Candy Cane Palmiers
Oh, the season of all the baking! It’s my favorite way to love people. As a family, we set aside an afternoon in December and bake our favorite Christmas cookie, sweet, or snack to gift to neighbors.
My kids love candy canes but my daughter loves the sweet peppermint more than most. I was into it this year so decided to experiment a bit. I mixed her love of candy cane and my love of pastry and wallah! The candy cane palmier.
What is a Palmier?
A palmier (pal - mee - ay) is a classic French cookie. Flaky and buttery and the sugar added to them caramelizes just a tad giving it that extra crunch and mouth-watering flavor.
Things to Know
A few notes on making these. I use Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. It comes with 2 in a box. One for you and one for a friend. Maybe. Probably.
You want to make sure the pastry is defrosted but work with it cold. If your home is warm while making these you may want to work through the process (numbers 2-6 in the recipe below), then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will ensure your pastry slices well and doesn’t stick and pull.
We like the Ghirardelli dark chocolate-flavored melting wafers, although the white chocolate wafers would be great too!
Candy Cane Palmiers
Ingredients
1 box puff pastry sheets, 2 sheets
1 2/3 c sugar
6 candy canes, crushed (5 for filling, 1 for topping)
Optional: melted chocolate
How to make Candy Cane Palmiers:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spread 1/2 cup sugar on a clean surface.
Place 1 puff pastry sheet over the sugar and gently roll it out, extending it by a couple of inches in each direction, approximately 10x15 inches.
Cover the top side of the pastry sheet with sugar, 1/3 cup. *See note below for other variations.
Take 5 candy canes and crush them till they’re fine. Sprinkle about half of that over the sugar on the pastry sheet. *See note below for other variations.
Fold sides of pastry into the middle leaving about a 1/2” gap. Fold sides in again the same way then fold two halves together.
Using a sharp knife, slice 1/4” cookies and place on baking sheet.
Repeat process for the second puff pastry sheet.
Bake at 400, for 7 min then flip and bake for 7 more.
Let palmier cool. If desired, drizzle with melted chocolate and top with more crushed candy cane.
Note:
If you find that the pastry seems warm or is difficult to slice (not slicing clean through, dough is sticky), put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes then try slicing.
*Variations to use in place of sugar and candy canes:
Use ½ cup of sugar before folding
Mix ½ cup of sugar with 1 t cinnamon
