sticky bun kouign amann

Laminated dough is my love language. There is nothing more satisfying than rolling and folding sheets of butter into soft pillowy dough. I love the folding. I love the rolling. I really love the eating.

Bakes like this are also best served day of, while they are still fresh with shattery edges and buttery interiors. This means that they are best made for a crowd and I take advantage of the crowd my family has at holidays to really go all out.

The process is usually spread out over a few days and I spend most of that time fully dusted in flour, carefully timing half hour intervals and then asking the nearest family member to help me measure out rectangles of dough before it is folded into it’s cute little fridge package again. It’s a process everyone says is too much work until the finished product comes out and baking amnesia kicks in.

This particular recipe is from Joanne Chang of flour bakery, who I consider to be a national treasure. She takes kouign amann, which she describes as a croissant with more butter, more sugar, and more nooks and crannies – and then gives it the sticky bun treatment. Brown sugar and toasted pecans are folding into the layers of dough and life itself truly peaks. Her recipe also includes a stick bun “goo” dolloped in the center of the pastry but I decided to forgo this and I think the balance of sweetness was perfect.

The result is a tender, flaky but chewy pastry, with a crackly sugar exterior, and crunchy sugared pecans folding throughout. You can peel it back layer by layer and it’s really a texture party – which is really the only type of party I’m interested in attending these days.

hot tip: read the whole recipe first and count backwards for timing OR don’t do that and ask your sister and her boyfriend to bake these at 11:30pm at night on Christmas eve because you need to go to bed earlier than that. Dealer’s choice.

sticky bun kouign amann

(recipe from Pastry Love, page 99)

1 1/4 teaspoons/3.5 grams active dry yeast

2 3/4 cups/385 grams all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon/15 grams butter, melted

1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter, warmed to a spreadable, but not liquid, temperature

3/4 cup/165 grams packed brown sugar

3/4 cup/150 grams granulated white sugar (plus more for dusting)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 3/4 cups/175 grams toasted and chopped pecan halves

directions

In your stand mixer using the dough hook attachment, mix together yeast and 1 cup/240 grams of room temperature water. Make sure your yeast is not expired but sometimes I get a lot of activity in my yeast and sometimes I don’t so don’t worry too much. Life is a mystery. Give it a stir and let it sit for a few minutes.

Add in your flour, salt, and melted butter – mixing on low speed until the dough comes together in about 3-4 minutes. If the dough seems too wet, add a tablespoon of flour at a time. If it seems too dry, add a tablespoon of water at a time. The dough should be soft and pull away from the sides of the bowl when the mixer is on, but I still had some stickiness happening and it turns out just fine.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let proof for one hour in a warm environment and then move it to the fridge to proof for another hour.

Dust your countertop with flour and roll out the cold dough into a rectangle 16×10 inches. The long side should be parallel to the counter edge in front of you. Using your fingers (get in there!) smear the butter directly onto the right half of the dough, spreading it in an even thin layer all the way to the edge of that half. Fold the left half over the right and press down to seal the butter between the two halves.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees clockwise so that the rectangle is 10 inches parallel to the counter. Flick more flour over and under the dough and press down on it with your palms before rolling out to a rectangle 24 inches by 12 inches. Flour as needed since the dough might be a bit sticky.

Brush extra flour off the dough before performing a letter fold. Fold the right third of the dough into the middle and then fold the left half of the dough over that, the same way you would fold a piece of paper into an envelope.

Rotate this block of dough clockwise another 90 degrees and repeat the process by rolling it out to a 24×12 inch rectangle. It will be a bit tougher but flour it as needed and flip it upside down once to keep it even. Perform another letter fold and then place the dough block back on the baking sheet, tucking the plastic wrap loosely underneath the edges of the dough to keep it sealed. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the dough is in the fridge, combine your brown sugar, granulated sugar, and toasted pecans in a small bowl. Once the dough has chilled for a half hour, flour your surface again and roll it out into another 24×12 inch rectangle.

Sprinkle half the sugar mixture over the dough and press down with your hands or a rolling pin to help the mixture stick to the dough. Give the dough another letter fold, tucking back in any nuts or sugar that spill out. Rotate the dough and roll it out again into a long rectangle (you get the deal by now), sprinkle and press in the rest of the sugar/pecans, and perform one last letter fold. Place the dough on the baking sheet and cover again with the plastic wrap to refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Liberally butter a 12 cup jumbo muffin tin. Sprinkle your work surface with sugar (mixing it up!) and roll out the dough one last time into a rectangle 24 inches by 8 inches this time. Cut the dough in half the long way, so you have two long strips of dough. Cut each strip into 6 squares, 4×4 inches each.

One square at a time, fold the corners into the center and press down so they stick in place. Cup the dough into a muffin-y shape and press the bottom and top in sugar before placing in the muffin pan. Repeat with each square.

Cover the dough in plastic wrap and let proof in a warm place for 2 hours. You can also extend this step by proofing in the fridge overnight, but don’t go longer than 8 hours or they might overproof. Either way, they should look puffed up and adorable at the end of the proof.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the baking tray on the middle rack, turn the temperature back down to 350 degrees and bake until deep golden brown, about 30-40 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half way through.

Remove from the oven and as soon as you won’t burn your fingerprints off, use a fork to help you pop them out of the tin and onto a wire cooling rack. If you leave them in too long, the sugar will cement them to the muffin tin. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before eating.

These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days and be refreshed by heating them in a 300 degree oven for 6-8 minutes. You can also freeze them once fully baked and keep the fun going for another day.

Enjoy.