Place yeast, milk, and water into the workbowl of a stand mixer. Stir for a few seconds to moisten the yeast.

Add the egg and ⅓ of the total flour. Mix to blend. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Sprinkle remaining flour over the mixture, but do not stir it in. Cover and let stand 75-90 minutes.

Add brown sugar and salt to the workbowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed – just to blend.

With machine on low, add honey and vanilla. Then add 2 Tbsp. of butter at a time. Mix 4 minutes at medium-low speed; scrape down sides once or twice in that period. Let the dough rest for 1 minute and then continue to mix for 2 minutes.

Scrape the dough into a large bowl, sprinkle lightly with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 4 hours.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes before proceeding to the next step.

Stir the dough down, scrape it onto a piece of plastic wrap, and press the dough into a long rectangle. Fold that rectangle over on itself and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, place the cold dough in a large bowl and add all of the pearl sugar. Mix it into the dough by hand until well-distributed. Divide the dough into 5 pieces of equal size.

Shape each chunk into an oval ball and let it rise for exactly 90 minutes.

Cook in a professional waffle iron at 365-370 degrees for approximately 2 minutes, or in a regular waffle iron at 420 degrees.