Printable Recipe: Easy Puff Pastry Palmiers

Picnic Dessert Recipe: Easy Puff Pastry Palmiers

These perfect little picnic desserts are light, addictive, and ridiculously easy to make. The recipe is also flexible, so have fun with it. Add an ultra thin layer of jam or a delicate sprinkling of grated chocolate before rolling your palmiers. Or eat plain with cinnamon and sugar, as described here. Either way, they're delicious-- this is a famous French cookie recipe you'll make again and again.

These burn easily, so watch them closely. Every oven is different, and yours may need more or less time than stated in the recipe. Makes about 50 cookies.

Ingredients:
2 sheets (8 oz. total) frozen puff pastry
2 C. granulated sugar
Cinnamon & sugar mixture, as desired (optional)

Instructions: 1. Thaw puff pastry overnight in the refrigerator (you can thaw it outside, but be sure it's very cold before using).

2. If necessary, roll your puff pastry out to a 1/8" thickness. Most puff pastry sheets are already about that thick.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

4. Sprinkle sugar all over the counter-- kind of like you were about to knead bread dough (but no kneading!). Place one puff pastry sheet on top of the sugar. Keep the other sheet in the fridge until needed.

5. Sprinkle top of puff pastry with more sugar.

6. To shape your palmiers, fold each end of pastry just over halfway to the middle. The two sides should be folded towards each other, but there should be almost half the width of the pastry sheet between them.

7. Fold the puff pastry sheet so the two folded ends meet in the middle, kind of like closing a book.

8. With a very sharp knife, cut your folded pastry into 1/2" (or just a bit thinner) slices. Place on your parchment-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sugar or your cinnamon sugar mixture.

9. Bake 6 or 7 minutes. Turn cookies and sprinkle with a bit more sugar or cinnamon sugar. Bake 3-5 minutes more, until edges are golden and center is cooked.

10. Cook completely on wire racks.

Just try to eat only one of these tasty little picnic desserts!