If you try googling “What is Belgium known for?,” the first answer that comes back is, “Chocolate, waffles, fries, and beer.” That’s why Belgian desserts are so delicious. Any country that lists “waffles” and “chocolate” as its top two most famous things knows how to do desserts right. You’ll see a lot of chocolate and waffles in this list because why mess with perfection? You’ll also find cookies, turnovers, and even some ice cream. Whether you’re looking for sweet treats to serve for dessert or yummy dishes for breakfast or brunch, you should be able to find a few favorites on this list.
1. Belgian Waffles
No one does waffles quite like the Belgians, so if you want the best waffle recipe, it has to be one for Belgian waffles. You’ll also need a Belgian waffle iron; otherwise, you won’t have enough room for the batter to rise and fluff up as it should. The waffles are light, airy, and perfectly crispy. There are no surprises on the ingredients list – flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, and salt. You can prepare the batter and cook the waffles in about 10 minutes. The best thing about Belgian waffles is how deep they are. They’re perfect for holding all your favorite toppings, so don’t limit yourself to syrup and butter. Branch out and add berries, whipped cream, honey, chocolate chips, or anything else you think might taste good on a waffle. My favorite is a little syrup with crumbled-up pieces of super crispy bacon. Yum!
2. Belgian Hot Chocolate
Hot chocolate is a favorite of most people when the weather starts to cool down, but Belgian hot chocolate is a whole new experience! This is authentic hot chocolate, made on the stovetop from milk, two different kinds of solid chocolate pieces, cinnamon, and just a hint of salt. You can make it with a hand mixer or a whisk. Just continue to whisk or mix it until all the chocolate has melted and the entire mixture is consistently smooth. You can serve it hot with whipped cream and chocolate curls as toppings. If you’re craving hot chocolate in the summer, you can put it on ice and serve it with a chocolate straw for extra yumminess.
3. La Dame Blanche (Belgian Hot Fudge Sundae with Vanilla Ice Cream)
La dame blanche, whose literal translation means “the white lady,” is a traditional Belgian dessert that you’ll find in almost any restaurant in Belgium. The only actual cooking it requires is the little time it takes to make the hot fudge sauce. You can use store-bought hot fudge sauce to save time, but it doesn’t taste as good. All you’ll need to make the sauce is sweetened condensed milk, semi-sweet baker’s chocolate, and a teaspoon of vanilla. You’ll warm the chocolate and milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and when it’s done, you’ll remove it and add the vanilla. Then you’ll drizzle your sauce over the vanilla (or your favorite flavor) ice cream, adding whipped cream and maraschino cherries on top. If you want to make a more homemade dish, opt for homemade vanilla ice cream, as well.
4. Apple Turnover (Appleflap)
Warm, puffy, golden, and covered in a delightfully sweet glaze, these apple turnovers are a near-constant sweet treat in my house when fall rolls around. However, because they’re so easy to make and take only about half an hour, they’re perfect any time of year. You can use store-bought puff pastry dough. It’s the simplest way to make them, and it tastes as good as homemade dough. All you’ll have to make is the filling and the glaze. The key to the filling is buying Granny Smith apples. No other variety tastes as sweet with just a hint of tartness. The glaze is a simple combo of vanilla, milk, and powdered sugar. As a bonus, the baking apples and cinnamon will make your kitchen smell fantastic!
5. Speculoos (Spice Cookies)
The total cook time on this recipe is over 3 hours, which seems like a long time to make cookies. But that’s the cooking time for making multiple batches of cookies (enough for pumpkin pie crusts). A single batch of speculoos takes less than half an hour to make. You’ll make them from dark brown sugar, flour, and lots of spices. The end result is a spicy mix between shortbread and sugar cookies. They’re easy to make, and the dough holds up well under cookie cutters, so you can make them in all kinds of shapes. These are particularly fun to make if you have young children in the household, as they’ll love rolling out the dough and picking their favorite cookie cutters.
6. Belgian Pancakes
Belgium may be most famous for its waffles, but Belgian chefs make killer pancakes as well. They don’t look like typical American pancakes. They’re much thinner, for one thing. The look and texture of these pancakes lean more towards crepes, but their rich, buttery flavor makes them taste more like pancakes. If I had named them, I would have called them pancrepes, but that’s just me. They’re light, airy, and perfect for covering in all your favorite berries and some powdered sugar.
7. Oliebollen (Doughnuts)
Olie bollen oxen free! I love the name of these doughnuts; it’s so much fun to say. They’re often referred to as Belgian doughnuts, but in actuality, they’re much more similar to authentic New Orleans beignets than traditional doughnuts. They’re deep-fried balls of deliciousness coated in powdered sugar, just like beignets, but they have a few extra surprises in the batter. Instead of using only sugar, yeast, and flour, oliebollens also use Granny Smith apples, raisins, and currants in their batter. It gives them an additional fruity, slightly tart flavor that beignets don’t have. They’re delicious.
8. Cinnamon Belgian Waffles
A country that’s known for its waffles will have a lot of variations on how to make those famous waffles. These are just as fluffy, light, airy, crispy, and tender as “regular” Belgian waffles, but they also have cinnamon, apples, brown sugar, and nutmeg in the batter. The apples and cinnamon are the flavors that come through most for me. It adds a whole new flavor that we don’t often associate with waffles. The recipe also provides directions for adding a caramelized apple topping to the waffles and making a homemade bourbon maple syrup to serve with them. I love the caramelized apples, but I prefer good old-fashioned maple syrup to the bourbon variety.
9. Liège Waffles
When Americans eat Belgian waffles, we’re usually eating what Belgians refer to as Brussels waffles. According to most Belgian natives, the Liège waffle is far superior. I tend to agree. Liège waffles are made of a thick, almost brioche-like dough that’s better than Brussels waffles. They’re also made with pearl sugar, which adds a unique flavor and texture to the waffles. As a result, the waffles are browner, more flavorful, and just lovely. You can serve them with toppings, but they’re delicious enough without them. You can also still enjoy Liège waffles after they’ve gone cold, unlike Brussels (Belgian) waffles.
10. Strawberries and Whipped Cream
My family had been eating this delicious dessert for years before we ever realized it was a favorite in Belgium. We love it because it tastes great, and I can prepare it in 15 minutes! It’s kind of like a lazy parfait. To make it, all you have to do is mix your strawberries with your sugar. Let them sit in the sugar for at least 15 minutes so that the sugar melts into them, making them sugary sweet with every bite. Then make your cream by combining the whipped cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. After that, it’s just a matter of separating and layering your strawberries and cream in individual cups. This particular recipe yields enough for six cups of strawberries and cream. Double it for a dozen. You should have enough for two layers of strawberries and two layers of cream. I like to add a little honey or maple syrup to mine and refrigerate them for about an hour before serving them.
11. Belgian Chocolate Waffles
Since I started this list with Belgian waffles, I thought I’d end it with them, as well. These Belgian waffles are a chocolate lover’s dream. You can make them in about 30 minutes. You’ll prepare these almost exactly like you’d make regular Belgian waffles, only this recipe calls for a half-cup of cocoa powder and a half-cup of coffee. (If you don’t like the coffee flavor, you can use more milk instead.) You’ll start by mixing the baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Then you’ll beat your eggs and mix them with the milk, coffee, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil. Combine that mixture with the dry ingredient mixture, then pour the whole thing into the waffle iron. They should be ready in 20 minutes. Click on a star to rate it!
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