Puff Pastry Palmier Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for details.
These elegant Puff Pastry Palmier Cookies are so easy to make with just 3 simple ingredients only. They are perfectly crisp, sweet, crunchy, and flaky cookies made with lots of love.
Have you heard of Palmiers? Palmier cookies are one of my all-time favorite treats. These delicate French pastries are crispy, flaky, buttery sweet cookies with the crunch of caramelized sugar. They look fancy and make the perfect effortless holiday cookies.
I’ll let you in on a little secret, though. Despite their impressive appearance, these cookies are super easy to make. It does not get any easier than this! With just two to three ingredients only, you can get these cookies!
What Is Palmier?
A Palmier translated from French simply means ‘palm tree’. It is also called pig ear, elephant ear, French heart, or butterfly cookies. Palmier is e a classic French cookie or pastry made from puff pastry. The puff pastry is rolled out, coated with sugar, and then two sides are rolled up together so that they meet in the middle, making a roll that is then sliced thinly, and baked. It can be served as a breakfast pastry, afternoon snack, or dessert.
Store-Bought Puff Pastry for Quick Palmiers
Palmiers are made with nothing more than a sheet of puff pastry and some sugar. For this recipe, I use store-bought puff pastry because it makes the whole process much easier and quicker. Homemade puff pastry also works just as well. However, be sure to purchase or make one that is made entirely with butter because you want a puff pastry that tastes great on its own.
Folding and Shaping Palmiers
The key to working with puff pastry is to make sure that it is completely defrosted. If the dough starts to get sticky or too soft to handle, pop the dough back in the fridge to allow the butter in the dough to chill so it is easier to work with.
Sprinkle the sugar on top and bottom of the puff pastry dough. Gently roll with a rolling pin so that the sugar sticks to the dough as much as possible. Roll out the dough to make it thinner. It will yield to a crisper cookie.
Palmiers are made by folding together the left and right sides of the puff pastry dough to the middle. Make two or three folds to the center from each side. You can also roll the sides of the puff pastry towards the middle instead of folding to make them a more rounded look. Then, the folded dough is sliced into individual cookies. This is what gives the palmiers their distinctive elephant ear or heart shape.
After baking the cookies at 400F/200°C for 10-12 minutes, quickly flip the cookies over. The cookies will not be completely hardened at this point, but this will help continue the sugar to caramelize and become crispier as they bake for an additional 6-7 minutes.
My Secret for Making Crispy Palmiers
Look at the picture below. These two Puff Pastry Palmier Cookies are made with a slightly different technique. The upper cookies are perfectly crisp and crunchy all throughout with more sugar caramelization. Meanwhile, the below ones are flaky, buttery, and airy with crispy edges. How can these two differ so greatly when they use the same ingredients?
So, my top-secret for making crispy palmier cookies is to roll the dough thinly. These are how they look before they are baked. The thinly rolled dough will rise, but not enough to get those crisp flaky layers.
I personally love the crispy version since you get more sugar caramelization. However, I think it all depends on your preference.
Other Filling Variations
Sugar-filled palmiers are classic. I could still quite easily eat my way through the whole batch. Crunchy sugar is a delicious combination with the crispness and flakiness of the buttery puff pastry.
You can also use all kinds of ingredients from sweet to savory to play around with the flavors. The method of rolling will always be the same. Just be creative with what you use for the fillings.
For the sweet options, you can use other baking spices with the sugar, or add dried fruits, nuts. You can also use jam or chocolate spread for the filling.
On the savory side, add a few spoonfuls of pesto or simply sprinkle a handful of grated parmesan cheese or herbs instead of sugar.
More Puff Pastry Recipes
If you need inspiration about other things you can do with puff pastry, make sure to check out these recipes!
- Maple Pecan Puff Pastry
- Sfogliatine Glassate (Glazed Puff Pastry)
- Simple Puff Pastry Egg Tart
- Apple Cinnamon Puff Pastry
- Puff Pastry Salmon
- Apple Rose Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 cup (200 gr) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F/200°C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon until well combined.
- Sprinkle your work surface generously with the sugar mixture. Place the puff pastry on top. Sprinkle more sugar on top evenly.
- Roll the dough with a rolling pin until it becomes thin for making crisp, crunchy cookies. Or roll it gently for airy, flaky cookies. Rolling will ensure the sugar sticks to the dough.
- Trim the sides with a sharp knife.
- Fold the long sides of the puff pastry towards the center so they go halfway to the middle. Fold them again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough. Fold one half over the other half to resemble a closed book. This will result in 6 layers. Sprinkle with more sugar with each folding to make sure every layer is covered with sugar.
- Use a sharp knife to slice the log across into cookies roughly 3/8-inch (9 mm) wide. Dip each slice into the remaining sugar mixture, just to lightly coat each one. Then, place them on the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave a few inches of space between each slice as they will expand as they bake.
- Lightly spread the wings to create a "V" shape so that when they bake they get the perfect heart shape.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Take them out and flip the cookies to the other side. Bake again for 5-6 minutes or until both sides are golden brown.
- Let the palmiers cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
