laminated dough

Kouign-Amann are made with sugared, laminated dough baked in muffin tins. Part sticky bun and part sugared croissant, these are delicious! This recipe includes tons of step-by-step photos and recipe notes so you can make these amazing pastries at home, too!

Kouign-Amann

water (at room temperature)

instant yeast

all-purpose flour

salt

butter

sugar

Make the Dough: Combine the water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a mixing bowl, if kneading by hand). Add the flour and the salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough is formed.

Fit the mixer with a dough hook attachment and knead the dough at low speed until the dough is slightly tacky but smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. If the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time and knead until the dough is smooth. If the dough feels very stiff and dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time and knead until the dough is smooth.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl that has been lightly greased with butter, turning the dough to coat it with butter. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Once the dough has doubled in size, place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. [MAKE-AHEAD NOTE: At this point, you can refrigerate the dough overnight, then proceed with the recipe.]

Make the Butter Block: Beat the butter on low speed until it’s homogeneous and waxy in texture, about 3 minutes, scraping the beater and bowl as needed to break up the cubes. Turn the butter out onto a piece of parchment paper and shape into a rectangle about 6 inches by 10 inches. Wrap up the butter in the parchment paper, pressing out any air. Gently roll a rolling pin over the butter packet, pushing the butter into the corners to create a perfect rectangle with even thickness. Refrigerate until firm yet still pliable, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Roll out the Dough: Place the chilled dough onto a floured work surface and roll into a rectangle 12 inches by 20 inches. Remove the butter from the refrigerator and place it in the middle of the dough. Fold one half of the dough over the butter, then fold the other half on top, like folding a letter. Roll it out slightly to press the layers together, then fold it again into thirds like a letter.

“Turn the Dough” #1: Rotate the dough so that the open, narrower edge is facing you. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 12 inches wide by 20 inches long. Fold the top third down and bottom third up, again like folding a letter. Place the packet of dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

“Turn the Dough” #2: Place the packet of dough on a floured surface with the open, narrower edge facing you. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 12 inches wide by 20 inches long. Fold the top third down and bottom third up, again like folding a letter. Place the packet of dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. [MAKE-AHEAD NOTE: At this point, you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap, place in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then proceed with the recipe.]

“Turn the Dough” #3: Place the packet of dough on a floured surface with the open, narrower edge facing you. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 12 inches wide by 20 inches long. Sprinkle the entire surface of the dough with ¾ cup of the sugar, then press lightly to help it stick to the dough. Fold the top third down and bottom third up, again like folding a letter. If any sugar falls out, press it back into the folds. Place the packet of dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

“Turn the Dough” #4: Place the packet of dough on a floured surface with the open, narrower edge facing you. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 12 inches wide by 20 inches long. Sprinkle the entire surface of the dough with ¾ cup of the sugar, then press lightly to help it stick to the dough. Fold the top third down and bottom third up, again like folding a letter. If any sugar falls out, press it back into the folds. Place the packet of dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Prepare the Muffin Tin: Grease the insides of a standard 12-cup muffin pan generously with butter. Set aside.

Shape the Kouign-Amann: Sprinkle the work surface with sugar. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and transfer it to the counter. Sprinkle a little additional sugar over the top of the dough. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 8 inches wide by 24 inches long.

Slice the dough down the length to form two strips that are 4 inches wide by 24 inches long. Cut each strip into 4-inch squares to create 12 squares. Fold the corners of each square toward the center. Pick up each pastry and tuck it firmly into the muffin pan; it will feel like you’re squishing the pastry in there! [MAKE-AHEAD NOTE: At this point, you can cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day, allow the pastries to come to room temperature and rise for 1 hour before baking.]

Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and let them rise until slightly puffy, 30 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake the Kouign-Amann: Set the muffin pan on a rimmed baking sheet, place in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. Bake until the pastries are deep golden brown and tips are very dark brown, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the pastries stand until they are just cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes. Gently remove them from the muffin pan and set them on the cooling rack to finish cooling completely. The kouign amann can be served warm or at room temperature. They are best served the same day they are made.

https://embed.mediavine.com/videos/zopjegk8moprdymhvfbc

Morning buns are flaky and sweet, with layers from the lamination. The base laminated yeasted danish dough is a fun, easy project.

Cinnamon and Cardamom Morning Buns

whole milk,

egg,

yolk,

bread flour

granulated sugar

unsalted butter,

Tbsp salt

vanilla bean paste

Unsalted butter,

dark brown sugar

cinnamon

tsp cardamom

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, whisk together milk, egg, egg yolk, and yeast. Add the flour, sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla bean paste, and mix at low speed until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and mix until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball and place into a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place, about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and shape into a 8”x10” (20x25cm) rectangle. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and dusted with a little flour (a quarter sheet pan is perfect for this), and wrap tightly in plastic wrap (I wrapped the whole pan in plastic and then placed it inside a large plastic bag just for some insurance). Refrigerate overnight.

DANISH DOUGH

In a small bowl, combine the butter and bread flour. Place onto a large piece of parchment, and shape into a 6”x9” rectangle on the bottom half of the parchment. Fold down the parchment to wrap up the butter block, and use a bench scraper to square it off. Refrigerate overnight.

BUTTER BLOCK

Roll to 12”x 18” (30x45cm), Letter fold 1

Roll to 12”x18” (30x45cm), Letter fold 2

Roll to 12”x18” (30x45cm), Letter fold 3

LAMINATIONS

Transfer the danish dough to the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up slightly. In a medium bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients and mix together until smooth.

Brush the cups of a 12 tray muffin pan with melted butter and dust with granulated sugar, tapping out the excess.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a rectangle about 8”x12”, 20x30cm. (the measurement you need to strictly stick to here is the width, otherwise the roll will be too fat to fit into the muffin tins).

Spread the surface of the dough evenly with the filling, leaving a 1/2” border on a long edge. Then, starting on the opposite long side, roll up the dough into a tight spiral. Trim the ends if needed. Measure your log of dough and cut into 1” rolls. Place rolls, cut side up, into prepared muffin cups, pressing gently to help the dough fill the cups.

Cover the pan lightly (I put it inside a big clear bag), and leave to rise in a warm, draft free place for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the rolls are puffy and when lightly poked with a finger, a small indentation is left.

When there is 15 minutes to go on your rise, preheat your oven to 375°f / 190°c.

Bake the buns until golden brown and a thermometer inserted in the centre registers 200°f /95°f, 20 to 25 minutes. Begin checking for doneness at 18 minutes and watch them carefully. Add foil half way through if needed to prevent excess browning (I did not need to). While the buns are baking, combine all the ingredients for the finishing sugar in a shallow bowl.

Let the buns cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle. Remove from the pans and toss in the finishing sugar. Let cool completely.

Store leftovers lightly covered at room temperature. Refresh in the microwave if needed.

MORNING BUN ASSEMBLY

My first time making anything like this. Instructions were easy to follow and very detailed. They turned out amazing! Thank you :)

Never saw your reply, and ended up preparing you exact recipe, but folded them as croissants and worked out perfectly!! Thanks for your great recipes!! 🌹

There aren’t enough good things to say about this recipe!!  The instructions are detailed and clear.  The dough is so easy to work with.  And while it does take a number of steps, you end up with bonus dough in the freezer for an even easier set of buns the next weekend!  The first batch I made 100% true to the recipe. I knew as soon as I saw the perfect layers of dough and butter it was gonna be good. And they were the perfect combination of cinnamon roll and croissant. Flaky edges, doughy interior. Perfect!  You noticed the cardamom, but it was just the right amount.  For the second half I switched up the filling - less butter, white sugar, zest of a whole orange and more cardamom than cinnamon. Also excellent!  Even from the freezer this dough was easy to work with. Because these were so good, I knew I could play a little without messing them up I tried baking half in just a cookie sheet, not in a muffin cup. They were flakier and spread more, but if you want shatteringly crisp layers, this worked!  Again, can’t say enough about how great this morning bun be recipe is!

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Kouign-Amann

Cinnamon and Cardamom Morning Buns

Top 2 laminated dough recipes from across the web

The most viewed laminated dough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Kouign-Amann

Cinnamon and Cardamom Morning Buns

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