Sweet & Surprisingly Simple Recipe: Petite Palmiers

Elegant puff pastry palmiers are one of our all-time favorite cookies. So crispy! And buttery! Plus it feels so fancy to set them on a tray for a spot of afternoon tea. We'll tell you a little secret, too: they are super easy to make.

We use store-bought puff pastry to make our palmiers, and this is the secret to our success. We have a box or two of the dough in our freezer at all times. It's a simple matter of taking out a sheet, letting it thaw, and rolling it into palmiers for a quick afternoon treat.

If you're feeling adventurous and want to try your hand at making your own puff pastry, by all means go for it! Homemade puff pastry is labor intensive, but has better flavor and more puff than store-bought. Here are two great guides to making it yourself:

• Shortcut Puff Pastry from Fine Cooking
• Full Puff Pastry from White on Rice Couple

Palmiers are also a wonderfully versatile cookie. We make them with anything from a simple dusting of sugar to a spread of summer jam. Take a look at the variations after the recipe for more ideas.

Sweet and Simple Palmiers
Makes about 18 cookies

1 sheet frozen puff pastry
roughly 1/4 cup granulated, demerara, or brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Unwrap the puff pastry and lay it on a clean work surface. Cover to prevent the dough from drying out and let it thaw until completely pliable but still cool. It's very important that the dough be completely thawed before using. (You can see some cracked edges in some of my pictures because I rushed this step!)

Sprinkle the sugar over the dough in a single thick coating. Run a rolling pin over the pastry to press the sugar into the dough and help it adhere. Tightly roll both sides of the pastry inward so they meet in the middle. Wrap the rolled log in plastic wrap and refrigerate 20-30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 425°F. Place a rack in the middle position.

Use a serrated knife to slice the roll into cookies roughly 1/3 - 1/2 inch thick. Arrange the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, allowing 2 inches of expansion room between each one. Flatten each cookie slightly using the bottom of a cup. Brush each cookie with melted butter and sprinkle a little more sugar over the tops.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool 10 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container. Cookies will be less crispy but still delicious the next day.

Instead of (or in addition to!) simple sugar, try one of these variations:
• Cinnamon and sugar
• Citrus zest and sugar
• A thin spread of jam
• Nutella
• Finely-shredded cheese (for a savory twist!)

(Images: Emma Christensen)

Comments (25)

Oh, this looks amazing! I have a roll of puff pastry in the freezer right now. I think this is going to have to be made tonight! I have some orange marmalade I made that didn't quite set ... I think it could work well for this!

I've made these several times - both form scratch and from commercial puff pastry dough. Either work well. I do not hesitate to use the commercial brands, because to be honest although I am proud of myself that I can make it from scratch, I don't see the point when good varieties are available.

There's not much cost-savings to from-scratch in this instance due to the price of butter.

Thanks for making more people aware of how simple and good these little treats can be. They impress guests far beyond their ease of preparation.

I also appreciated the variations you suggested. It is possible to go beyond the shredded cheese for savories - you just don't want to make the fillings too too thick or you may undermine its crunch. It's that little crunch that make palmiers so enticing!

These sounds so good. Thanks for the recipe I will be trying them this week.

This is one of my secret recipes. People swoon over it, and it is so simple!

Great recipe Thank you. Only one thing i didnt quite get it.
"Wrap the rolled log in plastic wrap and refrigerate 20-30 minutes" why we have to do this?

I am in love with this receipe--so simple, yet the results are so elegant. Thank you so much for the variations as well! As I try to expand my baking POV, I'm trying to bake off the cuff with the ingredients I have on hand. Can't wait to try!

These look fabulous! @ Cigdemduynj The step is probably to set up the shape of the puff pastry so that we you cut it into slices you don't squish your shape and make less that beautiful cookies!

My favorite cookies! I never thought of the citrus variation...gonna have to try that tonight :)

I love palmiers and the citrus variation sounds great. I made them with pesto once and it was delicious.

i made ina garten's pesto and sundried tomato palmiers for the holidays and they were so easy to make. the family loved them, too!

Do you think you could pinch the bottom to make them into hearts?

I used to love when my dad would buy me sweet elephant ears at the bakery. I'm so excited to make these. But vie been afraid I'd be unleashing a deadly palmier eating beast. Its just too easy. Maybe I'll hold off a little longer...

I wanted to make these but bought phyllo dough instead of puff pastry! Foiled by the freezer section AGAIN!

@cigdemduynj - Yup, that last step in the fridge is just to get the butter in the dough chilled again. It makes cutting the cookies easier and actually helps the pastry puff more (warm butter gets absorbed into the flour whereas cold butter stays separate and then puffs as the pastry bakes!).

One of my favorite variations is a hearty dusting of sugar and a light sprinkle of dried lavender. Salty, sweet, buttery .. droooool.

Good luck to those who give making their own puff a try. I dreaded making it in the bakery, even with a sheeter. It just takes so much time! I'm store bought all the way now and hardly anyone is the wiser.

It's even tastier if you mix a little salt in with the sugar!!

These are a delicious savory version!

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/04/proscuitto-dijon-gruyere-puffs/

I made these as a savory last night with parmesan and some spices, and almost had to hide at the back of my apartment, they smelled so good while cooking! And they tasted just as good.

Just in time for Valentine's Day! I've been struggling to come up with a little treat for my boyfriend, who is a picky eater of even sweets. He LOVES these so I just made a batch and they turned out beautifully! Once they cool, I will wrap them up in a pretty red box!

How do you keep the sugar from sliding out when they're baking? I pressed the sugar into the dough with the rolling pin, but still ended up with beautifully browned on the top, burnt to a crisp on the bottom palmiers.

My sister-in-law, who is an amazing cook, made these awhile back with a savory filling of blue cheese and crumbled, cooked bacon. They were out of this world! This is a great reminder to try my hand at them!

I made these this weekend and they were delicious! One tip - when you press down on the palmier with a cup, put a small piece of parchment paper between the dough and cup. Peeling away the parchment paper is so much easier than peeling the palmier off the bottom of the cup.

Thanks again for this wonderful - and wonderfully easy! - recipe!

I know it has been forever since you posted this but thank you! I have been dying for some palmiers! and my son's french class will enjoy them immensely!

I humbly bow to the "inventors" of frozen puff pastry - the one pantry item that not only makes my life easier but absolutely delights me with its versatility.

OK, so I am making these for the first time, and I did exactly as it said...they turned out well before going into the oven. For 18 min on 425 as the directions say....I came out with burnt all to crap palmiers!!! So I am trying my 2nd batch for a lot less time and a cooler oven to see if this helps.