Put the milk into a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) and add the sugar and yeast. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until it gets foamy.

Add almost all the flour (I usually hold back about 1/2 cup) along with the butter, eggs and salt. Stir or use the dough hook until the dough comes together, adding more flour if it's very wet and sticky. Keep stirring or kneading until it's smooth, but still very tacky - it will smooth out as it rests. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for a few hours, or refrigerate overnight and take the dough out in the morning and leave it on the counter for an hour or two to warm up and rise a bit.

Punch the dough down, flatten it out a bit and sprinkle with some of the pearl sugar, fold it over itself and knead the sugar in, adding a bit at a time until it's all worked in. I specified a range because bags of pearl sugar can vary - most recipes call for a lot of pearl sugar, but if you don't have an entire cup, that's fine - and it always seems like a lot. The sugar will start to draw out some of the moisture from the dough - don't sweat it. Divide the dough into about 10 balls and let them sit on the countertop for half an hour or so.

Preheat your waffle iron, place a ball of dough in the middle (they won't spread to the edges), press down (they will rise, so I like to be forceful at first) and let them cook until deep golden. Serve warm, sprinkled with icing sugar, if you like. Makes about 10 waffles.