Within the viennoiserie family and cousin to the ubiquitous croissant, these delightful little pastries are an instant favorite with everyone who gets the pleasure of trying them. Crunchy yet tender, these salty-sweet bites are the perfect addition to your breakfast table. But don’t relegate them to the mornings. Just sweet enough, they also make a lovely dessert or indulgent afternoon snack. In short, they are a welcome sight any time of day.
Somewhat of a hidden gem for much of its life, Kouign Amann is a specialty of Brittany, only gaining worldwide fame and popularity within the last decade. Pronounced (queen-ah-mahn), they are one of the tastiest pastries in the case, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find them in your average bakery. Kouign Amann is the salty-sweet and denser version of a croissant. With a beautifully burnished exterior, it offers equal parts crunchy outside and tender buttery center, with every bite. Caramelized layers of pastry, butter, and just the right hit of salt coordinate to make one of France’s most delicious additions to the world of viennoiserie.
Made from laminated dough (also commonly referred to as puff pastry), a 50/50 combination of butter and yeasted dough meet in a famously labor-intensive and time-consuming process to create this wonderfully buttery, beautifully layered, pastry. When the dough is finished, it contains hundreds of minute layers of butter, created through a series of painstaking folds and turns. Where the croissant maker would stop at this step, those creating Kouign Amann are just getting started. After rolls, folds, and a copious amount of sugar, laced with Brittany’s other culinary claim to fame, Fleur de Sel, they are finally ready for the oven.
Now you can enjoy and serve one of the best additions to the pastry case without all the fuss or the massive time commitment. The dough is already laminated, the sugar beautifully rolled into each fold, and the pastry perfectly shaped; all that’s left for you to do is turn on the oven. In under an hour, you can experience the fresh-baked taste of authentic French pastry in your kitchen. Sold frozen and ready to bake, we carry a range of sizes: including 10, 20, and 30-count options. Convenient and utterly irresistible, you can’t go wrong with any of these tasty choices.
Directions:
Remove from freezer and allow to rest for 20 minutes until thawed. Place the Kouign-Amann in a buttered and sugared cupcake mold (optionally, sprinkle with cinnamon as well). Ensure the product is not hard/frozen before baking, which will allow heat to evenly transfer throughout. Bake 375˚F/190˚C for approximately 19 minutes (ovens vary). Remove immediately from the mold to avoid product from sticking.