Kouign Amans

I still haven't had time to read the manual for my new camera and, for once in my life, I'm determined to read the manual before I use it, not after I get myself into trouble and need help to figure out what I did wrong. Maybe the reading will get done when I'm at a swim meet this weekend. So, this photo is from crappy camera, which is suffering from a slow death. I mention this because the kouign amans looked so buttery, so melt-in-your-mouth yummy that the photo doesn't do justice.

As I've written in an older post, I've been baking like a mad women. I've been sending all baked items to work with my husband so that he could do a little fundraising for me since I'm doing the Avon Walk. The first week I went heavy on the cookies. My Marine said that some breakfast items would be good, too. Since I loathe making muffins, which has absolutely no logical reasoning other than I hate cleaning the muffin pans (even when they are lined), I decided that I needed to bake a variety of items. I made muffins, but also, I made coffee cakes, Madeleines, cookies and kouign amans.

The kouign amans were a first for me. But, I saw the recipe and thought, "What better than buttery, flaky, sugary kouign amans with a hot cup of "Joe"?" I had a hard time keeping them out of the mouths of the men in the house. I kept yelling, "You're eating my profits!" I have to admit, I had a hard time resisting as well. They really are sinfully good.

I highly recommend you try making these. You'll need two days if you don't want to make yourself nuts, but the recipe is beyond easy and the rewards are great. The recipe I used came from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. Confession: Martha is my go-to for recipes. If I'm trying something new and I can find it in her book I use it. I have not had one bad experience with the recipes. If there is anything that makes me nuts is when I put the time, effort and ingredients into something new, only to see it fail because the recipe is lacking. I have never had that happen with Martha's book.

A side note: I'll be writing my review of Gordon Ramsay's Maze soon. I have so much to say! I don't know where to begin.