Prep. time: 20 minutes
Resting time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 30 minutes 

Cougnou was, in the past, a Vienna bread holding a plaster or pink marzipan figure of the swaddled baby Jesus.

In Wallonia as early as November 1, All Saints Day, little sugar paste figures appear in the pastry aisles and supermarkets.

This enriched bread may have originated in the province of Hainaut, although it spread throughout all the southern provinces of Belgium and northern France. It is also called:

• coquille in Romance Flanders
• cougnole or cugnole in Hainaut
• cougnou in the Walloon provinces and Brussels
• Jésus in northern Hainaut (Lessines)
• quéniole or cuniole in French Hainaut and the Cambrésis
• quénieu in Champagne, with a slightly different shape
• volaeren or folarts in French Flanders
• bonhome in the Liège region

1. Place the flour, yeast, milk and sugar into the bowl of a food processor (see below if you prefer to make the dough by hand). Mix well until the mixture forms a ball.
2. Add the butter in pieces. Mix well.
3. When the dough is smooth, add the salt. The salt should never come into direct contact with the yeast. Mix quickly.
4. Place the dough onto a floured surface and form a long rectangle.
5. Place the raisins and/or pearl sugar on top. Fold the dough 3 or 4 times to amalgamate well.
6. Place the dough into a bowl; cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a draft-free place until doubled in volume.
7. Return the dough to the work surface and knead briefly.
8. Divide the dough into 100 g balls.
9. Roll each ball into a rectangle without flattening the top, which should remain slightly rounded. With the side of your hand, strike each end to form a roll with 2 heads (see photo).
10. Place the cougnous on a greased or buttered baking sheet.
11. Preheat the oven to 185° C/350° F.
12. Brush the cougnous with egg yolk beaten with a pinch of salt and a little water to give them a nice golden sheen.
13. Bake for about 30 minutes.