Kouign Amann is a croissant dough with sugar layered in during the last turn so after it’s baked the pastries are sweet, crunchy, buttery and super flaky.
There’s a local pastry restaurant, Les Madeleines, that makes the most heavenly kouign amann. It’s where I had my first kouign amann and it was love at first bite. Lately, a group of bloggers have been posting kouign amann recipes, and I wanted to get in on the fun too. So I decided for the second of eight recipes I’m creating for Red Star Yeast this year I’d make kouign amann.
To make kouign amann you need to make a laminated dough, which is a simple yeast dough that you wrap around a butter block. I used Red Star Quick Rise Yeast so I could mix the yeast in with the flour which speeds up the process. There’s great tips on using quick rise yeast on the Red Star website, including using a thermometer to determine the correct water temperature.
The recipe uses european style butter because it contains less water and will make your pastry flakier. You roll out the butter to create a butter block to put in the middle of the dough. A quart size plastic bag is the perfect tool to help easily create the 6-inch butter square you need.
Once you’ve encased the butter in the dough, you roll out the dough in to a rectangle, fold the bottom third up and the top third down on top of the bottom third. Then you’ll cover the dough and put it in the refrigerator to chill for thirty minutes.
After thirty minutes, you turn the dough so it opens like a book and then roll it out again. You’ll do four of these “turns”, refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes after each turn so that the dough and butter stays cold.
I rolled my dough out on a Silicone Pastry Mat which made it easy to fold the dough for the turns. If you’re not using a mat, be sure and keep your counter floured, and use a pastry scraper if necessary to loosen the dough from the counter.
A couple of things set my kouign amann recipe apart from the others. First, I simplified the recipe by using my KitchenAid mixer to do the mixing and kneading of the dough, and used a plastic bag to make the butter block. Secondly, on Les Madeleines website it says the secret to their amazing kouign amann is the addition of fleur de sel, a French sea salt, so I added fine sea salt to my pastries as well.
The pastries come out of the oven extra crispy but soften up as the day goes on, so it’s best to devour them the day you make them.
My family was happy to devour all 12 pastries the day they were made. However, if you have one or two left, put them in the freezer and warm them up in the oven to crisp them up before you serve them.
Kouign Amann
Ingredients
- 2 ½ to 3 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons Red Star Instant Yeast Platinum or Quick Rise
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup warm water 120° - 130°
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 8 ounces cold European butter
- ¾ cup superfine sugar divided
- ¼ teaspoon Flor de Sal or fine sea salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, and salt. Add warm water and melted butter to flour mixture. Beat 1 minute at medium speed. Switch to the dough hook and gradually mix in remaining flour to make a smooth dough, add more or less flour as necessary. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise until dough doubles in size.
- While dough rises, make butter block. Put butter in a quart size zipper bag and with a rolling pin, roll out in to a 6 inch square. Place in the fridge to chill.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 8 inch square. Place the butter in the center of the dough diagonally, so that each side of butter faces a corner of the dough. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter to enclose like an envelope.
- First turn: Roll the dough into a 18 x 6 inch rectangle. Fold the bottom third of the dough up over the middle, then fold the top third of the dough over, like folding a letter. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Second turn: Turn the dough so the open end is on the right (like opening a book) and roll the dough into a 18 x 6 inch rectangle. Fold the bottom third of the dough up over the middle, then fold the top third of the dough on top of the bottom third. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Third turn: Rotate the dough so the open end is on the right and roll the dough into a 18 x 6 inch rectangle. Fold the bottom third of the dough up over the middle, then fold the top third of the dough on top of the bottom third. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Fourth turn: Rotate the dough so the open end is on the right and roll the dough into a 18 x 6 inch rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with ½ cup superfine sugar and sea salt. Press lightly with the rolling pin to help it stick. Fold the bottom third of the dough up over the middle, then fold the top third of the dough on top of the bottom third. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough into a 16 x 12 inch rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with 2 tablespoons superfine sugar and cut the dough into 12 squares.
- Grease a 12-cup muffin pan well with butter. For each square, pull the four corners towards the center, so it looks like a four-leaf clover. Press the corners together and place in a muffin cup. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons superfine sugar.
- Cover the kouign amann loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes or until slightly puffed up.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake the pastries for 30-40 minutes, or until golden-brown. Cover with foil halfway through to prevent burning.
- Remove from the oven and cool for several minutes in the pan. Use a spatula or butter knife to loosen the pastries from the muffin cups and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Do not let the pastries cool in the pan or they will be difficult to remove.
Notes
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Red Star Yeast, but all opinions expressed are always my own. You can also find Red Star Yeast on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
More recipes using Red Star Yeast you might like:
Apricot Cherry Breakfast Bread
Lynne @ 365 Days of Baking and More
Barbara!!! These are PERFECT!!!
I so wish Les Madeleines had been open last week so that you would have been with me to taste my first Kouign Aman. I’m forever grateful to you for bringing these into my life and now I can make them at home!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I can’t wait to get back to Salt Lake to go WITH you next time. Miss you and thank you again for such a wonderful day last week!
Barbara Schieving
Thank you! It was so fun hanging out with you. We definitely have to do it again. I can’t wait to see your Kouign Amann post 🙂
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme)
Stunning!!! Love this so much.
Amanda
This is just amazing! Such a showstopper!
TidyMom
These are perfect Barbara! I can’t wait to try them
Claire @ Claire K Creations
Oh my look at all that butter. Yum yum yum!
Rachel Cooks
These pastries look so insanely perfect — the step-by-step directions are so helpful!
Liz@HoosierHomemade
These look amazing! Perfect for Easter brunch too!
~Liz@HoosierHomemade
Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction
Barbara,
I’m not familiar with Kouign Amann. I’ve seen some recipes recently for it but that’s about it. Yours look yummy.
Annamaria
Lindsey | Cafe Johnsonia
Barbara! You are THE BEST! You make it look so easy. I haven’t attempted making KA for years, but my family remembers the one time I did and has been begging for me do it again. The ziploc bag is a brilliant tip, by the way. They look so pretty all caramelized and crunchy. 🙂
Carol
Ohhhhhhhh my goodness-do those look and sound heavenly, Barbara.
In all my years of working with yeast doughs, I’ve never made a laminated dough. What a great idea rolling the butter block in a ziploc bag.
One of these I may get brave and try these. 🙂
Alice | Close Encounters of the Cooking Kind
I’d never heard of kouign amann until they were one of the tasks on the Great British Bake Off last year. They had to make theirs as one big pastry, but these little ones look even better!
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen
So incredibly delicious! I need these now.
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious
These look so good and one of my fav pastries!!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet
Gorgeous! I would love about a dozen of these beauties! Pinned!
Bonnie
i need a lesson! My laminated dough is not too great. What brand butter did you use and did you find it here locally?
Barbara Schieving
I’m sure you don’t need a lesson, but you’re welcome to come bake any time 🙂 I used Kerrygold salted Irish butter that I picked up at Harmon’s.
Kathy Strahs
These came out amazing, Barbara! Kouign amann are my prevailing favorite pastry — I took a class on how to make laminated dough recently, but I haven’t ventured to try it on my own yet. Would be worth it for sure. 🙂
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Kathy! How fun to take a class. Definitely give them a try.
June Burns
What a cool pastry! I’ve made plain croissant dough before but never with sugar–I’ll have to try that 🙂
Barbara Schieving
Thanks June – I hope you’ll give it a try.
Maria
You made this at home? You are my hero! Next time I am coming over:) Great job!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Maria – I think I had my first kouign amann when I was with you at Les Madeleines.
Liz
I’ve been wanting to make kouign amann since I saw my first photo! Yours is perfect!!! And Red Star Yeast is my go to yeast, too 🙂
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Liz – they taste even better than they look. You should definitely make them 🙂
Rosa
Very tempting! This is something I haven’t tried baking yet…
Cheers,
Rosa
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Rosa – it’s such an amazing pastry. You should given them a try.