I came across a palmier recipe when I was trying to use up a package of puff pastry dough before we moved to Georgia. Palmiers are super simple cookies. You sprinkle sugar over puff pastry dough and roll them up like scrolls (or palm leaves). These cookies are super light, chewy, and sweet. I whipped up a batch of my Crock Pot apple butter and decided to try out apple butter palmiers. I had no idea how these would turn out and was pleasantly surprised at how tasty they were.
The apple butter palmiers only have three ingredients and come together quickly. You do need to flip them once. The apple butter and puff pastry pair well to give a cookie that is sweet yet savory, crispy and flaky yet chewy and caramelized. Because of the sweet and savory flavor combination, you could serve these apple butter palmiers as appetizers or as dessert. Either way, they are delicious. And they are also incredibly easy to eat. The puff pastry is really light, so it’s pretty easy to eat way too many of these.
Be sure to taste your apple butter before you make your cookies. I recommend a third of a cup of sugar, but you should absolutely adjust this based on how sweet your apple butter is. You’ll want to sprinkle an even layer of sugar over the apple butter. It doesn’t need to be a thick layer or completely coat the apple butter. It really should be enough sugar to make the palmiers sweet and caramelized. I would start with a tablespoon or so at a time and then add more if you need to.
The trick to the palmiers keeping their shape is to thaw the dough just enough. Unfold the dough and let it thaw for about 30 minutes. It shouldn’t be stiff, but it also should still have its shape. If you think your dough is too soft, spread the apple butter, roll up the dough, and then chill for about 10 minutes. The dough slices a lot easier when it’s chilled.
Apple butter palmiers
Ingredients
- One package of puff pastry dough, mostly thawed
- 1 cup of apple butter
- 1/3 cup of sugar
Instructions
- Thaw the puff pastry dough until it is not frozen but not so thawed as to be sticky. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Unfold the puff pastry and smooth out the creases.
- Spread a layer of apple butter evenly across the puff pastry. You may not need the whole cup, and you can use your judgement about how much filling you want.
- Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the apple butter. Again, you can use your judgement to the amount you want. I make unsweetened apple butter, so I added more sugar to offset the lack of sugar from the apple butter.
- Lightly score the center line of the puff pastry. Carefully roll each half of the puff pastry dough towards the center line.
- Slice the rolled dough into 1/8″ thick cookies.
- Lay the cookies flat on a lined cookie sheet. Bake on one side for 8 – 10 minutes.
- Flip and bake for an additional 5 – 7 minutes on the second side. Cool before serving.
