Palmier Cookies

Since we posted our rough puff pastry recipe a few months ago, we’ve been experimenting with more treats to make with it. This recipe for palmier cookies has become one of our favorites, because it’s so versatile, you can use it for an elegant appetizer or a dessert.

What Are Palmier Cookies?

Palmier cookies are a classic French cookie/pastry made from puff pastry. The dough is spread out and dusted with sugar, then both edges are rolled inward until they join at the center, creating a double spiral. This roll is then sliced into thin pieces, which are then baked. Once they puff up in the oven, they form that classic heart shape.

Palmier cookies are often dusted in sugar before baking. However, you can use all sorts of fillings—from sweet ones like chocolate and cinnamon sugar to savory ones like goat cheese, pesto, sun-dried tomato, olive tapenade, and herbs.

Sometimes called palm leaves (palmier is “palm tree” in French), French hearts, pig ears, or elephant ears, palmiers can be served as a breakfast pastry, afternoon snack, or dessert.

Palmier cookies have spread all over the world and have different names in various regions. Orejas (Spanish for “ears”) are a similar puff pastry cookie found in panaderías or bakeries in Mexico.

Chinese people call them butterfly pastries, or húdié sū (蝴蝶酥). You can see why: 

Interestingly, these butterfly-shaped palmier cookies are available in bakeries across China. Judy and I used to buy them in batches for mid-afternoon snacks with tea when we lived in Beijing and Shanghai.

ROugh Puff Pastry to Palmiers

Classic palmier cookies are made from puff pastry, topped with sugar and a pinch of salt. Puff pastry is a laminated dough made with alternating layers of dough and butter, rolled and folded over to create flaky layers.

You can buy puff pastry from the store, but you can easily make puff pastry at home with our own easy rough puff pastry recipe. Homemade puff pastry has zero preservatives and no shortening, and is much tastier than most store-bought puff pastry.

Rough puff pastry is significantly easier to make then traditional puff pastry. Making traditional puff pastry is a lot like making croissants. You wrap the dough around a block of cold butter, and execute several exacting rolling and folding steps to create the layers or “lamination” in the dough.

Rough puff pastry, on the other hand, involves cutting the butter into the dough much like making pie crust. The folding process isn’t quite so precise, making it more forgiving, and you don’t need as many stages and folds to achieve that lamination.

Puff pastry freezes well, so you can make a batch and keep it in the freezer for whenever you need a quick and impressive dessert or appetizer. Check out our rough puff pastry recipe here!

Sweet Or Savory Variations

You can make different kinds of sweet and savory palmiers just by tweaking a few ingredients. Serve these at a party, and people won’t believe you made them yourself! Here are some of my favorites:

• Cinnamon Palmiers: Mix the sugar called for in the recipe with 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
• Dark Chocolate Palmiers: Sprinkle ¼ cup (40g) grated dark chocolate over the dough as you’re folding it along with the sugar.
• Toasted Pecan Palmiers: Sprinkle very finely chopped toasted pecans over the dough. Mix with the chocolate or cinnamon sugar variants!
• Parmesan Palmiers: Sprinkle on a handful of grated parmesan cheese and grated black pepper instead of sugar.
• Garlic and Rosemary Palmiers: Spread a mixture of half minced garlic and half minced rosemary over the dough as you’re folding it.
• Sun-Dried Tomato Palmiers: Spread very finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes over the dough as you’re folding it. You can also mix them into goat cheese or cream cheese!
• Olive Tapenade Palmiers: Use your favorite jarred tapenade. This one goes great with cocktails.
• Pesto Palmiers: Jarred or homemade pesto makes the most delicious savory palmiers. It’s such a crowd-pleaser!

To photograph this recipe, we made both classic palmier cookies with just plain sugar and dark chocolate palmier cookies with sugar and finely grated chocolate.

If serving palmiers for dessert, you can put them out on their own with coffee and tea, or serve them with your favorite ice cream!

Can You Freeze Them to Bake Later?

Yes! Freezing palmiers ahead of time is great for parties, or for your own enjoyment if you’d rather have a few at a time hot from the oven. Judy and I will make them in the toaster oven for a super quick fix!

To freeze and bake palmiers later, prepare your palmier cookies on a baking sheet and place them into the freezer for at least 1 hour or until frozen solid. Carefully and quickly (they thaw easily!) stack them neatly into containers and transfer to the freezer.

They can be stored this way for up to a month.

Tips For Success

• Lining the baking sheet with foil and then parchment paper will help prevent the bottoms of your palmier cookies from burning.
• Sugar softens the puff pastry dough, so be sure to work quickly but carefully while rolling, forming, and slicing.
• If the puff pastry dough becomes soft while you are folding your puff pastry, return it to the refrigerator or freezer to cool and firm it back up.
• Give your palmier cookies enough room to expand on the baking sheet. Puff pastry expands and puff ups while baking.

To give you an idea, here’s what they look like before they’ve been baked:

See below for step-by-step photos, and scroll down for the full recipe card!

Classic French Palmiers: Recipe Instructions

Assemble the Palmiers:

First, make our recipe for rough puff pastry.

Roll out the pastry rectangle slightly and split it into two rectangles. Re-wrap and return one of them to the fridge to stay chilled. You will be able to make two batches of palmiers, with different flavors if you like.

Mix together the sugar and salt. Divide the mixture in half (about a ¼ cup each). Spread out 2 tablespoons of the sugar mixture onto a clean work surface and roll out the single puff pastry rectangle into a 12 inch square on top of the sugar. 

As you’re rolling it, you can use your hands to straighten the edges:

Spread another 2 tablespoons evenly on top, and lightly roll it into the dough. Be sure to gather any loose sugar on the work surface and use it on top of the dough. This should use ¼ cup total sugar.

If using any added ingredients (e.g., dark chocolate, pecans, rosemary/garlic, etc.), sprinkle half over the folded dough. (Note, for the savory mixtures, no need to add sugar.) In this example, we’re also adding grated dark chocolate:

Fold both sides of the square toward the center so they go halfway to the middle. Shown below are both the classic plain sugar version:

And the chocolate version:

Fold the folded sides again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough.

If using any added ingredients (e.g., dark chocolate, pecans, rosemary/garlic, etc.), sprinkle more over the folded dough.

Fold in half again so you have one long log, and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator or 15 minutes in the freezer.

Repeat the process using the other half of the dough and sugar/salt mixture.

Cut & Bake the Palmiers

Preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into ½ inch pieces.

At this point, sprinkle a bit more loose sugar on them if any fell out of the log.

You can also make a little ‘V’ in the top of them to make sure they spread.

Place them on a baking sheet at least 3 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, layered on top of a piece of aluminum foil. 

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve with coffee or tea and enjoy!