Post by Giulia, photographer and blogger at Giulia Doyle

I love the versatility and ease of use of store bought puff pastry. Having a couple of rolls in your freezer allows for all kinds of last minute creations and I thought I’d share these easy sweet and savory palmiers with you today. The sweet palmiers I created remind me of morning buns and the savory pesto ones are a perfect afternoon snack or quick cocktail appetizer. The kids had a lot of fun folding these and then enjoying their spoils.

Cinnamon Sugar Lemon Palmier (1 dozen)

• 1 sheet of puff pastry thawed
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• Zest of one lemon

Directions

1. Combine sugar with cinnamon and zest
2. Lightly sprinkle a piece of parchment with sugar mixture. Place the puff pastry on top and roll to a rectangle 8 by 26 inches and approximately 1/8 inch thick if it does not already come rolled out. Sprinkle generously with the rest of the sugar mixture.
3. Fold rectangle in half on long end and unfold again. Working quickly but gently, fold each long end to the center line of the pastry and then fold again. The fold will look like an open book. Freeze folded log for 20 minutes, until very firm but not frozen.
4. Slice crosswise into 3/8-inch slices. Place palmiers 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet and press down on each one with the palm of your hand until they are about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle the center of each with sugar that fell off during folding.
5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake palmiers 10 minutes, until golden on the underside.
6. Carefully flip with a spatula, pressing down to flatten if palmiers seem to be unrolling. Bake 8 minutes more, watching carefully, until golden and crisp.
7. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Pesto Palmiers (1 dozen)

• 1 sheet of puff pastry thawed
• 2-4 tablespoons of store-bought pesto

Directions

1. Place the puff pastry on top of a sheet of parchment and roll to a rectangle 8 by 26 inches and approximately 1/8 inch thick if it does not already come rolled out.
2. Fold rectangle in half on long end and unfold again. Spread with pesto from edge to edge.
3. Working quickly but gently, fold each long end to the center line of the pastry and then fold again. The fold will look like an open book. Freeze folded log for 20 minutes, until very firm but not frozen. Slice crosswise into 3/8-inch slices. Place palmiers 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet and press down on each one with the palm of your hand until they are about ¼ inch thick.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake palmiers 10 minutes, until golden on the underside.
5. Carefully flip with a spatula, pressing down to flatten if palmiers seem to be unrolling. Bake 8 minutes more, watching carefully, until golden and crisp.
6. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Giulia Doyle concentrates on food photography and travel photography – using the full color spectrum. She tries to live life to its fullest and will take every opportunity to travel or entertain. With her lovely family, she has big dreams of cottages by the ocean, boutique bed and breakfasts, brick and mortar stores or possibly moving back to Europe – if only she could make up her mind!