New Year Authentic Belgian Waffles (5-Minute Prep!)

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These waffles are super simple yet so addictive! They’re 100% authentic Belgian waffles that all grandma’s make around New Year time to welcome relatives coming over to send their wishes. Only 5 MINUTES are needed to prep the batter!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had an amazing festive time! I bet everyone is now trying to lose the few excess kilos gained after all those feasts you had 🙂

Well, this new recipe post probably won’t help you reach your objective right away BUT this is a recipe I had to share with you. THESE BELGIAN WAFFLES ARE SO SO ADDICTIVE!

Ok, you may think… “again another one of those so-called Belgian waffle recipes, I’ve seen tons of them already”. Indeed the Internet is literally full of waffle recipes, which ones are real, and which ones are not? Just like in real life, so many places claim to sell you “Belgian waffles”.

But as a Belgian myself – who’s also an avid traveler – I can tell you so many places outside Belgium are not serving traditional Belgian waffles. Though, that doesn’t mean they’re not incredibly delicious, just not authentic.

Growing up in Belgium with a very traditional Belgian family, you can’t really fool me when it comes to Belgian sweets 🙂

So, this recipe I am sharing with you is my mom’s recipe! She’s basically been making these waffles every single year around New Year.

What are new year belgian waffles?

I call them “New Year Belgian Waffles” since there’s no direct translation but in French, we call them “4×4 Waffles“. Why 4×4? Because they’re made out of 4 main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, eggs) and each ingredient has an equal weight in this recipe. In fact, the batter is exactly the same as in the “4×4 cake”. Yes, you can also make a cake with this batter! 🙂

For the story, these waffles aren’t the popular Liège waffles or Brussels waffles everyone knows around the world. They are a different type of waffles, which are exclusively made around New Year. They’re served to relatives who come visit you to send their New Year wishes. So usually we’d make a bunch of them, not just a batch of 10.

ingredients to make these waffles

• all-purpose flour – for the best result, don’t use any other type of flour.
• caster sugar – be aware not to decrease the amount of sugar. I usually am for using little sugar in all of my recipes but this specific recipe cannot be adjusted due to the 4×4 ratio mentioned above.
• butter – once the butter is melted, make sure you let it cool before adding it to the other ingredients.
• eggs – I use medium-sized eggs.
• vanilla sugar – I know this sugar isn’t sold in every country, so if you cannot find it, you can simply omit it or add one drop of vanilla extract. What this type of sugar does is it adds a vanilla hint without being too empowering. If you substitute it with vanilla extract, make sure you use the extract and not the essence or aroma. Depending on the brand you buy, vanilla essence or aroma can have a chemical taste – experience speaking 🙂

ingredient measurement

Since these New Year waffles have an equal part of each ingredient, it is important to use a scale for measuring each ingredient so the weight is the exact same for all ingredients. Cup measuring can be a little too approximate, rather than exact.

how to make authentic Belgian waffles?

1. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla sugar.
2. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix everything together.
3. Heat up your waffle iron on medium-high, place one tablespoon of batter, close your waffle iron and flip it over directly for an even distribution of the batter. Cook the waffle until it becomes golden brown. Cooking time depends on the waffle iron you have and how powerful it is. Cooking time varies between 1 minute and 1 minute and 45 seconds. Do a first test and check how long you need for the waffle to get golden brown.
4. Using a waffle fork, pick up the waffle and place it on a cooling rack.

how to make softer waffles?

My mom has tried making her waffles in two different ways. Same ingredients, same batter. But we noticed that adding the entire eggs, or whisking egg whites yielded a different texture.

Adding the whole eggs as they are will give you more dense waffles, which is what we all prefer in my family. On the other hand, whisking egg whites will make your batter lighter, as a result, your waffles will have a more airy texture. If you go for the latter, you will need to pop your batter for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator, so the batter can firm up a bit and not be too liquidy when cooking.

can you cook Belgian waffles in a regular waffle maker?

A Belgian waffle maker has deeper grid patterns than a regular waffle maker. The reason is that Belgian waffles (excluding these New Year waffles) have yeast in their batter so they need space to rise.

So, yes, you can cook these New Year Belgian waffles in a regular waffle iron since these waffles do not contain any yeast. However, if making Brussels waffles or Liège waffles, you cannot use a regular waffle maker. There won’t be enough space for the batter to rise so the batter will be compressed.

Regular waffle makers will come in all sorts of shapes however a Belgian waffle maker will usually be bigger and have a rectangular shape.

When you buy a waffle maker, make sure you buy QUALITY. Some popular Belgian brands known for their waffle iron quality are FriFri and Nova.

how to serve these Belgian waffles?

Usually, we have these waffles plain. No chantilly, no fruits, no chocolate sauce. They’re served just like biscuits. Unlike the Liège or Brussels waffles which are usually served with a whole variety of toppings.

That being said, if you wish to innovate or add any toppings you fancy, this is not forbidden 🙂

how to store these waffles?

Just like any homemade waffles, these dry out fast. So best is to store them in an airtight container (and actually keep the lid closed – my family opens that lid so often that they sometimes forget to close it).

Do not wait until the next day to store them in a container, they’ll have dried out a little already.

more snack recipes?

• Bungeoppang – Fish-Shaped Korean Street Food
• Matcha Dorayaki with White Chocolate
• Korean Coffee Buns