes. Let the dough rest for 1 more minute and mix for another 2 minutes. Dough should start balling up around the paddle.

6. Scrape the dough into a large bowl, sprinkle lightly with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 4 hours.

7. REFRIGERATE FOR 30 MINUTES BEFORE PROCEEDING TO STEP #8.

8. Gently deflate the dough and add several handfuls of pearl sugar. Add a bit more than you think is necessary :) [I didn't add pearl sugar until the next day, per the original instructions. After a bit of experimenting, I discovered adding the sugar earlier helps it dissolve better.]

9. Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, and then use the spatula to press the dough into a long rectangle. Fold that rectangle over on itself (by thirds – like a letter). Wrap it in plastic, weigh it down a bit (I put two dinner plates on top of it) and refrigerate overnight.

10. When you are ready to cook your waffles, take the dough out of the fridge and separate in to 10 chunks. Cover loosely in plastic wrap and leave for 90 minutes.

11. Cook each waffle for around 5 minutes, or until dark and caramelized.

Step 3: It looks wrong, but it's right

Step 3 after 90 minutes

Step 6

Step 9 [add pearl sugar first though]

Step 9

Step 9--in the fridge overnight

Step 10

Look at that gorgeous caramelization. It tastes crunchy and sweet and is a little bit sticky--just how I remember them from Belgium!