These overnight Belgian waffles are easy to make and taste so delicious for a morning breakfast or mid-morning brunch. Of course they could also be made for lunch or dinner and you would hear zero complaints! These waffles are yeast risen and have that yummy texture and taste delicious!
Yeast is what makes these waffles so different. Instead of a batter which is used for traditional waffles, these Belgian waffles use yeast, butter and eggs to create an enriched dough that then gets cooked in a Belgian waffle maker. They are extra fancy and extra delicious, almost like a doughnut in a waffle maker.
Making the dough the night before allows the dough time to rest and develop flavor and a better texture and it also saves you time in the morning. All you have to do it pull the dough out and set in an oven that is about 100 degrees for about an hour so the dough rises slightly.
I first made Belgian waffles at home about 12 years ago, at the time I didn’t really know anything about them. When I made them the recipe I used added so much yeast that they tasted super yeasty and fermented and I didn’t like them at all. Fast forward a few years and I tried them from a restaurant that made them right and my mind completely changed. My recipe stays true to what you would find in a Belgian waffle restaurant, while they do have the yeast risen flavor it is not over powering.
My kids love these overnight Belgian waffles! I like to dust my waffles with sugar after cooking in the butter brushed waffle iron. My kids love to eat them with the sugar and a dust of cinnamon on top. My husband loves syrup and strawberries. I love nutella, strawberries and whipped cream or cool whip. Equally delicious is nutella and bananas, fresh berries, peanut butter and chocolate and as many combinations as you can think of, even savory toppings like sausage and peppers would taste delicious, just skip dusting the waffle with sugar.
I have cut my recipe in half because I am used to making waffles for a large crowd. I will include the full recipe below the shortened recipe, the full recipe will feed about 8 people – 2 waffles each person, the halved recipe will feed 4-6 and makes 8 waffles. The dough can also be frozen and pulled out to rise when you want to make them, I will add instructions on how to do that in the larger recipe.
Here what you need to make overnight Belgian Waffles:
Makes 8 waffles – serves 4-6
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar + more for dusting waffles in after they cook
- 1 whole large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup salted butter – melted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups flour
Instructions
- Add water, instant yeast and sugar together, mix and let sit for a minute.
- Add egg and egg yolk to water and mix.
- Add warm (not hot) melted butter to water and mix.
- Add salt and flour a cup at a time then mix. When all flour is added knead for 4 minutes is using a mixer or about 6 if hand kneading. Dough will be sticky.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight or for about 4 hours.
- Remove from the refrigerator and separate dough into 8 pieces. The dough will feel dense and kind of strange. it’s supposed to. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place roll each ball in sugar, unless you are making them savory then skip this step.
- Place on a piece of parchment paper or non stick baking mat.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warmed oven, around 100 degrees or lower is good. Let dough rise for about 1 hour.
- Heat waffle maker and brush the pan with butter before adding 1 dough ball per large square.
- Press down fully and allow to cook through, I have found that if I wait until the light turns on for my waffle maker my waffles get a little too brown for my liking but each waffle maker is different so just check on your waffle when you are cooking it. It like them to be a nice brown.
- Remove from waffle maker and brush with more butter and toss in a bowl full of sugar or dust all sides with sugar.
- Top with desired toppings and enjoy.
Large batch overnight Belgian waffles recipe:
Makes 14 waffles – serves roughly 8
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons yeast
- 1/2 cup sugar +plus more for tossing cooked waffles in
- 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup salted butter – melted
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 6 cups flour
Instructions
- Add water, instant yeast and sugar together, mix and let sit for a minute.
- Add egg and egg yolk to water and mix.
- Add warm (not hot) melted butter to water and mix.
- Add salt and flour a cup at a time then mix. When all flour is added knead for 4 minutes is using a mixer or about 6 if hand kneading. Dough will be sticky.
- *If freezing for later follow freezing direction below.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight or for about 4 hours.
- Remove from the refrigerator and separate dough into 14 pieces. The dough will feel dense and kind of strange. it’s supposed to. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place roll each ball in sugar, unless you are making them savory then skip this step.
- Place on a piece of parchment paper or non stick baking mat.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warmed oven, around 100 degrees or lower is good. Let dough rise for about 1 hour.
- Heat waffle maker and brush the pan with butter before adding 1 dough ball per large square.
- Press down fully and allow to cook through, I have found that if I wait until the light turns on for my waffle maker my waffles get a little too brown for my liking but each waffle maker is different so just check on your waffle when you are cooking it. It like them to be a nice brown.
- Remove from waffle maker and brush with more butter and toss in a bowl full of sugar or dust all sides with sugar.
- Top with desired toppings and enjoy.
- *For freezing: at this point divide the dough into 14 pieces and roll into balls, freeze on a covered cookie sheet until frozen them place in a zip lock bag. to use remove from freezer and allow to thaw separated on a cookie sheet, loosely covered with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for about 4 hours, or until dough is soft and risen slightly before cooking in a waffle maker.
Here are a few other overnight recipe I have that you may love:
- Overnight Bagels RECIPE HERE
- Overnight Cinnamon Rolls RECIPE HERE
- Overnight Orange Rolls RECIPE HERE
Overnight Belgian Waffles
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar + more for dusting waffles in after they cook
- 1 whole large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup salted butter – melted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups flour
Instructions
- Add water, instant yeast and sugar together, mix and let sit for a minute.
- Add egg and egg yolk to water and mix.
- Add warm (not hot) melted butter to water and mix.
- Add salt and flour a cup at a time then mix. When all flour is added knead for 4 minutes is using a mixer or about 6 of hand kneading. Dough will be sticky.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight or for about 4 hours.
- Remove from the refrigerator and separate dough into 14 pieces. The dough will feel dense and kind of strange. it’s supposed to. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place roll each ball in sugar, unless you are making them savory then skip this step.
- Place on a piece of parchment paper or non stick baking mat.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warmed oven, around 100 degrees or lower is good. Let dough rise for about 1 hour.
- Heat waffle maker and brush the pan with butter before adding 1 dough ball per large square.
- Press down fully and allow to cook through, I have found that if I wait until the light turns on for my waffle maker my waffles get a little too brown for my liking but each waffle maker is different so just check on your waffle when you are cooking it. It like them to be a nice brown.
- Remove from waffle maker and brush with more butter and toss in a bowl full of sugar or dust all sides with sugar.
- Top with desired toppings and enjoy.