Palmiers

Every now and then I see a recipe made on tv and know that I have to make it.  This is one of those recipes.  I saw Ina Garten make these simple but delicious and impressive cookies on her show and knew instantly that I would be trying these soon.  Along came my birthday, and knowing my love of all things food, my mom gave me a few cookbooks, and among them was Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten.  Guess what recipe was in there?  You got it, this recipe for Palmiers.  I took it as a sign and decided to make them a few days later. 

They fell nothing short of my expectations and Matt agreed that they are really good-he said the only thing wrong was that he wanted more, and was pleasantly surprised when he learned how few ingredients were in there.  He actually asked me if I used a special kind of sugar to make these-the answer is no-I used a regular granulated sugar.  The secret is that since these cookies bake at a rather high temperature, the sugar carmelizes for that extra fancy effect :-) 

This recipe will make about 40-45 cookies, so feel free to cut it in half.  If not, you can also freeze the cookies before baking-no need to defrost.

Palmiers

2 cups granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine the sugar and kosher salt. Pour 1 cup of the sugar/salt mixture on a flat surface such as wooden board or marble. Unfold each sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar and pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top, spreading it evenly on the puff pastry. Make sure to evenly cover with sugar (not sprinkle). With a rolling pin, roll the dough until it's 13 by 13-inches square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the square 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. Then fold 1 half over the other half as though closing a book. You will have 6 layers. Slice the dough into 3/8-inch slices and place the slices, cut side up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place the second sheet of pastry on the sugared board, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar mixture, and continue as above. (There will be quite a bit of sugar left over on the board.) Slice and arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment.

Bake the cookies for 6 minutes until caramelized and brown on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake another 3 to 5 minutes, until caramelized on the other side. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.