A cookie with only 3 ingredients! That is if you decide to not make things too difficult for yourself and use store bought puff pastry. Always be sure to use puff pastry made with real butter. The taste of cheaper pastry made with other fats is just not the same and will not do for the delicate palmier cookie from France. This flaky, elegant cookie appeared in the windows of French patisseries at the beginning of the 20th century. It is shaped like the leaf of a palm (palmier) which was a popular exotic potted plant at the time. As the cookie bakes, the sugar caramelizes and gives the palmier with all its buttery layers an extra tasty crunch. If you like this cookie, you should try my green tea pretzel variation.
Palmier cookie from France
for about 20 cookies
350 grams of puff pastry (frozen)
100 grams sugar
pinch of salt
Defrost the puff pastry, cut into 6 pieces and stack into a pile.
Mix the sugar with the salt. Keep some sugar aside to sprinkle on the cookies before baking. Sprinkle half of the sugar on your work surface and place the pastry on top.
Sprinkle with the rest of the sugar.
Roll out the dough into a sheet of 8×12 inches (20×30 cm).
Fold the long sides to the middle.
Fold 1 of the sides to the middle again.
Fold the other side to the middle in the same way
Fold the bottom over the top and give it a good roll.
With a sharp knife cut the dough into ⅓ inch/¾cm thick slices.
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Put the slices with their cut side up on a cookie sheet covered with baking paper and sprinkle with the rest of the sugar. Leave room for the cookies to spread.
Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven for about 6 mins. Flip them over with a spatula (the sugar is hot!) and bake for another 3-5 minutes until golden brown and caramelized.
This post is also available in: Dutch