Cheater Kouign Amann Recipe
A delicate French pastry made in a hurry! This Cheater Kouign Amann Recipe captures the essence of traditional crusty sugar-crusted rolls, without all the time and effort.
Cheater Kouign Amann Recipe
Every now and again I like to share a “cheater” recipe… A quick simplified version of a wonderful classic recipe that takes a lot of time and effort to make.
I believe there are certain dishes worth spending hours to cook. However, most of us don’t have hours (or in some cases days) to spend on a single dish.
It’s just not practical.
In some cases there are ways to mimic the best qualities of said time-consuming dishes so we can all enjoy them.
Ergo the cheater recipe.
(These are mini Kouign Amann called Kouignette in Paris.)
French Kouign Amann Recipe
A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Paris cooking and eating. While in Paris, I sampled french pastries on a daily basis, including the famed Kouign Amann. A sugar-coated croissant variation that is usually rolled or folded into little circular crowns.
After taking a croissant-making class (which was very fun, by the way) I felt I fully understood why hardly anyone makes croissants at home.
Fresh hot croissants straight out of the oven are amazing. Uh. May. Zing.
Yet the classic preparation would take a total of three days to complete.
- You make the dough on the evening of the first day, and chill overnight.
- Fold in butter sheets and rest on the second day. Cut and roll the croissants on the evening of the second day.
- Then bake on the third day after they’ve had time to rise.
See? Who has time to do that?!
Making Kouign Amann from scratch would require the same kind of dedication.
I just can’t fathom setting aside the time to do it, especially this time of year.
Yet hot sticky Kouign Amann would make a marvelous treat on Christmas morning!
What to do… What to do.
Make a Cheater Kouign Amann Recipe instead!
How To Make Cheater Kouign Amann
Start by cutting thawed puff pastry sheets in half. Cut one-half into squares and the other half into strips.
Dip the squares in melted butter and then press one side in sugar. Lay the squares sugar-side-up on little pieces of parchment paper.
Dip the strips in butter, then dip in sugar. Roll the strip loosely into spirals, and place them in the center of the puff pastry squares.
Then pick up the parchment paper squares and place them in the wells of a muffin tin.
Press the pastry sheets down to fill in the wells. Don’t worry about messing them up…
Puff pastry has a way of fixing itself in the oven.
Then bake!
As the puff pastry rises, the butter and sugar create sticky layers on the inside and crusty folds on the outside.
Heaven. Pure heaven. Even without the 3 day process.
Get the Full (Printable) Cheater Kouign Amann Recipe Below
Authentic Kouign Amann Recipe?
Let me be clear, my Cheater Kouign Amann Recipe can’t compete with Fresh from-scratch authentic Kouing Amann with its seemingly endless sugar folds.
Yet, they do capture the taste and texture of real Kouign Amann, and are always welcomed at my house.
With just 3 ingredients, it’s worth giving this Cheater Kouign Amann Recipe a try!
They are a marvelous addition to Christmas or New Years Day breakfast.
Happy Holidays!
More Breakfast Treat Recipes
- Tiramisu Baked French Toast
- Dark Chocolate Gravy and Cinnamon Biscuits
- Peach Pina Colada Stuffed French Toast
- Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Maple Syrup
- Arnold Palmer Sweet Rolls
Cheater Kouign Amann Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box frozen puff pastry, 2 sheets thawed
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut out sixteen 5-inch parchment paper squares. Flour a work surface, lay the puff pastry sheets out, and roll the puff pastry sheets to remove the fold lines.
- Cut a puff pastry sheet in half. With one half, cut eight even strips. With the other half, cut eight equal squares. Repeat with the second puff pastry sheet.
- Dip the squares in the melted butter. Press one side of each square in sugar and lay each square sugar-side-up on its own parchment paper square. Then dip each strip in butter. Press one side of each strip in sugar and roll into a loose spiral. Place a spiral on top of each square.
- Lower the parchment paper squares into the wells of a muffin tin. Press each piece down to fill out the wells. Then bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
I have to try it, sounds delicious. Gunny of Géo’s Cuisine
Pingback: 10 Of The Best Puff Pastry Desserts You Have To Make Right Now
I first tried this delicious pastries at Peets Coffee. They sold out immediately. Although there is truly nothing like the real Kouign Amann, these have an amazing presentation and who doesn’t like those three ingredients together! Super Yummy and thank you so much for sharing. We really enjoyed! 👩🍳
Do you think that you could do this cheater trick with avhomemade rough puff pastry dough?
Hi Sherry,
Yes, absolutely! :)
Pingback: Top 30+ Best Puff Pastry Desserts - Stunning Treat Ideas 2021
I haven’t had the real thing so I have nothing to compare to. I just liked the way this looked. My family likes cinnamon so I used cinnamon sugar with both granulated sugar and some brown sugar. I brushed the butter on all of the pieces rather than dipping so they wouldn’t get too soaked and I left the strips loosely rolled standing up in the square so it would cook in the center. I added an egg wash and a sprinkling of colored sugar crystals on top for fun. They were a hit! Gone in seconds! Next time I would use paper cups rather than the squares of parchment paper just to make clean up OC the pan easier. I was surprised no one else tried adding cinnamon in the comments so I can only assume I am violating the essence of the original recipe but it worked out great for my cinnamon loving family! Thanks!
Butter, sugar and puff pastry are a match made in heaven and I’m here for it. Once I put them in the muffin tin, I brushed them with more melted butter and sprinkled turbinado sugar before baking. HELLO!!! Next time, I’m going to add some to the square and strips before putting them all together.
I did run into the issue of the center not being fully cooked, but I’ll trial and error it and hopefully figure out. All in all, a fantastic cheater recipe that I’ll for sure make again.
The original recipes all call for some salt. Where and when might I add some salt to this wonderful recipe?
Hi Susan!
You could add a little salt to the sugar, then use as directed. :)
So delish! I have a convection oven. I’m going to turn the temp down next time so the center can cook a bit longer. I think it was a tad undercooked while the top was brown.
It was a hit with my crew and a will definitely make again
Delicious! I will try again maybe making them bigger! Great recipe!
Hi,
Thanks for this interesting alternative! My question to you: Would it be possible to add more layers to this, ie more squares? Maybe roll the squares a bit thinner also…?
Hi Jack,
Sure! Feel free to play with the layers as much as you like. This is just a simplified recipe created for quick baking.
puff pastry sheets are 10 x 15 inch. what size squares and strips are cut from these sheets. the use of 8 of each to a sheet doesn’t make sense.
Hi Richard,
We are probably just buying a different brand of puff pastry. Ours always come in squares. You can do one of two things… 1) You can roll the rectangle into squares. 2) You can cut 8 3-inch squares out of each sheet, then cut longer strips with the rest of the dough, for the centers.
Hard to go wrong with sugar and puff pastry – they will always be a winning combo. But this is like trying to make a croissant with puff pastry. Both kouign amamnn & croissants are made with a yeasted dough so the flavor is different.
I make these every few months or so to share with coworkers, I always mix cardamom with the sugar to scratch my kardemummabullar itch.
Can’t recommend this enough, with or without spices :)
Mmmm Cardamom! I love it! I do this to my Cream puffs. Deeelishhhh!
I am assuming you could take one sheet of pastry and cut into strips and cut the other into squares, correct?
Absolutely! That would work. :)
Do these keep well, for making in advance, or do they have to be eaten right away? I’m not familiar with the pastry that this is a cheater for, but I love cheater recipes, and these look lovely.
Hi Daisywulf,
As with most pastry, they are best fresh. However, they are will still taste good on day two. :)
After baking. I drizzled them with strawberry drizzle and it took it up a notch. Also a lite drizzle of a glaze would be nice too. I will be doing this again but next time I will try it with a teaspoon of blueberry pie filling.