Berry Palmiers
Palmiers are flakey Puff Pastry spirals coated with turbinado sugar and baked until golden and crisp. Berry Palmiers are made all the more delicious from the burst of berries you get from the jam swirled with the laminated dough. Plus, those little pink scrolls of pastry are pretty darn cute.
When I was little, my mother used to bring home Palmiers from our local grocery store. She adored them. I, on the other hand, was in a mint-chocolate-chip-ice-cream-or-bust phase for much of my youth, so I wasn’t terribly interested. But last year when I was learning how to make Puff Pastry I made a batch. I was introduced to the crunchy explosion of butter and sugar when fresh from the oven and was thus a newly converted Palmier fan.
Puff Pastry can be time consuming but I make these Berry Palmiers with Rough Puff Pastry dough (see my recipe) that cut the time in half, and are just as crisp and delicious. And the buttery smell coming out of the oven is to die for. You can use any berry jam you like or make your own. I’m in love with Bonne Maman Raspberry and Mixed Berry. Just remove any large pieces of fruit or you’ll have trouble neatly slicing your Palmiers.
Berry Palmiers Recipe:
Yield:
18-24 small Palmiers
Difficulty:
Moderate
Special equipment:
Silicon baking mat
Ingredients
½ cup berry jam of your choice, room temp
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/2rough Puff Pastry recipe
4 TBSP turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)
Instructions
Remove any large pieces of fruit from your jam and mix thoroughly with cornstarch. Set aside.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out your pastry dough into a square about 12 x 12 inches. Trim any uneven edges. (Note: The more you trim away the fewer cookies you get so try to get close to 12 x 12.)
Cover with the turbinado sugar and lightly roll your rolling pin back and forth over the dough a few times to press the sugar into the dough. See photo below.
Flip the square of dough over so the sugary side is down, and spread your jam mixture evenly across the dough. An offset spatula works great for this.
Roll up opposite sides of the dough toward the middle like a scroll. See photo below. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes.
Tip: Use a bench scraper to help you get started if it’s sticking a little.
Preheat oven to 400° F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicon mats.
Tip: Puff pastry needs the heat of the 400° oven to “fry” the dough. If the oven is cooler than that, the butter will simply melt out. Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is hot enough.
Tip: I first made these with parchment and they came out beautifully except the melted jam caused the Palmiers to stick to the paper. Avoid this by using oven safe silicon baking mats.
Gently cut your scroll of puff pastry dough into 1/2 inch slices using a serrated knife. Wipe excess jam off your knife between slices. Place slices 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Freeze for 15 minutes or refrigerate for 30 to firm up.
Tip: If it’s taking you a little time to slice, refrigerate then bake your first batch while you slice the rest for the second batch.
Bake for 15 minutes until light golden brown.
Let sit for 5 minutes on baking pans then transfer cookies to cooling racks to cook completely.
These are best eaten the day they’re made but will last up to 2 days in an airtight container. Do not refrigerate!
