Puff pastry palmiers, also known as French hearts, are crispy cookies that are part of dry pastries in many countries. Crunchy and tantalizing, with that caramelized crust, they are truly irresistible.
To prepare them, you only need two ingredients, in my case three, as I enriched the classic sugar-only filling with some lemon zest to add a touch of freshness, and in just over half an hour you can already have them on the table.
Lemon puff palmiers are great to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee, or even to take on a picnic or to a lunch with friends.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 20Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 roll puff pastry (rectangular)
- 6 oz sugar
- 2 lemons (zest)
Steps
To prepare the lemon puff palmiers, remove the puff pastry from the fridge and let it come to room temperature while you prepare the rest.
Place 3.5 oz of sugar in a deep dish, add the zest of the previously washed and dried lemon, and mix.
Spread the remaining 0.7 oz of sugar on the work surface, unroll the puff pastry, and place it on the sugar. Spread the lemon sugar over the entire surface of the pastry and roll over it with a rolling pin, so that both the sugar spread on the puff pastry, and the one underneath, adhere to the pastry.
At this point, fold the pastry in half, as you would to close a book, then unfold it. Now fold one short side a third towards the middle, then another third, to reach the center. Do the same with the other short side. Then fold in half, so that the two folded sides overlap. Place the pastry on a sheet of baking paper and refrigerate for 10 minutes while preheating the oven.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (fan-assisted).
Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut it into slices of about 0.4 inches. Place the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, with the cut side facing up. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then flip the palmiers and bake again for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let the lemon puff palmiers cool on a rack before enjoying them in all their crispiness.
