Kouigan-Amaan or Queen Amaan

This is a very sweet pastry that’s somewhat challenging and laborious, but not as much as say making French croissants; although the dough rolling part is a lot like making croissants.

Ingredients

  • Dough
    • 3 cups Flour
    • 1 cup milk – heated to 115 F
    • 3 TBL Sugar
    • 1 TBL Dry Yeast
    • 2 tsp Kosher salt
  • Butter Insert
    • 8 oz Unsalted Butter (2 sticks) – chilled
    • 0.25 cup Sugar
    • 1 tsp Kosher salt
  • For Assembly – 1 cup sugar

Process

  1. Mise en Place: Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Make the Dough
    1. Pitch yeast: add yeast to heated milk. Let the magic do its thing for 10 mins.
    2. Pour milk into stand mixer with dough hook attachment.
    3. Add sugar while running mixer at low speed.
    4. Once dissolved, add salt, then add flour.
    5. Increase mixer speed to Med (#4) for four mins.
    6. Transfer to dusted bowl, cover with film and let rise 1 hour.
  3. Make Butter Insert
    1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
    2. Mix sugar and salt then sprinkle on baking sheet.
    3. Put chilled butter between two film sheets (ea 16″ long), and gently beat butter with the end of a rolling pin working into 9″ x 12″ sheet. Flip the film often and roll occasionally.
    4. Remove film and place butter on baking sheet getting letting the sugar/salt cover one surface.
    5. Chill for 45 mins.
  4. Assemble
    1. Put dough on floured surface and roll to 18″ x 14″ sheet ~0.25″ thick.
    2. Place chilled butter on half of dough and fold the other half over.
    3. Roll roll dough out again and fold along opposite edge.
    4. Chill for 20 mins.
    5. Remove from fridge and roll & fold two more times.
    6. Chill again for 20 mins.
    7. Remove from fridge and roll out again and sprinkle ~1/2 cup of sugar over top surface.
  5. Baking
    1. Grease a 12 mold muffin tin in and sprinkle each mold with sugar.
    2. Cut dough into 12 equal 4″ squares.
    3. Bring all four corners of a square to center creating a pinched pyramid.
    4. Fit the pyramid into a muffing mold.
    5. Repeat steps 3 and for the other 11 squares.
    6. Sprinkle remaining sugar on top of the pyramids, cover sheet with film and let rise for 30 mins.
    7. Preheat oven to 375 F.
    8. Bake until golden brown, ~30 mins.
    9. Remove from oven and let cool ~10 mins, then transfer to cooling rack.