Just a heads up, this is a picture heavy post.
Did you think I had forgotten my goal to bake one recipe a month out of Martha's baking handbook? Yes I thought so too, but then as I was falling asleep Thursday, I thought "I haven't baked any Martha Stewart this month!" So I set out on Friday to remedy the situation.
And remedy I did.
You might be wondering "Sandi, what the freak is kouign amans?" And I'll go ahead and let you know that you just pronounced it wrong. It's pronounced queen ah-man. See? You're learning from me already.
Okay look, I won't lie to you. This. Is. Time. Consuming. VERY. Time. Consuming.
It took me about 24 hours to make this, when all was said and done. BUT! I will tell you right now, it was all worth it to tear one of these things open, see all of the buttery, flaky layers and say to myself "YOU JUST BAKED A FRENCH PASTRY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE."
It's a good feeling.
Are these delicious? Yes. Are they healthy? Yes. Was I lying just now when I answered the second question? Yes. Did they turn out uglier than Martha's? Yes. Did Mike even care about that when he inhaled them? No.
The bottom line is, these are fantastic, but not easy. If you're up for a challenge, DO IT!
Kouign Amans
1 3/4 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 envelope yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 3/4 pounds (about 5 cups) flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 sticks butter, cold; plus 2 TB melted
Sugar for dusting and sprinkling
In a bowl, stir the yeast into the warm water until dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, salt, and the melted butter on low speed. Add the water-yeast mixture, and continue to mix until well combined, about 2 minutes.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough; cover with plastic wrap, and place on a large baking sheet. Transfer to the refrigerator, and chill for 2 hours.
Meanwhile, lay the remaining 4 sticks of butter side by side on a nonstick baking mat (just use parchment paper, trust me); roll into an 8 inch square, about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap butter in parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured work surface (you'll need a lot of flour the first time around), roll out the chilled dough to an 18 inch square. Place the chilled butter square on top of the dough, with each side of the butter facing a corner of the dough, in a diamond fashion. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter to enclose, and pinch the edges to seal. Roll out the dough into a 24 by 8 inch rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds as you would a business letter, aligning the edges carefully and brushing off any excess flour. The goal is to ensure that the butter is distributed evening throughout so the pastry will puff evenly when baked. Wrap the dough in plastic; chill for 20 minutes. This completes the first of three turns.
Repeat the rolling and folding process two more times; start with the flap opening on the right, as if it were a book, and refrigerated at least 1 hour between turns. To help you remember how many turns have been completed, mark the dough after each one: one for the first, two for the second, three for the third. After the third turn, wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 425. Line two baking sheets with nonstick baking mats (USE PARCHMENT PAPER). On a well-sugared work surface, roll out dough to a 24 by 12 inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza wheel or pastry cutter, cut dough into 18 4-inch squares. Working with one square at a time, fold each corner toward the center, pressing down firmly to seal, resulting in a smaller square. Repeat, folding corners toward the center and firmly pressing down. Sprinkle generously with sugar, about 1 teaspoon per pastry. Place pastries on prepared baking sheets as you work. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until slightly puffed, 30 to 40 minutes.
Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until the pastries are golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
These are best eaten the same day they are made.
This is about what the dough looks like after mixing a couple of minutes. See the drier part on the bottom right? That's flour that still needs to mix in, so if you have to knead it by hand a little more, it's okay.
Here it is before going in the fridge.
Let me go ahead and tell you right now, rolling a giant square of butter is not as easy as I always envisioned it being. I recommend doing this part on parchment paper. You'll be wrapping it in paper anyways.
Don't worry though, if your husband is tired enough, he'll nap right through your rolling pin slamming into the counter repeatedly.
Here's the dough after the first refrigeration.
This is how the butter should be placed on the dough.
Also, my pastry mat was AWESOME for this. It really helped me with the measurements. I'm horrible at eyeballing those kinds of things, so if you have one, use it.
This is basically what it should look like after each turn.
And it will continue to rise a little while it's in the fridge. That's okay, it's supposed to.
On my last turn, the top half ended up with a bunch of butter on it. I think I needed to incorporate the square of butter better. I really couldn't tell you since this was my first time making a pastry like this.
First fold of the square...
And second.
These look good, in theory. Except for the ones on the left. They obviously took the short bus to the oven.
It was SO DIFFICULT keeping these pinched and tucked down while they rose, and then while they baked. The first pan I baked, the one on the left, came unfolded and kind of looked like flowers? So I turned the other ones upside down for the first half of baking and then right side up for the second half.
(sorry it's blurry) The ones on the right I left normal, the ones on the left I started out upside down. I don't really like how either of them looked, but they were delicious!
This is about how it should look on the bottom.
Look at that flakiness!
These have such a nice taste/texture. Because the outside is covered in sugar, initially you'll have a crunchy sweet bite, but then it dissolves into the butter softness of the inside. Oh man these were good.
I can't tell you how fun this was to clean. Just use parchment paper and throw it away when you're done!!!
Recipe source: Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook