Palmiers

One of our families favorite sweet treats, so I had to try this recipe when I came across it in an old Gourmet magazine. Because this recipe uses a puff pastry, be patient, the roll and chill time seems like a lot of work, but you can break up the preparation time over a couple of days. Make the pastry dough a day ahead and roll and bake the cookies the following day. I find that when baking any pastry, chill the ready to bake product on the actual lined cookie sheet prior to baking (place the cookies and the sheet in the refrigerator or freezer for just a few minutes) and your final product will come out much better.
Reminder: as with all recipes containing few ingredients . . . use THE BEST QUALITY ingredients. I especially like using a great quality European butter with this recipe. I always use unbleached flour too.

Ingredients:
1 1/4C Flour(unbleached)
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Sticks unsalted butter, frozen
5-6 T Ice water
1 C Sugar
2 tsp. Cinnamon

Yield: 6 dozen cookies


Preparation:
In a chilled metal bowl, stir together flour and salt. Coarsely grate frozen butter into bowl, toss with flour to coat butter. Drizzle 5 T of water over mixture and gently stir with a fork until incorporated. Test mixture by squeezing in your hand, it should hold together without crumbling apart. If necessary,add an additional T of water, stir just until mixed, do not over mix the dough, and test again to see if it holds together.
Form dough into a 5-inch square, wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes. On a floured surface, roll dough to a 15x8 inch rectangle, with short side near you. Brush off excess flour, fold into thirds, like a letter re-wrap and chill at least 30 minutes. Beginning with the short side near you, roll, fold and chill 2 more times. Following your last fold, cut dough in half, crosswise with a sharp knife,wrap halves separately and chill 1 hour.
Stir together sugar and cinnamon, then generously sprinkle a clean work surface with some of cinnamon sugar and place 1 piece of chilled dough on top. Quickly roll out into a 16- by 12-inch rectangle (1/8 to 1/16 inch thick; if dough becomes too soft, chill on a baking sheet until firm). Trim edges with a sharp knife. Sprinkle top of dough evenly with some cinnamon sugar to cover completely, brushing off any excess. Roll 2 opposite long sides of pastry so they meet in center. Roll both sides of pastry in same manner, then fold one half over the other (like a book) and press gently with a rolling pin to flatten slightly, forming a long rectangular log. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon sugar if dough is sticky.
Chill on a baking sheet, uncovered, until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Meanwhile, repeat with remaining piece of dough and cinnamon sugar.
Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut 1 log of dough crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices with a sharp knife and arrange slices, cut sides down, 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake until puffed and golden around edges, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from oven and turn palmiers over with a spatula. (If palmiers begin to unroll, gently press to reshape when cooled slightly.) Continue baking until golden all over and sugar is caramelized, 3 to 5 minutes more. Transfer as done (palmiers may not bake evenly) to a rack and cool. Make more cookies on cooled baking sheet lined with fresh parchment.
Store in an airtight container, HUMIDITY will have a very negative effect on these cookies. Check out one of my favorite gadgets listed to help with this problem.