Active Time
90 minutes
Total Time
1 days
Though the dough can be temperamental, layer after delicate layer will convince you: Making this pastry is worth the effort.
Ingredients
makes 12 Servings
dough
2
1
3
1
3
butter block
12
½
1
assembly
¾
special equipment:
Preparation
Dough
Step 1
Brush a large bowl with butter. Whisk yeast and ¼ cup very warm water (110°–115°) in another large bowl to dissolve. Let stand until yeast starts to foam, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, 3 cups flour, 2 Tbsp. butter, and ¾ cup cold water. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding flour as needed, until dough is supple, soft, and slightly tacky, about 5 minutes.
Step 2
Place dough in prepared bowl and turn to coat with butter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, place in a warm, draft-free spot, and let dough rise until doubled in size, 1–1½ hours. (This process of resting and rising is known as proofing.) Punch down dough and knead lightly a few times inside bowl. Cover again with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until dough is again doubled in size, 45–60 minutes.
Step 3
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 6x6” square. Wrap in plastic and chill in freezer until dough is very firm but not frozen, 30–35 minutes. (Heads up: You’ll want it to be about as firm as the chilled butter block.)
Butter block
Step 4
Beat butter, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer on low speed just until homogeneous and waxy-looking, about 3 minutes. Scrape butter mixture onto a large sheet of parchment. Shape into a 12x6” rectangle ¼” thick.
Step 5
Neatly wrap up butter, pressing out air. Roll packet gently with a rolling pin to push butter into corners and create an evenly thick rectangle. Chill in refrigerator until firm but pliable, 25–30 minutes.
Assembly
Step 6
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 19x7” rectangle (a bit wider and about 50 percent longer than the butter block). Place butter block on upper two-thirds of dough, leaving a thin border along top and sides. Fold dough like a letter: Bring lower third of dough up and over lower half of butter. Then fold exposed upper half of butter and dough over lower half (butter should bend, not break). Press edges of dough to seal, enclosing butter.
Step 7
Rotate dough package 90° counterclockwise so flap opening is on your right. Roll out dough, dusting with flour as needed, to a 24x8” rectangle about ⅜” thick.
Step 8
Fold rectangle into thirds like a letter (same as before), bringing lower third up, then upper third down (this completes the first turn).
Step 9
Dust dough lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and chill in freezer until firm but not frozen, about 30 minutes. Transfer to refrigerator; continue to chill until very firm, about 1 hour longer. (Freezing dough first cuts down on chilling time.)
Step 10
Place dough on surface so flap opening is on your right. Roll out dough, dusting with flour as needed, to a 24x8” rectangle, about ⅜” thick. Fold into thirds (same way as before), rotate 90° counterclockwise so flap opening is on your right, and roll out again to a 24x8” rectangle.
Step 11
Sprinkle surface of dough with 2 Tbsp. sugar; fold into thirds. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and chill in freezer until firm but not frozen, about 30 minutes. Transfer to refrigerator; continue to chill until very firm, about 1 hour longer.
Step 12
Place dough on surface so flap opening is on your right. Roll out dough, dusting with flour as needed, to a rectangle slightly larger than 16x12”. Trim to 16x12”. Cut into 12 squares (you’ll want a 4x3 grid). Brush excess flour from dough and surface.
Step 13
Lightly coat muffin cups with nonstick spray. Sprinkle squares with a total of ¼ cup sugar, dividing evenly, and press gently to adhere. Turn over and repeat with another ¼ cup sugar, pressing gently to adhere. Shake off excess. Lift corners of each square and press into the center. Place each in a muffin cup. Wrap pans with plastic and chill in refrigerator at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours (dough will be puffed with slightly separated layers).
Step 14
Preheat oven to 375°. Unwrap pans and sprinkle kouign-amann with remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar, dividing evenly. Bake until pastry is golden brown all over and sugar is deeply caramelized, 25–30 minutes (make sure to bake pastries while dough is still cold). Immediately remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack; let cool.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Reviews (247)
Back to TopI am new to laminating dough but not new to baking. I wanted to try making Kougin Amann so I looked up this recipe but did not follow it to the letter. I needed the proper proportions but the procedure seemed a bit suspect. First, I use fresh active yeast that I know is active so there is no need to proof. I just add it to the flour and and I used a stand mixer. It works beautifully. Second I did not add sugar to the butter, I just used sweet Kerry Gold. Third, I used a silicon rolling mat for the rolling and folding, using the mat to help with both processes. Then used the mat to wrap the dough for chilling. Fourth, I melted butter and brushed the rolled out dough with the butter before sprinkling the dough with sugar and fleur de sel. I did that for the final two turns.
Sergio
Jersey City
3/4/2023
I tried this recipe from the Authors book. Turned out terrible! Why? The book recipe asks for 1 TEASPOON of yeast. This SAME recipe here state 1 TABLESPOON ! Big difference in the rise. I wasted 10 dollars on 85% fat European butter. Did she not have check her recipe before she published?
Ellen Papciak
Bend Oregon
1/27/2022
In Breton it's Koo-WEEN ah-mahn (try to keep the "koo" very short). This recipe has multiple errors and I would suggest you find another recipe elsewhere. 1. Never put this in the freezer ever. 2. Never mix the butter, sugar, and salt as directed here. The butter for the lamination is done first, and then the seasoned sugar on subsequent folds. 3. Do NOT coat the cups with non-stick spray. This is really bad technique. You need to grease with butter and then completely coat the insides with sugar, otherwise you won't get remotely the same caramel this pastry is famous for. 4. Proofing in the fridge for 8-12 hours is a waste of your time. It doesn't need any more than an hour on the last proof with 15 minutes room temp just before baking.
Robert
Newport Beach, CA
10/8/2021
Any chance you could provide a phonetic spelling? There's discourse about the correct pronunciation. Thank you!
Miz M
Portland, OR
2/8/2021
I had the same issue as a previous reviewer: freezing the dough led to the sugar liquefing, seeping out, and ruining the pastry. I tried it twice now, with the same thing happening; I haven't had this issue with regular puff pastry. A friend did make the recipe with only using the fridge for chilling the dough and it worked fine for her.
Anonymous
1/30/2021
I made these last night and timed it so that I could fridge them right before bed. I baked them off this morning and they were amazing. They were salty and sweet and crunchy and fluffy and everything else. Just overall amazing. I’m not really sure why people were complaining about the butter block as mine didn’t liquify from the sugar. Maybe you didn’t use organic sugar or it could be that you either mixed it too little, or too much. I also didn’t have a problem with the yeast because it doesn’t need sugar to foam. Honestly you could probably skip waiting the five minutes as long as you know your yeast isn’t dead.
Anonymous
8/9/2020
So yesterday I didn’t even know what Kouign-Amann was and today I’m reviewing the recipe I used to make it. Each bite is toffee like, buttery goodness. I used the ingredients I had in my house, which included salted butter. I’m thankful that’s what I had as halfway through the preparation, I read the reviews that said the taste wasn’t great with unsalted butter. Speaking of halfway through the preparation, I wish this recipe listed a total prep time as the rising and chilling alone is between 15-19 hours. That doesn’t include all the rolling and folding. Thankfully I made these on a Saturday just for fun as I ended up baking them Sunday morning.
Kari
South Milwaukee, WI
7/19/2020
CAN I LEAVE THE DOUGH OVERNIGHT AFTER PROOFING I STARTED TOO LATE AND IM SLEEPY
pbascobakery
5/30/2020
This recipe is terrible. BA is usually spot on. After reading several other recipes I decided to go with this once since BA is a trusted source. I am an advanced baker and have made puff pastry more times than I can remember. Mixing the sugar into the butter packet and freezing it is NOT an acceptable method. When you freeze sugar it liquefies. The results is improper lamination of the dough. The butter seeps out of the pastry when cooked and you're left with rock hard inedible pastries. I made two other recipes and they came out perfectly! Please skip this recipe folks!
Anonymous
Philadelphia, PA
5/26/2020
@Breton is correct; salted butter, from Brittany (available at Whole Foods, The Fresh Market and specialty stores), if possible, is essential for a proper Kougin-Amann. Also, as a professional pastry chef, I can say,@Anonymous, that @PB1996 is also correct. Sugar is absolutely not needed to “jump start” yeast. You may use a bit to test it if you suspect your yeast is old or dead, but healthy, fresh yeast needs only very warm (not hot) water to grow. If you follow your recipe properly and give the yeast the right temp water, add it to your ingredients at the proper time, mix or knead it as directed and allow it to grow in a warm environment, there should be no issues at all. Yeast is a very forgiving and willing organism.
gelatopiaggio
Brest
9/7/2019
Hi I'm from Brittany and you need salted butter for this recipe (and about everything else regarding pastries) I am unpleased.
BRETON
Rennes, Breatgne
6/16/2019
Anonymous - That is not true. Sugar is not necessary to proof active dry yeast. It can proof in slightly warm water only.
pb1996
Dallas
3/8/2019
I made these this weekend and they came out beautifully!
Anonymous
New Jersey
12/10/2018
I'm about mid-recipe, so I will have to add final comments when I'm done, but right off the bat there was a problem. The recipe fails to mention that you need to add a pinch of sugar to the water & yeast to get the process moving! Fortunately I've made enough dough to pick up on this, but since this is a new recipe I wasn't thinking - just following the instructions. Please edit this recipe. The poor rating is for this reason alone. Stay tuned on a rating for the finished product!!
Anonymous
3/22/2018