Favorite Cookies (Michelle's)
Submitted by terihy
Two-ingredient palmier cookies made from puff pastry and sugar, folded and sliced into caramelized golden crescents. A classic French bakery cookie with shattering, flaky layers and a crunchy sugar crust.
YIELD
24 servingsPREP
5 minCOOK
20 minREADY
85 minPalmiers (also called elephant ears or butterfly cookies) are proof that two ingredients can produce something spectacular. Puff pastry gets rolled, folded, and absolutely loaded with sugar, then sliced and baked until the sugar caramelizes into a golden, crunchy shell around flaky, buttery layers.
The trick is working as much sugar into the dough as possible. Instead of flouring your work surface, you dust it with sugar. Every fold and roll presses more sugar into the pastry, and that sugar is what caramelizes in the hot oven and gives these cookies their signature glassy crunch.
Chilling the sliced cookies for an hour before baking is a must. Cold dough holds its shape in the oven, and the sugar caramelizes more evenly when it starts from a firm, chilled state. Skip the fridge and they spread into shapeless puddles.
Chef Tips
- Be generous with the sugar at every stage. The more you press in, the more caramelized crunch you get.
- Watch these closely during the last few minutes. The sugar goes from golden to burned fast, especially on the second side.
- Flip them once during baking so both sides caramelize evenly.
- Let them cool completely on a rack. They crisp up as the sugar hardens and are soft and floppy when hot.
Variations
- Sprinkle cinnamon into the sugar for a cinnamon palmier twist.
- Drizzle one side with melted chocolate after cooling for a bakery-style finish.
- Serve alongside fresh berries and whipped cream for an easy, elegant dessert.
Ingredients
Directions
Liberally dust surface of the pastry and your board with sugar.
Roll pastry to about 4 inches wide and 10 inches long.
(The more sugar you manage to work into the dough, the more caramelized and scrumptious the cookies will be.)
Press sugar over the top with a rolling pin; turn dough over and press sugar in on the other side.
Fold each long side of the pastry, towards the middle and dust this with sugar; now fold pastry in half, dust with sugar and gently apply pressure to the top to flatten it out and even it up.
With a knife or bench knife, cut across the length of the dough into 3/8th-inch wide cross pieces.
Transfer cookies to a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Shape the cookies by turning edges out to approximate a bell shape or by turning edges in.
Dust with more sugar and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).
Remove cookies from the refrigerator and place the in the oven.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until sugar on top begins to caramelize and turn golden brown.
Turn over and bake for another 5 minutes or until second side is golden (watch them carefully because they burn easily).
Cool on a rack; serve with fresh berries or oranges)
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