Belgian liege waffles (Belgische Luikse Wafels).

• 4 g dry yeast
• 60 ml scalded whole milk 110°F to 115°F (43°C to 46°C)
• 40 ml warm water 110°F to 115°F (43°C to 46°C)
• 255 g bread flour plus more for dusting
• 1 egg at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 18 g light brown sugar
• 4 g salt
• 121 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 21 g honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 144 g Belgian pearl sugar or sugar cubes that you’ve crushed

DIRECTIONS 

• Dump the yeast, milk, and water in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine until the yeast is just moistened. This takes but a few seconds. Add the egg and 2/3 cup of the flour and mix just till mixed. Sprinkle with the flour but do not stir. Cover and let stand until the batter is bubbling up through its mantle of flour, 80 to 90 minutes.
• With the mixer on low speed, add salt and brown to the batter and mix just until combined. With the machine still running, add the vanilla and honey and mix until combined. Add the butter and mix for 4 minutes on medium-low speed. Let the dough rest for 1 minute and then continue to mix for 2 more minutes. The dough should stick to the sides of the bowl during the last minute of mixing and then it should start to ball up. If this doesn’t happen, let the dough rest for 1 more minute and mix for another 2 minutes. Then you can proceed to the next step.
• Turn the dough into a large bowl and sprinkle very lightly with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 4 hours.
• Now cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
• Stir the dough down by pressing on it gently to deflate it. Carefully scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and then press the dough into a long rectangle. Fold that rectangle over onto itself in thirds so that you have a square of dough. Wrap it in plastic, weigh it down a bit (I place something heavy on top of it), and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, place the cold dough in a large bowl and add all of the pearl sugar to the bowl. It will seem like a lot of sugar, but it’s supposed to be a lot. Mix the sugar into the dough by hand until the chunks are well distributed. Once mixed, divide the dough into 5 pieces of equal size. Shape each chunk into a ball and let it rise, covered loosely in plastic wrap, for exactly 90 minutes.
• If you have a cast iron waffle iron cook it at 365° to 370° F (185° to 187°C) (the max temp before sugar begins to burn) for about 2 minutes. If you have a regular waffle iron, heat the iron to 375° F (190°C) and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. (Many regular waffle irons go up to and over 550° F (287°C) at their highest setting. I suggest you place the dough on the iron and immediately unplug it or turn the temp dial all the way down; otherwise, the sugar will burn.)
• Let the waffles cool a few minutes before eating and there you go. Enjoy your lovely waffles :).