Gluten-Free Cinnamon Sugar Palmiers

By: www.anyonita-nibbles.co.uk
These flaky French puff pastry cookies have been given a gluten-free makeover and are jam-packed with sweet sugar and cinnamon!

Yield: 2 dozen
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 6 minutes
Diet: Gluten-Free

Palmiers sort of have an identity crisis--they are known by so many different names: pig's ear, elephant ear, palm leaves, coeur de France, French hearts, shoe-soles and even glasses. It doesn't matter what you call them, you'll be too busy devouring them to say much of anything apart from "Yum!" and "OMG!".

Beyond not knowing what name they want to be called, they also don't know what they want to even be. Are they a cookie? Are they a pastry? What are they?! I think these gluten-free cinnamon sugar palmiers are delicious; especially when dunked into a cup of milky tea or a frothy latte. These are total "Yassssssss" cookies. 

There are two names any foodie Francophile knows: Julia Childs and Larousse. According to the Larousse Gastronomique (an entire food encyclopedia, y'all) a palmier is:

A small pastry made of a sugared and double-rolled sheet of puff pastry cut into slices, the distinctive shape of which resembles the foliage of a palm tree, first made at the beginning of the 20th century.

Traditionally, palmiers don't feature cinnamon, but cinnamon and sugar is such a natural match made in heaven that I could not resist pairing them together and letting them strut their stuff, oozing out of the layers of coiled flaky pastry hot and delicious. If you want to do it like the French did last century, then skip the cinnamon. They'll still be amazing. 

Like any good cookies, palmiers are ready in less than 10 minutes and don't need much preparation either. The trickiest bit of this entire recipe is coiling up the pastry tight enough to get that lovely spiral, but you'll soon get the hang of it! Oh and a bit of a warning--the sugar and the cinnamon will get everywhere! But for such a delightful light, buttery, crispy French cookie, you can overlook the sugary countertops! 

For this recipe, I used Asda's absolutely amazing gluten-free puff pastry. That stuff is magical! For years, puff pastry was something coeliacs could only dream about (or make themselves)! I'm so pleased that such a large retailer is producing their own gluten-free puff pastry and selling it readily! It's made my gluten-free meals and desserts so much more interesting! 

My local Asda stocks the gluten-free puff pastry in the chilled section with the other free-from foods. If you've got a lot of time on your hands, you can make your own homemade puff pastry. This would be the perfect way to show off your pastry-making talents, too! Or you can be like me and shamelessly pick up a box of the ready-made stuff and spend the time you could be using to roll and turn dough to bingewatch on Netflix. 

Of course, without the gluten that makes it stretchy and ultra-puffy, gluten-free puff pastry doesn't perform the way it's gluten counterpart does. Things won't get super puffy, but they'll still be lovely! If you don't need to eat gluten-free, you can make these palmiers using normal puff pastry, too! Just swap out the pastry and follow the instructions below.

Ingredients:

For the Palmiers
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 140 grams (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 280 grams (1 pack) gluten-free puff pastry
Need a conversion? Use this handy chart.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 250c/450f and prepare one or two baking trays with a silicone baking sheet or baking paper.
2. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
3. Remove the shop-bought gluten-free puff pastry from the box and place on a piece of parchment paper. (I just used the paper that the pastry was wrapped in!)
4. Cover the puff pastry with half of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
5. Press gently with a rolling pin to carefully stretch the dough and press the sugar and cinnamon into the pastry.
6. Roll the pastry up around the pin or simply flip it over to the un-sugared side.
7. Sprinkle the rest  of the cinnamon and sugar over top and again roll gently with a rolling pin.
8. Roll the long ends of the pastry into a tight coil. Repeat with both sides of the pastry until they meet in the middle.
9. Slice the dough using a sharp knife and carefully place each sliced cookie on the prepared baking tray(s). You may need more than one tray. 
10. Bake in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until the cookies are browned. Remember, gluten-free puff pastry will not puff as much as normal puff pastry, so don't wait for this to happen! They'll still be delicious!

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If you liked this recipe, you may want to check out my gluten-free lavender and rose French macarons recipe that makes an excellent edible Mother's Day gift! Remember UK Mother's Day is March 11, 2018!