The Kouign-amann Standard
We are obsessed with this French pastry. Bite into a croissant-like dough, laminated with butter and sugar for a flaky, decadent treat with a caramelized outer crust .
Adapted from Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes
Ingredients
For the Dough:
472g (3 cups + 2 tbsp) bread flour (strong flour)
12g (2 tbsp) kosher salt
313g (1¼ cups + 2½ tbsp) water, very cold
14g (1 tbsp) unsalted butter (for dough - use Doppelgänger), softened
4g (1½ tsp) instant yeast
For Lamination:
363g (26 tbsp / 3¼ sticks) unsalted butter (use Doppelgänger), 84% butterfat preferred
360g (1¾ cups) granulated sugar
Cooking oil spray
Plain flour for dusting
Method
Day 1: Make the dough
Step 1: Mix the Dough Combine bread flour, salt, water, 1 tablespoon butter, and yeast in stand mixer with dough hook. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes to combine. Increase to medium-high and beat for 10 minutes.
Mix on low speed for 2 minutes until dough comes together. Increase mixing speed to medium, and mix for another 15-20 minutes, until the dough has strong gluten development (you should feel resistance when you pull on it).
Step 2: Shape and Freeze Remove dough from bowl, and form into a flat, 8-inch x 8-inch square before wrapping in plastic wrap. Freeze for ~1 hour, until very cold and slightly hardened. Flip the dough halfway through, so that it is evenly chilled.
Pro Tip from Dominique: The dough goes "straight in the fridge after shaping it in a square" without proofing Eva Bakes - this keeps the yeast flavor mild and the texture more buttery than bready.
Prep the butter block
Slice the cold butter into 4 slices and lay them in a grid between two sheets of baking paper Baking with Butter. Use a rolling pin to pound and roll into a 6-inch square. The butter should be pliable but still cold. Refrigerate while dough chills.
Critical: Make sure "the butter and dough are the same consistency to ensure that the butter distributes evenly when you are rolling and folding" Leite's Culinaria.
Lamination: 3 turns
Turn 1:
Roll chilled dough into approximately 16" x 8" rectangle
Place butter block in center of dough
Fold dough over butter like a letter (top and bottom meet in middle)
Roll out to 18" x 9" rectangle
Fold in thirds (like a business letter)
Refrigerate 1 hour minimum
Turns 2 & 3: Repeat the rolling, folding, and chilling process twice more. By Turn 3, you'll have created hundreds of thin layers.
Why 3 turns, not 4 like croissants? DKA uses croissant dough technique "with the addition of Dominique's technique for rolling out" Salt & Vanilla but fewer turns keep it tender.
The sugar lamination (This is what makes it kouign-amann!)
After 3 turns are complete:
Combine 360g sugar and salt; mix well, and set aside.
"Douse your cutting board with about a cup of sugar. Spread it all over your cutting board (think of it as your bench flour and use it heavily), if you are like Dominique here you can't use enough sugar. Then roll the dough out into a nice square, flipping the dough over a few times insuring that both sides get plenty of sugar rolled into the outside"
Shaping & Baking
For Individual DKAs (makes 12-16):
Roll sugar-coated dough into a nice square, then cut into large squares
Butter and sugar your muffin tins or pastry rings generously
Place dough squares in tins, pressing gently
Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature (optional, but helps with rise)
Bake:
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
Bake until pastries "should be a deep mahogany color with bubbling caramelized sugar around the edges" MasterClass
Approximately 35-45 minutes
Note: One of the biggest mistakes home bakers make is under-baking kouign amann. These pastries need to get quite dark, much darker than you'd bake cookies or cakes.
IMMEDIATELY after baking: "Transfer them to a wire rack the moment they're out of the oven" to prevent caramelized sugar from gluing them to the pan
