Let’s just go ahead and call these what they are—breakfast dessert. Warm, golden waffles with a caramelized crunch and a hidden river of melted Nutella inside. Honestly, it’s the kind of thing that makes you rethink all your life choices up to that moment. You’ll take one bite and go, yep, this is why I own a waffle iron.
These are based on the famous Liege waffles—the ones made with little chunks of pearl sugar that melt and caramelize as they cook, leaving that amazing sweet crunch in every bite. Pearl sugar can be tricky to find, but it’s worth the hunt. You can usually grab a bag online or at specialty baking shops, and once you use it, you’ll never go back. Regular sugar just doesn’t give you that same crackly edge or that golden glossy finish that makes these waffles so addictive.
Now, the Nutella part? That was pure curiosity on my part—and it turned out to be the best idea ever. The chocolate hazelnut filling gets all warm and gooey inside the crispy waffle shell. It’s sweet, buttery, and just a little over the top in the best possible way. Perfect for those mornings when “balanced breakfast” means coffee in one hand and melted chocolate in the other.
You’ll get around 16 waffles from this recipe, which sounds like a lot until you taste one. They freeze beautifully, though, so stash a few away for those weekday mornings when you need a quick fix. Just pop one in the oven and pretend you’ve got your life together.
Prep Time: 12 hours
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 16 waffles
Ingredients
- ½ cup lukewarm milk
- ¼ cup lukewarm water
- 1 heaping tablespoon sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (or ¾ ounce fresh yeast)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3¾ cups all-purpose flour (divided)
- 1¾ sticks (14 tablespoons) salted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1½ cups pearl sugar
- 16 teaspoons Nutella (or any hazelnut spread you love)
Instructions
Activate the yeast:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the warm milk, warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let it sit for about 5–10 minutes until it gets foamy and smells a little yeasty—that’s how you know it’s alive and ready to party.
Mix the dough:
Add in the vanilla, eggs, and about 3 cups of the flour. Sprinkle in the salt, then start mixing with the dough hook on medium speed until things start to come together.
Add the butter:
Now the fun (and patience) part—add the softened butter a bit at a time, letting each addition fully blend in before adding more. It’ll look a little messy at first but trust the process. It turns silky smooth once it all comes together.
Knead the dough:
Add the last ¾ cup of flour and keep mixing for about 5 more minutes. You’re looking for a dough that’s soft, stretchy, and a little shiny.
Let it chill:
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. It’ll puff slightly but won’t double. Totally fine.
Bring it back to life:
Take the dough out and let it sit at room temperature for about 1½ to 2 hours. Stir to deflate, cover again, and let it rest for another hour. This dough likes naps—let it have them.
Add the pearl sugar:
Turn it out onto a lightly floured counter and knead in the pearl sugar. Divide into 16 pieces. They’ll look like little buttery treasures.
Stuff with Nutella:
Preheat your waffle iron to medium-high heat. Flatten one dough piece into a small square, add a heaping teaspoon of Nutella in the center, and fold the dough around it to seal. (If some leaks later, no big deal—it just caramelizes more. Happy accidents.)
Cook the waffles:
Place one filled dough ball in the center of the waffle iron and cook about 4–5 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Keep going until your kitchen smells like heaven.
Keep them warm:
You can hold them in a 300°F oven while you finish cooking the rest, but honestly, they’re best fresh and still steaming when you break them open.
Storage Tip:
Once cooled, freeze any extras in a zip-top bag. When the craving hits, just thaw and warm them in the oven until toasty again. They taste just as magical the second time around—trust me.
There’s something about the mix of warm dough, caramelized sugar, and gooey Nutella that feels like pure happiness on a plate. Every bite is soft and crunchy and sweet all at once, and if you don’t lick your fingers at the end, you’re doing it wrong.