Palmiers or elephant ear pastries are made from either homemade or storebought all-butter puff pastry rolled in sugar and the folded so that they resemble palm leaves (or elephant ears) once baked. They are crispy and caramelized and are lovely with a cup of coffee or tea. Use my homemade puff pastry or all-butter storebought.
226gramshomemade puff pastry or 1 sheet storebought8 oz or about 1/4 recipe
70gramsgranulated sugar2.5 oz or about 1/3 cup
70gramsdark brown sugar2.5 oz or about 1/3 cup, lightly packed
70gramscoarse sugar such as Sugar in the Raw2.5 oz or about 1/3 cup
1Tablespoonbaking spiceor substitute pumpkin spice or cinnamon
ΒΌteaspoonfine salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F, convection if you have it. If not, 375F in a conventional oven will do nicely.
Set a rack in the center of your oven. These will do best if baking one pan at a time, especially with convection.
If using homemade puff, trim off any edges that are rounded to expose all the layers and allow for maximum puffing.
Whisk the three sugars together with the salt and spices until evenly combined.
Spread a relatively thick layer of sugar onto your work surface.
Place the sheet of puff pastry in the center of the sugared area.
Add more sugar to the top of the sheet and spread it out with your hand.
Roll the pastry, flipping it a couple of times, until it's about 1/8" thick and the sugar is embedded into both sides of the sheet. (You will have a lot of sugar leftover. That's okay. Better too much than not enough)
Take your sugared sheet of dough and fold the two longer edges in halfway towards each other. Then fold them in towards each other again so they meet. Fold one half over the other.
Slice into 3/8" slices, and place them, cut side up, on parchment-lined baking sheets, 12 to a sheet.
Freeze or refrigerate until firm.
Bake for about 20 minutes, flipping the cookies once or twice to make sure everything is evenly caramelized.
Rotate the pan halfway through the baking time.
They are done when they are deep golden brown and puffed. They will puff a bit more and be a bit more crisp and less caramelized if using a convection oven. Convection or conventional, they will be delicious!
Remove to cooling racks to cool completely.
Store, tightly covered, at room temperature for 3-4 days. Recrisp for a couple of minutes in the oven if necessary.
Notes
Variations
Add or substitute:
Very finely chopped and toasted nuts
Cocoa powder for chocolate palmiers
Citrus zest
Finely minced crystallized ginger
Use all brown sugar or all demerara. Or all granulated. Your call
Drizzle with a little melted chocolate or glaze and then add some sparkling sugar to make them Holiday-Ready
Switch out sugar for grated cheese and the world of savory palmiers is your oyster
PALMIER Q & A
How long do these keep? They will stay nice and crisp for 2-4 days in a tightly covered container. If they do start to lose their crispiness, refresh them in a 350F oven for 2-3 minutes, let cool completely, and then enjoy.
Can I bake these from frozen? Yes, you can. Make a ton of these, freeze on sheet pans, and then transfer to heavy-duty piz-top freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months before baking. That way, you can bake off a tray whenever company is coming or when you just need a little something.
Nutritionals are calculated using the nutritional information for storebought puff pastry.