Cougnou

Cougnou

While Flanders perpetuates the Germanic tradition of “klaaskoek” or “mannele” on St. Nicholas’ Day, French-speaking Belgians claim the right to eat cougnou at Christmas, especially for breakfast on December 25.
Cougnou, also known as “Jesus bread”, is a brioche bun in the shape of a swaddled baby Jesus. You add pearl sugar, raisins or chocolate chips to the dough, and decorate it with a little sugar Jesus. Kids love it!
You can make your own by following our recipe.

Ingredients (for 8 pieces)

  • 1 Columbus egg + 1 egg yolk for gilding
  • 520g flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 40g fresh baker’s yeast
  • 80g butter
  • 100g fine sugar
  • 100ml milk
  • 150ml water
  • 100g pearl sugar
  • 80g raisins

Preparation

  • Mix the flour, yeast diluted in the milk, water, whole egg, butter, fine sugar in a bowl. Then add the salt so the salt does not come into direct contact with the yeast.
  • Work the dough into a ball and knead it for 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Put the dough to rise in a lightly floured dish covered with a clean towel for at least 1h15.
  • Add the lightly floured raisins and pearl sugar to the risen dough. Work quickly.
  • Divide the dough into 100 or 150 g pieces. Shape into ‘cougnous’. Place on parchment paper. Leave to rise for a further 20-30 min (they should double in size). Brown the cougnous with an egg yolk beaten with a little milk.
  • Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 20 min. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Columbus hint

You can also let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator. This is called “cold rising”. Knead the dough briefly after the overnight rise and let it rise again at room temperature for a while before continuing with step 4.

More recipes to make for and with children

2024-12-13T00:01:06+01:00

Columbus products have unique nutritional values! Eating Columbus can significantly improve your health while maintaining a real taste pleasure!

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