the famers market in our kitchen- waffles

Because I like to cook, but also because I'm cheap, I'm always trying to replicate at home yummy things we have when we are out. The kids and I fell in love with the kettle corn and the farmers market and figured out how to make it ourselves. We also fell in love with the Belgian waffles at the market. I instantly started researching and testing recipes to find one closest to the market man's. I learned that great waffles come from a yeast recipe rather than a batter. I also learned that there are a number of different styles of waffles and the one our guy serves are called 'Belgian pearl waffles' because of the pearl sugar that they are rolled in before cooking. If you don't want to make these yourself, the waffle man at out market ships out special orders nation wide. Here's his website. They are delicious. Ours are close, but not quiet as good as his. Here's our best try:

Farmers Market Waffles- Belgian Pearl
dissolve:
2 ¼ t yeast (1 pkg)
½ warm water
add:
1 ½ t sugar
3 eggs
¼ t salt
1 c butter- melted
3 c flour
Knead, rise 1 hr, divide into 14 pieces
1 c pearl sugar (or crushed sugar cubes)
roll in pearl sugar,knead each ball slightly, rise 15 min
Cook for 2-4 minutes in waffle maker

A few notes about the pearl sugar, flours choices, and waffle maker mixed in with the pictures...

Here's Bee stirring up the eggs

Lou adds the flour- I used a mix of flours, like I normally do in baking (wheat germ, whole grain flour, spelt flour, flax seed meal, and unbleached white flour). We are used to this, but they are SOOO tasty when you use all white flour without my health whole grain stuff mixed in!

sometimes we make a bit of a mess...

Here you can see the risen dough next to the pearl sugar. You can use this pearl sugar from IKEA. I haven't found it at any local grocery stores. OR you can use crushed sugar cubes. This is the first time I have used the actual pearl sugar and think that when I have used up the pearls, I'll go back to sugar cubes. The pearls did not melt in the waffle maker like the cubes do. I also don't like how they keep their shape, it makes it look like the waffles have kosher salt all over them. Also, sugar cues are cheaper.

Here we are rolling the dough balls in the sugar, kneading them a bit to mix some of the sugar in, and letting them rise shortly again.

I do not have a fancy waffle maker, I think it was less than $20 from the kitchen store at the mall. They had a very nice model for over $100! I think I did just fine for less than $20 except that my trays don't come out for washing. You really don't have to cook for long.