Sometimes called Elephant Ears, Palmiers are crisp, flakey French pastries. Mixed with caramelized brown sugar and a warm spice blend of cardamom and ginger, these Palmiers are amazing with a short espresso and some afternoon banter.
FULL DISCLOSURE: The first few times I tried palmiers as a young adult, I was not very impressed. I liked the crispness, but the sweet always seemed kind of one-dimensional, and left me feeling like I wanted more out of a treat. Fast forward to 2019, and I’ve taken this simple little pastry in a bolder direction.
The key to making great palmiers
Since there are only 4 ingredients in this recipe, they each need to make a big impact! I start by using all-butter, high quality puff pastry. You can 100% make your own Homemade Puff Pastry, and it’s actually super simple and takes about 15 minutes. Or, go with a brand like Dufour. Next, in place of the standard granulated white sugar, I love using dark brown sugar. Brown sugar has added molasses that adds true depth and lots of caramel flavor.
The greatest addition, IMO, is adding unexpected ground cardamom from the Yemeni spice blend Hawaij. The word Hawaij refers to two spice blends, actually: one savory and one sweet. The savory blend of turmeric, black pepper, cumin, and cinnamon is used in soups. The sweet blend that is used in coffee has ground ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves and adds tremendous warmth and depth. My favorite, long-trusted blend is made by Pereg and can easily be purchased online.
Last, but certainly not least, is the importance of adding a bit of kosher salt to balance out all this rich buttery flavor, caramelized brown sugar, and warm spices. If you haven’t noticed yet, all of my recipes contain salt. That’s because it doesn’t just make food taste salty, it actually makes the flavors of your food taste much more intense. This strongly applies in baking too, and adding salt is super important to balancing out sweetness.
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Brown Sugar Cardamom Palmiers
Sometimes called Elephant Ears, Palmiers are crisp, flakey French pastries. Mixed with caramelized brown sugar and a warm spice blend of cardamom and ginger, these Palmiers are a truly elevated classic
Ingredients
- 1 sheet all butter puff pastry, thawed but cool
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons sweet hawaij spice blend
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread 1/2 cup of the brown sugar on a work surface. Unfold the sheet thawed sheet of puff pastry on top of the sugar.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar on top of the puff pastry, so the whole sheet of pastry is evenly coated. Sprinkle the hawaij spice blend all over the pastry as well.
Roll one side of the pastry in towards the center, tightly. Repeat with the other side, then place the pastry on its side.
Using a sharp knife, slice 1/2-inch cookies. Place the cookies flat on the prepared baking sheet, so they look like small heart-shapes, about 2 inches apart. Adjust the swirls if they've come loose, or are uneven.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until crisp and golden brown on the bottom, then use an offset spatula to gently flip the Palmiers over, and bake for another 5 minutes, until thoroughly golden brown.