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+ servings
Palmiers on a sheet of white parchment paper.

Palmiers Cookies (Elephant Ears)

Course: cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: French
Keyword: easy palmiers recipe, elephant ears pastry, palmiers cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 151kcal
This easy palmiers cookies recipe uses store-bought puff pastry and sugar! That’s it! two ingredients and you have some classic French cookies that are sure to impress.
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Ingredients

  • 2 sheets all-butter puff pastry (520 grams)
  • 1 cup sugar (you won't use all of it)

Instructions

  • If frozen, thaw puff pastry in the fridge overnight or on the counter for about 30 minutes.
  • Sprinkle a cool, flat surface with sugar. Gently open up the sheet of puff pastry and lay flat on top of the layer of sugar. Sprinkle sugar evenly all over the sheet of puff pastry.
  • Fold the long sides of the pastry in ¼ of the way, then sprinkle with more sugar.
  • Fold the long sides toward each other again so they meet in the middle, and sprinkle with more sugar.
  • Using a rolling pin, gently roll down the sheet of puff pastry to deepen the creases so the rectangle will hold the shape. You don’t want it unfolding again!
  • Fold the rectangle in half one more time, and gently roll down the strip of dough so that it is pressed together and holds its shape. Again, you do not want to make the dough thinner, you are just ensuring it stays folded. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and slice into ¼ inch pieces. Place the slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet cut-side down, so you can see all the little folds in the dough. Make sure the folds stay tightly together. Allow plenty of space between each one, as the dough will expand on both sides as they bake.
  • Place them in the oven and begin checking them after about 5 minutes. Cook time could be anywhere between 5 – 15 minutes depending on how big your palmiers are. Once the palmiers are caramelized on the bottom, carefully flip each one over with an offset spatula and return to the oven for 5 more minutes.
  • Remove palmiers from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack. Again, transfer them with an offset spatula and take care not to burn your fingers.

Notes

  • You MUST use ALL BUTTER puff pastry for these palmiers cookies. It simply does not work with Pepperidge Farm. I tried. The sugar just won’t caramelize without that butter.
  • Trader Joe’s sells a two-pack of all butter puff pastry for about $4. There is also a very expensive brand called Dufour. It’s about $11 for one sheet of pastry. I tested with both of these and found that Dufour puffed up more than TJs, but there was no real difference between the two in terms of tastiness. I actually liked the TJ’s ones a bit better in terms of the texture of the cookie overall. So I say, go with the Trader Joe’s puff pastry and have more cookies for less money!
  • WARNING: Do NOT touch these with your fingers when you flip them! This is HOT, MELTED sugar and it will burn you badly and instantly!! An offset spatula works well to flip them over, or chopsticks would also be a good choice. 
 
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Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 13mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 0.2IU | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 1mg