I am obsessed with the wavy four-leaf clover shape and golden caramelized crust that these pastries have. As soon as I saw Nicoletta Lamb sharing instructions for an easy kouign amann recipe, my ears perked up.
It promised to be the lazy person’s kouign amann, cutting the time and steps in half (or more). And HONESTLY? It lives up to the hype.
You might like:
What is kouign amann?
Pronounced “queen uh-mahn,” kouign-amann is a cake from Brittany, which was a coastal province that’s now part of France. The name means “butter cake” in Breton, and it’s a curious combination of laminated dough, yeast, and sugar weighing it down. Kind of like a denser, sweeter, caramelized croissant.
It was pretty obscure in both the U.S. and France until pretty recently. I first learned of it on the Great British Bake-Off, and got kind of obsessed with the idea. But all that laminating seemed a bit daunting and I never got around to it.
So when I saw a “lazy person’s kouign amann”, I was intrigued…
How long does it take to make kouign amann?
It will definitely depend on the recipe you use, but on average between six to seven hours. You’ll see recipes ranging from about four and a half hours and upward. This is largely due to lots of resting and chilling between the layers.
This easy kouign amann recipe cuts that down to about 3 hours from start to finish (which includes an hour rise and a 45-minute bake). That’s a win in my book!
The texture of these is kind of fascinating…I can’t think of anything to compare it to. It’s dense and moist, obviously buttery, with all the caramelized sugar and little hits of salt. I wouldn’t say it’s identical to an authentic kouign amann (which I have had), but it’s pretty awesome!
One thing to watch out for is making sure that your final dough rollout (before cutting it) is thin enough. The first few times I made this, mine was too thick and it made the inside doughier and not quite cooked. You want about 1/4-inch.
While you don’t really *need* special tools to make this, there are a few that will help a lot.
- First off, I STRONGLY recommend using astand mixer for this, vs. doing by hand.
- A digital kitchen scale is invaluable for all baking, but really does make a difference here (the recipe is in grams)
- Thisscraper tool is super helpful for keeping the dough from sticking to the counter, as well as actually cutting the pieces.
- I like a nice thinrolling pinto better control the dough, these bamboo ones are perfect.
- Thesesilicone basting brushes make it easy to brush the melted butter on (and clean up well).
- Similarly, the quality of your butter is essential. Kerrygold is amazing, or look for some other very high fat percentage butter.
I’ve given even more photos and instructions than usual below, but don’t be intimidated by that! It’s really quite easy, I just wanted the steps to be as clear as possible.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast, and stir with the paddle attachment.
Add the cold cubed butter and mix for 10-20 seconds…the butter should be squished and coated in flour but will still be in very large pieces.
Then, with the mixer running, slowly drizzle in the water to hydrate. Mix for about 15-20 seconds, until a shaggy dough forms.
You may need to briefly pause the mixer to scrape around the sides, to make sure the flour incorporates. Once or twice I’ve had to add an extra little drizzle of water.
Wrap your dough in plastic wrap. I use this opportunity to “pre-shape” it into a rough small rectangle with good corners, for easier rolling out. Put it into the freezer for 10 minutes to firm everything up.
Meanwhile mix the sugar and salt together in a shallow, wide container and set aside.
Now we laminate! After that 10 minutes, unwrap your chilled dough and put it on the counter, lightly flouring both sides.
Roll out to about 1/4-inch (0.5cm) thickness—quite thin!—in a rectangle that’s approximately 12 inches x 8 inches (30cm x 20cm). The short end should be facing you.
Sprinkle the entire face-up side of the dough with 1-2 tablespoons of your salt/sugar mix, and press down lightly with your hands.
Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter (Fold 1).
Then turn 90 degrees, roll out thin again and sprinkle with more sugar/salt, then fold like a letter again (Fold 2).
sdfsdf
Repeat this twice more (for a total of 4 turns)—roll it out, sprinkle the sugar mixture, fold, then turn.
As you’re rolling and folding, add a bit of flour if you need to keep it from sticking, but as minimally as possible. If a spot of butter gets exposed in the dough, pat some flour over it. If at any point it gets too squishy/melty, pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Once you’ve done the 4 folds and BEFORE the final roll out, re-wrap your pastry in plastic wrap and put into the freezer for 10 minutes to re-chill.
While it’s chilling, melt the butter and leave to cool slightly. Get your muffin tin nearby, you’ll need it soon.
For the final roll out, sprinkle your table with salt/sugar and roll out your dough for the last time to a rectangle that’s about 1/4-inch thick and about 13 x 9 inches in size (or 32cm x 22cm).
Trim the edges to make sure you get clean lines and cut into six squares (square-ish) that are roughly 4-inches x 2.5-inches (10cm x 6cm). At this point you should be able to see the lamination/layers in your dough!
Take a piece of dough, brush one side with a very thin layer of melted butter, and then place the dough, butter side down, into the sugar/salt mixture.
Brush the other side with butter and then flip it over so both sides get well-coated.
To shape your kouign amann, bring the edges of the square into the center and lightly press together, then squish into the baking tin (see photos). It’s a bit like folding those paper games when you were a teenager.
Repeat the process with the rest of your dough pieces.
Place the muffin tin onto a tray and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let it rise somewhere semi-warm (definitely not too warm, you don’t want to melt the butter) for about 1 hour. They won’t look very puffy or grow much, but that’s totally normal.
Pre-heat your oven to 375 F (about 350 convection). I’ve even nudged it up a bit closer to 400 F and that’s turned out well…you definitely want the inside cooked.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, turning after 15 mins. They should be golden, bubbling and gorgeous. If they don’t look caramelized enough, bake for a further 5 minutes
While they are still warm, remove pastries from the tin onto a cooling rack (a small offset spatula helps), otherwise the caramel will harden. If you forget to do this, put the pastries back in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the caramel.
The original recipe says to cool upside down…I’ve tried that and right side up and can’t tell a difference.
Enjoy fresh! These will last for 3 days in a sealed container and you can rewarm slightly when eating as leftovers.
The texture of these is kind of fascinating…I can’t think of anything to compare it to. It’s dense and moist, obviously buttery, with all the caramelized sugar and little hits of salt. I wouldn’t say it’s identical to an authentic kouign amann but it’s pretty delicious!
I’ve adapted this very slightly from Nicola Lamb’s Kitchen Project newsletter, which is amazing. She also provides all sorts of intense scientific background on how things work, how her testing and refinement went, and more. Highly recommend!
Other treats that use a bit of French baking technique:
- How to Make Pasteis de Nata (the Iconic Portuguese Custard Tart)
- Amazing Intensely Dark Chocolate Sable Cookies
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Financiers
Pin for later!
The Lazy Person's Easy Kouign Amann
Yield: 6 pastries
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
This super easy kouign amann recipe is full of hacks to make it faster and easier...it's a great beginner recipe when you're not used to laminating dough. It's truly the lazy person's kouign amann--French pastries in a few hours (with only an hour of hands-on time)!
Ingredients
- DOUGH
- 200g of strong bread flour (in U.S., I guess just bread flour)
- 100g of water
- 4g of salt
- 25g of sugar
- 10g of instant yeast (or RapidRise, NOT active dry)
- 140g of unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- FILLING
- 200g of caster sugar (or regular, see notes)
- 10g OR LESS of fine sea salt (see notes)
- 50g of unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Make the starter dough (about 15 min): In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast, and stir with the paddle attachment.
- Add the cold cubed butter and mix for 10-20 seconds...the butter should be squished and coated in flour but will still be in very large pieces.
- Then, with the mixer running, slowly drizzle in the water to hydrate. Mix for about 15-20 seconds, until a shaggy dough forms. You may need to briefly pause the mixer to scrape around the sides, to make sure the flour incorporates. Once or twice I've had to add an extra little drizzle of water.
- Wrap your dough in plastic wrap. I use this opportunity to "pre-shape" it into a rough small rectangle with good corners, for easier rolling out. Put it into the freezer for 10 minutes to firm everything up.
- Meanwhile mix the sugar and salt together in a shallow, wide container and set aside.
- Laminate your dough (about 20 or 30 min): After that 10 minutes, unwrap your chilled dough and put it on the counter, lightly flouring both sides. Roll out to about 1/4-inch (0.5cm) thickness---quite thin!---in a rectangle that's approximately 12 inches x 8 inches (30cm x 20cm). The short end should be facing you.
- Sprinkle the entire face-up side of the dough with 1-2 tablespoons of your salt/sugar mix, and press down lightly with your hands. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter (Fold 1).
- Then turn 90 degrees, roll out thin again and sprinkle with more sugar/salt, then fold like a letter again (Fold 2).
- Repeat this twice more (for a total of 4 turns)---roll it out, sprinkle the sugar mixture, fold, then turn. As you're rolling and folding, add a bit of flour if you need to keep it from sticking, but as minimally as possible. If a spot of butter gets exposed in the dough, pat some flour over it. If at any point it gets too squishy/melty, pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Once you've done the 4 folds and BEFORE the final roll out, re-wrap your pastry in plastic wrap and put into the freezer for 10 minutes to re-chill.
- While it's chilling, melt the butter and leave to cool slightly. Get your muffin tin nearby, you'll need it soon.
- Assemble & prove the kouign amann (about 1 hr 15 min): For the final roll out, sprinkle your table with salt/sugar and roll out your dough for the last time to a rectangle that's about 1/4-inch thick and about 13 x 9 inches in size (or 32cm x 22cm).
- Trim the edges to make sure you get clean lines and cut into six squares (square-ish) that are roughly 4-inches x 2.5-inches (10cm x 6cm). At this point you should be able to see the lamination/layers in your dough!
- Take a piece of dough, brush one side with a very thin layer of melted butter, and then place the dough, butter side down, into the sugar/salt mixture. Brush the other side with butter and then flip it over so both sides get well-coated.
- To shape your kouign amann, bring the edges of the square into the center and lightly press together, then squish into the baking tin (see photos). It's a bit like folding those paper games when you were a teenager.
Repeat the process with the rest of your dough pieces. - Place the muffin tin onto a tray and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let it rise somewhere semi-warm (definitely not too warm, you don't want to melt the butter) for about 1 hour. They won’t look very puffy or grow much, but that's totally normal.
- Bake (35-45 min): Pre-heat your oven to 375 F (about 350 convection). I've even nudged it up a bit closer to 400 F and that's turned out well...you definitely want the inside cooked.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, turning after 15 mins. They should be golden, bubbling and gorgeous. If they don’t look caramelized enough, bake for a further 5 minutes.
- While they are still warm, remove pastries from the tin onto a cooling rack (a small offset spatula helps), otherwise the caramel will harden. If you forget to do this, put the pastries back in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the caramel.
- The original recipe says to cool upside down...I've tried that and right side up and can't tell a difference.
- Enjoy fresh! These will last for 3 days in a sealed container and you can rewarm slightly when eating as leftovers.
Notes
- Yes, weighing everything is important. A digital kitchen scale only costs like $10 and makes a huge difference in baking such as this.
- The quality of your butter makes a big difference in flavor, so it's worth getting high-fat European-style butter for this recipe (any grocery store should carry multiple brands).
- The first few times I made this, I found it WAY too salty, even for my love of sweet-salty things. So I've adjusted the recipe to reflect this, but I'd still say to go light on the salt. But you do you. Once you've mixed your sugar and salt, give it a taste...if it's too salty, just add more sugar.
- The recipe calls for caster sugar, which isn't really available in the U.S. I just used regular granulated sugar, but you can also throw it in the food processor to "make" caster sugar.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
