The Brussels waffle is an icon of Belgian cuisine, but who says it has to be sweet? With these savory Brussels waffles, you bring a surprising twist to a classic. The combination of creamy blue cheese, salty bacon, and a light, crispy batter creates a perfect balance between bold flavors and a light and crispy texture.
Whether you serve them warm with a fresh salad or as a snack with a glass of beer, these savory Brussels waffles are sure to impress. Be surprised by how simple ingredients can come together to create a dish that is both traditional and refined.
Savory Brussels waffles with blue cheese and bacon
Equipment
- 1 waffle iron
Ingredients
- 300 ml milk
- 200 grams all purpose flour
- 50 grams blue cheese I used Cambozola
- 50 grams bacon
- 50 grams butter
- 7 grams dry yeast one package
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan and add the yeast to the lukewarm milk.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
- Crack the eggs. Mix the egg yolks into the flour. We'll beat the egg whites later.
- Now mix the egg yolks into the flour, then gradually add the butter and milk. Mix everything with a whisk until you have a smooth dough.
- Beat the egg whites with a mixer and fold them into the dough.
- Cover the bowl with the dough with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut the ham and blue cheese into small pieces.
Baking the savory Brussels waffles
- Let the waffle iron heat up thoroughly.
- Fold the ham and blue cheese into the batter just before baking.
- Bake the waffles for about four minutes until they are golden brown.
Nutrition
How to make savory Brussels waffles?
The inspiration
The idea for these savory Brussels waffles actually came from IBM Watson, an early artificial intelligence computer. It had developed a tiramisu recipe with blue cheese-a surprising combination that got me thinking. How could I create a surprising dish with blue cheese? And that's how the blue cheese, paired with bacon, ended up in these Brussels waffles.
Preparing the savory Brussels waffle batter
To start, we warm the milk until it's lukewarm. Then, we add the yeast. This activates it and lets it start working.
In another pan, we melt the butter.
Now, we separate the egg whites from the yolks. The yolks go straight into the flour. We set the whites aside for now-we'll whip them later and fold them into the flour mixture.
We mix the egg yolks into the flour, then add the melted butter and the lukewarm milk one after the other. Stir everything until you have a smooth, cohesive batter without lumps.
Now it's time to whip the egg whites. We beat them until they're completely stiff, then gently fold them into the flour mixture.
We set the batter aside in a warm place and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. This lets the batter rest and allows the ingredients to bind well. The yeast will also add extra lightness to the batter.
Baking the savory Brussels waffles
While the batter rests and rises, we cut the blue cheese and bacon into small pieces. We'll add these to the batter after it has rested.
Now, it's time to take out the waffle iron and turn it on. Let it heat up properly.
Mix the bacon and blue cheese into the batter. Then, you can start baking the savory Brussels waffles. It should take about four minutes to bake them golden brown, though this may vary depending on your waffle iron.
You can enjoy these savory Brussels waffles as they are, or serve them with a fresh salad. As for drinks, the choice is yours-from coffee to beer.
The Brussels waffle: from street food to Belgian icon
The Brussels waffle is one of Belgium's most beloved sweets, but its origins go further back than you might think. In the 18th century, waffles were already being baked in the region of the Netherlands and Belgium, often as simple street food. The Brussels variant, with its light, crispy texture, emerged in the 19th century, when bakers in Brussels began experimenting with yeast in the batter. This made the waffles lighter and larger than the denser, more compact Liège waffles.
The Brussels waffle's global breakthrough came in 1958, at the World's Fair, where the world got its first taste of this treat. And in 1964, the floodgates truly opened: Brussels waffles were served with whipped cream and strawberries at the World's Fair in New York. Americans were instantly sold.
Traditionally, Brussels waffles were sold on the street, often dusted with powdered sugar or served with whipped cream and strawberries. Today, they are world-famous and come in countless variations, from classic sweet to-like in this recipe-savory.
A comic strip with a waffle tradition
Anyone familiar with Marc Sleen's Nero comics knows that every album ends with a waffle feast. This tradition began in 1947, when Sleen included a scene in the first Nero album, "The secret of Matsuoka", where the characters enjoyed waffles at the end of the story. Since then, it's been a fixed ritual: after every adventurous resolution, Nero, Madam Pheip, and the rest of the gang celebrate their victory with a mountain of waffles. It's a playful nod to Belgian culture and the love for this treat.
Whether sweet or savory, the Brussels waffle remains a symbol of coziness, creativity, and pure enjoyment.
Read more about Brussels waffles in the following articles:
- Waffle - Wikipedia.
- Belgian waffle - Wikipedia.
- History and origins of Brussels waffle: a delicious Belgian tradition (Ampi).
- The rich history of Belgian waffles (Belwaffles).
- Belgian waffle history: a tasty tale through time (Waffles'nbeer).
Cognitive cooking with Chef Watson
As mentioned earlier in this article, the inspiration for these Belgian blue cheese bacon waffles comes from a recipe created by IBM Watson: African style tiramisu with blue cheese. A Michelin star restaurant served this dessert created by the artificial intelligence of IBM Watson.
IBM developed the concept of cognitive cooking with the artificial intelligence of Watson. Based on an enormous database of recipes and specifications, Chef Watson will propose new and very surprising recipes. The system analyzed about 35,000 existing recipes and about 1,000 chemical flavor compounds, which allows it to make educated guesses about which ingredient combinations will delight and, just as importantly, surprise. From there, it tries to encourage unconventional combinations - like chocolate, coffee, and garlic - in order to produce dishes that have never been made before.
I am not kidding. There is even a cooking book with recipes from Chef Watson: Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson: Recipes for Innovation from IBM & the Institute of Culinary Education
Read more about Chef Watson and cognitive cooking on the following pages:
- Institute of culinary education (publishers of the above mentioned book).
- cognitive cooking @ Kitchen theory.
- an article at predictiveanalytics Today
More surprising.waffles
Who doesn't have a waffle iron these days? But you might want to make different waffle variations, instead of making the same waffles over and over again? Well, there are many surprising recipes to bring variety to your waffle menu:
- Heart-shaped Greek yogurt waffles.
- Black Belgian waffles - Black Forest style.
- Belgian red tandoori waffles.
- Savory potato waffles.
- Curry mini waffles.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
toondebacker says
A surprising variation on the classic sweet Belgian waffle.