Palmiers

Palmiers, a centuries-old French recipe with many many layers of dough and 100% butter that makes each bite of the petite Palmiers irresistibly flaky. It's an enticing and unique pastry that tastes even better with whipped cream or just a touch of honey.






Palmier (pal-mee-ay) is the French word for a palm tree and these cookies are said to resemble palm leaf (I don't see the resemblance though). They are made from a rich, buttery, and flaky dough n sprinkled with sugar n nuts. In French, puff pastry dough is called "pâte feuilletée".

Traditionally the recipe is time consuming and labor intensive (I cheated with the frozen puff pastry though as I'm always searching for shortcuts :D). The commercially available puff pastry sheets are a good substitute.


These quick and easy pastries make a lovely wonderful snack with "une tasse de café " or "une tasse de thé ". Palmiers can be made upto two days in advance and kept in a tightly sealed container. They should be served at room temperature or reheated in a 300 degree oven before serving.


I kind of followed the Pepperidge Farms recipe though made a few changes.

http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?recipeID=26056



You can keep the prepared frozen puff pastry in the freezer. Then, whenever you want to bake, remove the roll from the freezer. Thaw for 15 minutes before you slice it to keep the dough from crumbling and bake as directed below.


Ingredients: One Pepperidge farm puff pastry sheet
Sugar (per taste)
Powdered nuts (Almonds, cashews)
Coconut powder

Process:
Thaw the puff pastry. In a bowl combine the coconut powder, almond n cashews powder, and sugar. Unfold 1 sheet of the pastry. Spread 1/2 of the combined powder mixture on a clean surface and roll the pastry sheet into a rectangle. Repeat the same for the other side too. Roll it to an even thickness.


Starting at the short side of the rectangle, roll the pastry toward the center of the sheet stopping at the middle. Then repeat so the rolls meet in the middle. Trim the ends with a knife.

I forgot to take photos when rolling the sheet. So I googled n found one site where u can see step by step photos for folding the pastry. Here is the link. Click the link The changes I did to the folding procedure was that I rolled it a bit and sprinked more of the combined mixture after each fold.


After the thrid step as shown in the pic, cover it with a plastic wrap and refrigerate it for an hour or so. Then, when you are ready to bake, preheat the oven at 425F. Take the pastry sheet out from the fridge, thaw it for around 15 minutes and then proceed the fourth step of cutting the sheet into 1/2 inch slices. Press each slice gently with your palm and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet(or lined with parchment paper). Keep 1 1/2 inch space between each slice.

Bake them for 7-8 minutes (time varies depending upon the oven) so its better to check them in between as they tend to be brown very fast due to the sugar. Remove from the oven and turn the pastries over. Bake for 5-7 minutes more or until golden. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely. Serve hot or at room temperature.









I like to call them Little Hearts as they are heart shaped. Perfect in time for Valentine's Day.