French Palmier Holiday Cookies

More holiday baking season recipes! The other day, I posted a German Lebkuchen Cookies Recipe, and now we’re moving on to France with French palmier holiday cookies. This recipe has three ingredients and comes together suuuuper quickly! Not only that, but they look really fancy.

We made Holiday Palmier Cookies in my Family European Cookie Class this week at Cibo & Vino. Let me tell you, NONE of my guests had made palmiers before, but their cookies looked just like the ones in the “patisserie” windows of France.

Options: French Palmier Holiday Cookies

The French eat these pastry cookies year round, and I’ll give you a few tiny tweaks you can do to make them look extra festive for the holidays (hint hint: red and/or green sugar!).

The “OG” French Palmier Holiday cookies are made with puff pastry, melted butter, and sugar, period, the end. The recipe I’m giving you has some great options to kick up the flavor. Your non-OG options are for a fruity palmier or choco-palmiers. Even the OG Palmiers can have a flavor upgrade if you add some cinnamon. (I highly recommend this Vietnamese Cinnamon!)

Shameless Plug

Want to eat these cookies in France? With MEEEEE? Come along with Saints & Sages to Fairytale France & the Black Forest!

Storage: French Holiday Palmier Cookies

These cookies keep for 2-3 days in a sealed container at room temperature. They don’t freeze well, but you can freeze them before you bake them and then bake them directly from frozen! Memo to myself: keep some in the freezer so I can wow my guests with my amazing pastry skills, thereby keeping them from noticing my dust-bunny floors.

This recipe leans heavily on the recipe by Madi at Mildly Meandering.

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French Palmier Holiday Cookies

These pastry-style cookies are eaten year-round in France. They look so fancy! SHHHH! They only require three ingredients and come together very quickly.

NOTE: These cookies need to be stored in an air-tight container and will keep about two days. Do not refrigerate! You can freeze the unbaked cookies after they are cut (or even while they are still in a roll). No need to thaw before baking; just add 1-2 minutes to the cook time.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Resting Time 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Servings 10 people

Calories 200 kcal

Ingredients

  

"OG" Palmiers

• 2 sheets puff pastry thawed but cold
• 1/2 c unsalted butter melted
• 1 c sugar
• sparkling sugar optional, for finish

Fruity

• 2 sheets puff pastry thawed but cold
• jam or thick fruit sauce
• sparkling sugar optional, for finish

Choco-Palmiers

• 2 sheets puff pastry thawed but cold
• haglelslag (see notes) or Nutella
• sparkling sugar optional, for finish

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat oven to 400°F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle sugar on your rolling surface.
• Roll out puff pastry sheets, using a rolling pin to make each sheet about the size of a cookie sheet.
• “OG” Palmiers: Spread half the melted butter on one of the puff pastry sheets, and then sprinkle half of the sugar on top. Sprinkle some colored-sugar as well, if you like. Lay the second puff pastry sheet on top of the first and cover with remaining butter and sugar. Optional: add some colored sugar.

  Fruity Palmiers: Spread a thin layer of jam on one of the puff pastry sheets. Lay the second puff pastry sheet on top of the first and cover with another thin layer of jam.

  Choco-Palmiers: Sprinkle a thin layer of Hagelslag/chocolate sprinkles on one of the puff pastry sheets (or spread Nutella). Lay the second puff pastry sheet on top of the first and cover with another thin layer of sprinkles or Nutella.
• Take the shorter ends of the layered puff pastry sheet, and roll both in to meet in the middle.
• Once the two sides have been rolled up, lightly press them together.
• Wrap the roll in cling wrap, and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for one hour.
• Use a sharp paring knife to cut the pastry into 1/3" slices. (I find they keep their shape best if you have the log facing upside down as you cut). Lay slices flat on lined cookie sheet with a good amount of space in between each, they will expand in the oven.
• Sprinkle the tops with sparkling sugar (if you have it) or regular sugar.
• Bake for 8 minutes before flipping them over and baking for an additional 4 minutes. Pro tip: they'll flip over easier if you make sure the tops are starting to get a little golden first.

Notes

Ingredients

Hagelslag is a Dutch grocery item that looks just like chocolate sprinkles, but tastes oh so much better. Europe has strict controls on chocolate, so these sprinkles are amazing. My favorites are De Ruijters. You can get them on Amazon, or find them at World Market. Check the expiration date before opening!

One traditional Dutch breakfast is buttered bread covered in sprinkles. My kids love it, of course. And I can pat myself on the back for raising kids with sophisticated European palettes. 😉

If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, they have great puff pastry in their freezer section!

Tips

• Defrost your puff pastry for around 30 min. You want it soft enough to work with, but still cold, so the fat doesn’t melt.
• For added flavor, sub cinnamon-sugar for regular sugar in the “OG” Palmier recipe!
• Don’t forget to flip the cookies! You want both sides to be crisp!

 

How to Store

Store the palmiers in an airtight container for up to three days at room temp. Do NOT refrigerate (it makes them really sticky).

Freezing Palmiers

These cookies do not freeze well once they are baked. However, you can freeze them before or after cutting them. Bake from frozen; just add a few minutes longer than you would with thawed cookies.

Keyword christmas cookies, France, Pastry