Who doesn’t love palmier? These gluten free palmier are just as crunchy, sugary, and flaky as you could possibly remember them to be!!
After I successfully made my glorious gluten free puff pastry, one of the very first things I knew I had to make was palmiers. So of course I did just that. But for whatever reason, I realized I never put them on the blog! So here they are!!
I asked Scott if he wanted to try one and he said “what’s a palmier?” Who in the world doesn’t know what a palmier is?!?! Or am I just one of those weird people who seems to care all about French pastries? Maybe I was a French pastry chef in a former life, haha! Scott was always an eat-to-live kinda guy anyway, not the other way around like me.
Needless to say, he loved these palmiers, so I can mark them down as another thing I got him to try and like. Slowly but surely, I’m turning him into a gourmet 😁🤣
What are Gluten Free Palmier?
For those of you who don’t know (like my husband), palmiers are delectable little crunchy French pastries that are incredibly addictive. It only requires two ingredients to make palmiers: puff pastry and sugar (I don’t count the tiny bit of cinnamon I add to the sugar). And in this instance, my gluten free puff pastry works perfectly!!
However, if you’d rather take the easy way out, you can always buy gluten free puff pastry and use that to make these crunchy caramelized “cookies.” I can’t promise they’ll be as wonderful as these, though.
Rolling out the Pastry
Once you make the gluten free puff pastry, it couldn’t be simpler to roll out these pastries!!
- Begin by sprinkling your surface with granulated sugar that’s been touched with just a pinch of cinnamon. That’s right, no flour!!
- Roll out the dough into a large rectangle approximately 1/8-inch thick, adding more sugar on top and bottom as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Trim the edges.
- Fold the pastry in half lengthwise and then unfold. We do this to get a crease where the middle of the pastry is.
- Fold each side halfway to the middle, and then again completely to the middle, adding more sugar as needed on each layer.
- Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour, but no more. Any more than that and the sugar will liquify.
- Unwrap the pastry and cut into roughly 1/2-inch thick slices.
- Dip each side in sugar and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Fan out the “ears” to get them started in the oven.
- Bake until the sugar is caramelized on the bottom, about 20 minutes. Flip and bake another 10 minutes on the other side.
How Do I Store Palmier?
Palmiers are best the day they’re made, but they will keep for a few days in an airtight container. After that, the sugar will begin to liquify and the palmiers will begin to lose their crispness. You may be able to keep this from happening by storing them in a glass container.
Can I Make Savory Instead of Sweet Palmier?
Looking for the perfect little appetizer that will only take you minutes to make? Here are some great suggestions for savory palmier fillings:
- Homemade or store bought pesto
- Mustard and cheddar cheese
- Chopped fresh rosemary and roasted garlic
- Fig preserves and goat cheese crumbles
- Feta crumbles and sun dried tomatoes
You can also check out my cheese straws and veggie pizza for other uses for glorious gluten free puff pastry!
Crunch, crunch, crunch. That’s the sound great gluten free palmier should make when you bite into them! That’s the sound of caramelized sugar and puff pastry coming together. What could be more addictive??
Gluten Free Palmier
Ingredients
- glorious gluten free puff pastry
- ¾ cup granulated sugar, turbinado sugar, or demerara sugar
- pinch of cinnamon
Instructions
- Remove puff pastry from refrigerator and allow it to come to cool room temperature, about 20-30 minutes.
- Sprinkle a good handful of sugar onto your counter. Roll out puff pastry into a rectangle about ⅛ inch thick, adding more sugar on top or bottom of pastry to keep it from sticking.
- Fold the pastry in half lengthwise just to mark where the middle is, and unfold. Fold each side halfway to the middle and then again to reach the middle, leaving a small gap of about ¼ inch in the middle to allow it to fold over itself (you can place a long ruler or other straight edge in the middle to make sure the gap is there). Then fold one side over the other as your final fold.
- Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes, no more than an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Remove pastry from the refrigerator and unwrap (it may be slightly tacky from the sugar). Slice it into ½-inch thick slices. Dip each side of each slice into more sugar and place at least 2-3 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Carefully flip the palmier over and continue baking for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Palmier are best eaten the day they're made, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.
Another win from your Let Them Eat GF Cake!!! I made these today, with a bit of fear since puff pastry is such a finnicky thing even for non GF but I shouldn’t have feared!!! They’re delicious, with a perfect bite and beautiful texture. Thank you for bringing us ideas and resources to improve the quality and variety of our GF baking. Much love <3
Awe, yay Gabriela!!!! So glad you tackled your fear and realized they weren’t that bad to make after all 😍😍😍