In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough attachment, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the melted butter and water, ten mix on low speed until the dough is completely mixed (about 2 minutes), then on high for 5-6 minutes.

Turn the bowl onto a lightly floured counter, then knead it into a ball. Place it in an oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise for an hour.

Place the cold butter between two sheets of plastic wrap, and using a rolling pin bash/smash it into a square about 6 inches–I prefer to leave the butter out for a little while before this step so that it can be shaped into the correct size without breaking into chunkds.  Place in the fridge to chill while preparing the dough.  To roll it with the dough, you want it to be cold enough that it won’t melt into the dough, but soft enough that the block is slightly bendable, and you can leave an indentation by pushing on it gently with your finger.

Lightly flour your surface, then roll the dough into a square of about 10 inches. Place the butter block onto it at a diagonal, then bring the corners of the dough up around it and pinch them together to seal the butter inside the dough.  Use the rolling pin, gently roll it out into a rectangle about 10″x18. Fold the bottom third of dough up over the middle, then fold the top third of the dough over (like you would a letter–this is actually called a letter fold) and wrap in plastic wrap before returning to the fridge for 30 minutes

Repeat the letter fold 2 more times for a total of 3 folds, chilling between each.

When you are ready to make the Kouign Amann, grease 12 muffin tins well and preheat the oven to 375°.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator, roll it out as before, and sprinkle with about half of the granulated sugar.  Fold it in thirds again, then roll it into a rectangle 12×16 and sprinkle with the remaining sugar–I like to give it another quick roll or two with the pin to help the sugar stick to the dough.  You also want to work quickly at this stage so that the sugar doesn’t begin to dissolve– if it does, you’ll not get the beautiful carmelization in the final layers.

Trim up any very ragged or uneven edges on your rectangle of dough, then cut it into 12 4″ squares.  Bring the corners of each square up to it’s center, then gently tuck the dough into one of the muffin tins.  Repeat with each of the squares of dough.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  If the corners start to get too dark, you can cover them with foil.  After removing from the oven, let them sit for about 5 minutes, then remove them from the muffin tins.  Be very careful to not burn yourself on the sugar, and don’t let them sit for too long in the tins or they will be stuck.

These are best enjoyed the day they are made, but you can also freeze them and crisp them up in the oven before serving.