Apricot Kouign Amann

Remember when I made briquettes for Jenn's birthday? Well, I redeemed myself and succeeded in making some dreamy, buttery, flaky morsels with my Kouign Amann v.2. The dough is fairly easy, so I've made several versions. Last week, while we were in the desert, the kids asked for pastries, so I made version with some apricot jam. Delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 C water, room temperature
• 1 T active dry yeast
• 1 T organic granulated sugar
• 2 3/4 C flour, divided
• 1 t sea salt
• 1 C cold salted butter + more for greasing the pan
• 1 C organic granulated sugar, divided, plus extra for shaping the pastries
• apricot jam for filling

Procedure

Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Let stand for 15 minutes for the yeast to bloom. Add 2 1/2 C of the flour, keeping 1/4 C for later, and the salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.

Cover the mixing bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size, approximately one hour. While the dough chills, pound 1/2 C butter between two pieces of parchment paper into a rectangle. Repeat so that you have two pieces of flattened butter. Place them in the fridge while the dough rises.

Sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with flour and place dough on top. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 12"x 20". Remove one chilled slab of butter from the fridge and lay it in the middle of the dough. Fold the corners of the dough in to form an envelope.

Using the rolling pin, roll it out to 12"20" again. Place the second slab of butter on the dough and fold the corners of the dough in, again. Roll it out one more time. This time, fold one third of the dough over the other third, like folding a letter. This creates very thin layers of butter and dough. 

Rotate the package of dough and butter so that the narrower, open end is facing you, like the pages of a book. Roll the dough out to a rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up, again like a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so that the open end is again facing you. Repeat. Roll the dough out to a rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up. That's 2 turns.

Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the fridge and transfer it to a well-floured parchment. With the open end facing you, roll the dough out to a rectangle, again. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat. That's 4 turns.

Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Rub the insides of a muffin tins with butter. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the fridge and transfer it to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll the dough out to approximately 1/4" thick. Sprinkle 1 C of sugar and slice the dough into twelve squares.

Place a dollop of apricot jam in the center of each square. Pull the corners of each square toward the center. Transfer the dough to the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the tops of the pastries. Cover the kouign amann loosely and let rise until slightly puffy, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F about half-way through the rise. Place the kouign amann in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350°F. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Pastries are finished when the tops are deep golden and the tips look as if they might be just starting to burn.

Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes in the baking dish but be sure remove them after that. If they cool completely in the baking dish, they will be impossible to remove. Gently wiggle them out of the tray, then transfer the kouign amann to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Best served the day they are baked...though I've never had any leftovers!