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    Home » Pastries

    Published on: April 23, 2013 by Janice; Updated on: October 8, 2021 5 Comments

    Maple kouign amann

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    maple pastry
    maple pastry
    These flaky pastries are called kouign amann (pronounced kween a-mon). A kouign amann is a sweet, caramelized, buttery, slightly salty, flaky pastry.
    breakfast pastry

    Refrigeration is a key step to making homemade croissants, puff pastry, and most layered doughs like this one, which are also called laminated dough. Refrigeration allows the butter to harden and chill between folds. Refrigeration ensures you have lots of alternating thin layers of dough and butter, as opposed to a buttery homemade brioche.

    However, there's a downside to this step when making a kouign amann. Sorry, I have to get nerdy here again. Sugar is hygroscopic and therefore loves to absorb moisture, so the layers of sugar turn to syrup as you refrigerate the dough between folds. This can make working with the dough a little tricky, so be forewarned and use your pastry scraper to help you lift and fold the dough.

    I worked with a couple of recipes (one from Gesine Bullock-Prado and one from David Liebovitz). I started with Gesine's, and amicably referred to the pastries as "butter bombs". They were so tasty, but boy were they heavy on the butter, maybe too much so (I can't believe that I, Janice Lawandi, just typed that!). I'm all for using loads of butter, but this was, I think, detrimental to the final pastry.

    layering butter in pastry

    In this version of the recipe, I used less butter, but kept the maple sugar mixture in the folding. The resulting pastry is light—in a buttered pastry kind of way—maple-y, and with distinct layering. Much better than the original "butter bombs" I made. These are best eaten fresh, but the leftovers, though chewier, have an even better maple flavor.

    For laminated doughs like this one, I suggest using a higher fat salted butter, like Stirling European Style Churn 84 butter. Regular butter will work, but the higher fat European style butter will help you achieve better, distinct layering.

    Stirling Creamery sent me samples of their various butters to work with and use as I like, but all opinions are my own.

    Print Pin

    Maple kouign amann

    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Course Breakfast
    Cuisine French
    Keyword maple kouign amann
    Prep Time 2 hours
    Cook Time 30 minutes
    Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
    Servings 8
    Calories 435kcal
    Author Janice

    Ingredients

    • 8.75 mL (1¾ teaspoon) instant yeast
    • 250 mL (1 cup) water divided
    • 32 grams (⅛ cup) pure maple syrup
    • 313 grams (2½ cups) bleached all-purpose flour
    • 3.75 mL (¾ teaspoon) Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
    • 155 grams (⅔ cup) Stirling Creamery Churn 84 salted butter
    • 150 grams (¾ cup) granulated sugar
    • 150 grams (¾ cup) maple sugar or finely ground maple flakes
    • 1 pinch grey salt or sea salt, optional

    Instructions

    • Heat half the water and the maple syrup to 110°F in the microwave, then stir in the yeast. Set this aside for about 5 minutes.
    • In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the flour and the salt. Stir the mixture together then add the bubbly yeast mixture to the bowl along with the rest of the water. Stir to combine on low, then switch to the hook attachment and knead the dough for about 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and just slightly tacky, and the bowl is clean with no dried bits at the bottom. Feel free to adjust the humidity along the way with a sprinkling of water or flour if you feel the dough is too dry or too wet.
    • Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place (like your oven, turned off but with only the light on) until it has doubled.
    • Place the butter between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll it into a square (~14×14 cm). Store in the fridge til the dough is ready to use.
    • Mix together the maple sugar and granulated sugar in a bowl and set it aside.
    • When the dough has doubled, transfer it onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it into a square, brush off any excess flour, and place the butter block in the middle (as shown in the image above). Fold the corners towards the middle to wrap the butter block with the dough, pinching together the ends and sides to seal in the butter.
    • Folding: With your rolling pin, pound/roll the dough to a large rectangle and sprinkle it with a ~¼ cup maple sugar, pressing it in a little. Fold it into thirds (like you fold a letter). Rotate the dough 90°. Roll it again into a rectangle, sprinkle with maple sugar, and fold it into thirds again. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
    • Sprinkle your work surface with a little maple sugar. Retrieve the dough from the fridge, unwrap it and set it down on your work surface. Repeat the folding sequence again. Then wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
    • Preheat your oven to 400°F (for a more caramelized pastry bottom, preheat a large baking sheet in the oven set in the middle rack).
    • Roll the dough out thinly (~1 cm if you can) and cut it into 8 pieces. Gently transfer the dough pieces to a parchment lined tray or a parchment-lined whoopie pie pan. You can pinch opposite corners together or leave them as is. Sprinkle with more maple sugar before baking, and a little sea salt if using.
    • Set the baking sheet over the preheated sheet on the middle rack in the oven, and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until the pastries are a deep golden brown. Rotate the tray at least once throughout the baking.
    • Let cool completely before serving.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @bakesomethingawesome or tag #bakesomethingawesome!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 435kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 330mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 484IU | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 2mg
    « Toasted maple sesame nuts
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    Comments

    1. bakerunlive.com says

      April 23, 2013 at 5:53 pm

      Thank you for reminding me that I need to make these again! I have never had a kouign amann from a bakery, but I fell in love with them just from a description!
      I bet yours, with the maple sugar, are delicious!

      Reply
      • Janice Lawandi says

        April 24, 2013 at 1:19 pm

        My pleasure 😉 I almost didn't post about these but now I'm glad I did. They are bit of a challenge to make with all the rolling/folding, but totally worth it!

        Reply
    2. Katie Brigstock says

      May 07, 2013 at 10:39 am

      These look delicious! I really must try making them!- they definitely look worth the effort!
      x

      Reply
    3. Carolyn says

      May 24, 2013 at 10:30 am

      I haven't been by your blog in a long time but wow! Yumminess!

      Reply
      • Janice Lawandi says

        May 29, 2013 at 7:03 pm

        I'm glad you liked it and I hope you have a chance to stop by again soon 😉

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Janice! I am a baking-obsessed recipe developer with a PhD in Chemistry who writes about baking and the science of baking.

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