Recipe

Palmiers (Elephant Ears)

Recipe by Sarah Bernstein

Palmiers are buttery and light French pastries. With only two ingredients, this simple pastry feels sophisticated. For this recipe, you’ll need an oven, baking sheets, parchment paper, a rolling pin, and a sharp knife.

Ingredients

  • Puff pastry (homemade or store-bought) 1 sheet
  • White sugar 2-3 cups
  • Directions

    1

    Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

    2

    Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

    3

    Sprinkle work surface with a cup of sugar.

    4

    Place sheet of puff pastry on top of sugar and sprinkle with remaining cup of sugar.

    5

    Use a rolling pin to press sugar into pastry dough as you work it into a large rectangle (9 by 13 inches minimum).

    6

    Continue to sprinkle sugar over and under dough to prevent sticking.

    7

    For extra crispness, sprinkle more sugar over the top of the dough and use hands to spread it out evenly.

    8

    Find the center of the dough and either roll the ends towards the center, with two logs meeting in the middle, or fold the sides so that they are halfway towards the center and then fold again so that they meet at the center, then fold one side over the other similarly to closing a book.

    9

    Freeze dough for 15-30 minutes.

    10

    Cut log into roughly ¼ of an inch sized pieces and place on the prepared sheet with at least half an inch left between cookies for expansion.

    11

    (Optional) Sprinkle the top with more sugar before placing in the preheated oven for 6-12 minutes, depending on whether you are using store bought or homemade puff pastry, until dough is puffed and pale, and the sugar is a light brown.

    12

    Carefully flip each cookie over before placing the tray back in the oven for 3-6 minutes or until tops are evenly brown.

    13

    Remove tray and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack.

    14

    Allow cookies to cool completely before eating! Melted sugar is very hot and can burn you.