Tis the season to bake & be merry! I love Christmas and all of the baking that goes along with it. As most of you know, I’m not such a great baker like some of my awesome foodie blogger friends like Jamie, Meeta, Deeba, Marla,Lora, Barb, & Shulie just to name a few! Go check out there awesome blogs! These gals are such wonderful bakers, they have inspired me to bake and have taught me that baking is fun and that I should not be intimidated by the art of baking! Thank you gals for giving me confidence & encouragement when it comes to Baking! xo
I have always loved Palmiers, my first time biting into these delicious crispy, flaky, & buttery cookies was in Paris which certainly was a memorable experience. Palmiers, originated in France, are a palm shaped cookies sometimes called Palm leaves or elephant ears.
Palmiers are made from puff pastry which is an alternating layers of dough and melted butter. I rolled out the puff pastry which by the way needs to be thawed out in the fridge overnight , coated with cinnamon sugar, and then the two sides are rolled up together so that they meet in the middle, making a roll that is then cut into about 1/4″ slices. I sprinkled some more sugar on the cookies before baking in a very hot oven of 450 degrees.
Once the cookies were cooled, I dipped them in melted chocolate and coated them with sliced almonds. Chocolate ganache that I used in this recipe was melted left over Hershey chocolate bars from Halloween {a great tip if you want to use your Halloween candies before they get old}.
Try this easy yet impressive recipe, your family & friends will think you slaved over baking these scrumptious cookies all day! 
RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE GANACHE & ALMOND COVERED PALMIERS
INGREDIENTS FOR THE PALMIERS:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup melted salted butter
- 2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted {Pepperidge Farm}
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
- 12-15 smaller {Halloween size} Hershey’s chocolate bars
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup of sliced almonds
METHOD:
- Thaw the pastry in the refrigerator overnight.
- Pre-Heat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Roll out the pastry sheets into 12 in by 12 inch squares.
- Combine the melted butter, sugar & cinnamon mixture.
- Brush the mixture on to the puff pastry, quite generously.
- Fold the sides from both sides, until they meet in the middle.
- Fold one half over the other half.
- Cut the pastry into slightly less than one inch slices.
- Place them flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the cookies lightly with some cinnamon sugar.
- Bake for 5 minutes on each side.
- Yields about 35-40 cookies
METHOD FOR GANACHE:
- Heat the heavy cream in a sauce pan until almost comes to a boil.
- Turn off the heat.
- Add chocolate bars and mix until melted.
- Cool the Palmiers.
- Dip half of the Palmiers in the ganache and place on a cookied sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the cookies with sliced almonds.
- Let it cool & chocolate will set.
- Enjoy.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Sara, how sweet are you? As sweet as these fabulous palmiers (if one can be so bold as to give such a common name to something so beautiful?)? I always say, some are cooks and some are bakers so you can only be as envious of us bakers as I am of you as a cook! But for someone who doesn’t think she is a baker these treats are fabulous!!!! Stunning! So much more decadent and elegant than plain old palmiers! And photographed like these they are perfect! I am so thrilled to have met you on twitter and can now call you friend! xo
I agree with Jamie – we all have our aspects in life in which we excel in. I have to be honest I do not see where you are NOT a good baker. These look stunning!
who knew they are called palmiers? Of course Sara
puff pastry with chocolate and cinnamon is on my list of favorite things and here u r, taking them to whole new level and class and u say you are not a good baker! Its beautiful!
First off, I must thank you for your sweet compliments. To be thought of as a baker is just huge to me. I am trying to get more into it & I have discovered how mush I love it. You are a dear friend & incredibly talented cook & baker. These palmiers are beautiful & I bet very delicious. The ganache & almonds help to steal the show! xo
Lovely and decadent, I agree with both Jamie and Meeta in being confused when you say you aren’t a baker.
I echo the girls sentimengts at the risk of sounding redundant and saying, everything you touch in the kitchen whether baking or cooking is magical. Just look at these gorgeous pictures!! It was such a nice surprise to wake up to this shout out and I much appreciate it. You are a wonderful friend Sara! Something about Palmiers I absolutely love but you elevated it higher and it looks so much more decadent!! I hope you have a great Tuesday!! Shulie
My first time to your amazing site! The images of these chocolate & almond covered palmiers just takes my breath away. These are elegant and would be lovely for Sunday brunch or afternoon/evening tea. I really like that there’s minimal time in preparing to achieve such a delicious outcome!
Thank you ALL for your sweet comments! luv you guys! I had a bad day of baking one day last week, but did not give up…visited your lovely blogs and felt encouraged to bake again!
gorg! they look like perfection and amazing photos!
and stop saying you can’t bake–you soooooooo CAN!
who said you cannot bake? I agree to you about the gals that you mentioned – they are just awesome!.
These are beautiful Sara and use the pastry puffs a lot.. but mostly for savory pinwheels etc and sometimes sweet sprinkled cinnamon. My kids (and me too) would LOVE this. and yes some good use of the childrens loot of halloween
Thank you Nadia & Soma! xo
Shhh! No one would know that you didn’t work all day making these! They are beautiful and are perfect to serve to guests. I think lots more baking is definitely in your future.
Your palmiers look fantastic, Sara! I always have puff pastry in the freezer and this is the perfect use for it when I need a quick dessert. Thanks for sharing!
Sara, these are simply gorgeous. The color contrast in the photos is stunning!
Of course you are a good baker
Thanks Nisrine!
Sara, you did a gorgeous job on these. I always think palmiers would be quite intimidating but you really pulled it off! I love all the colorful photos as well. You are quite talented.
wow these look amazing the French have the best pastries
love the pictures as well
Rebecca
Sara- thesenare gorgeous! Thank you form such sweet words about my baking. I think younare a fabulous baker and I love all that you make. You are talented and creative. Much love to you during the holidays. Mybe I will see you on twitter? Xoxo
Sara- the screen froze while I was fixing my typos.lol. Sorry for the errors. Xoxo
Lora
this looks tasty!
I’ve loved palmiers since I was a kid, too. It’s all those buttery, sugary layers that make them seem extra special. And I think yours are even MORE special with that lovely chocolate and coating of almonds. Yum!
Whoa, that’s an AWESOME holiday gift idea right thr girl! Why did I not see it before
Maybe I can make some frnz happy this new yrs!!
Wish u a very happy holidays Sara!
These look absolutely delectable. Merry holidays and lovely work, Sara!