Saturday, July 14, 2018

Chocolate Almond Palmiers

I've never made palmiers before, but I needed a dairy-free dessert for the tea.  I had a sheet of puff pastry in the freezer, and these are notoriously much easier than they look on the plate.

Palmiers are named because they are supposed to resemble a pig's ears.   That's if you do the rolled-up version.  I like the folded one that looks more like a fanned palm leaf.  There's less chance of an exposed arm of the roll burning before the spiral bakes.

I'm growing fond of rolling stuff out directly on the kitchen counter.  It's some kind of amalgam stone, so as long as I clean it before and after, it's like having a marble work surface.  Some things work better on the wood board, like kneading bread or dealing with sticky things.  Fondant, pie crust, and puff pastry do very well on the stone.

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
1/3 C sugar
*2 Tb cocoa powder
*1/2 C sliced almonds

1.  Preheat oven to 425º and line two baking sheets with parchment or a silpat.

2.  Combine sugar and cocoa powder into chocolate sugar.  Place the almonds in a ziplock and smash into small pieces, but not as fine as almond meal.

3.  Sprinkle half of the chocolate sugar on a work surface.  Lay puff pastry on the sugar and sprinkle the rest on top.  Roll out pastry sheet into a 13"x13" square, smashing the sugar into it in the process.  Sprinkle the top with almonds.
4.  Fold in two sides halfway to the middle.  Then fold over again until they meet in the middle.  Fold those halves again into a single "book".  It's six layers.

5.  Using a very sharp knife, make crosswise slices less than 1/2" thick.  Place slices flat on the baking sheets, 12 to a pan.  Leave a lot of space between because they're going to spread out a lot.  If there's any chocolate sugar left on the board, use it to dust the tops of the slices.

6.  Bake for 6-7 minutes, until tops get crispy.  Flip the cookies and bake the other side for 5 minutes. Since they're chocolate, you can't go by color.  By the time they look done, they're burnt.  Remove to a rack until cooled and crisp.  Store in an airtight container or in the freezer.

Makes about 18

Difficulty rating π

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