Puff pastry with hazelnuts and hazelnut/cocoa spread in the shape of angel wings. These cookies taste like they came from a fancy pastry shop, and take only minutes to prepare. They do require some planning; only because you have to defrost the puff pastry and allow time to chill the cookies before baking. But really, it’s just a couple of passes with your rolling pin, spread the filling, roll and slice, chill and bake.

Ingredients for 20 palmiers:
1/4 cup sugar mixed with 2 tablespoons of finely-ground Greek coffee
1 sheet frozen all-butter puff pastry (10″ x 7″)
3 tablespoons of hazelnut and/or cocoa spread
2 tablespoons skinned toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped

Method:
1) Coat the dough in sugar and Greek coffee. Sprinkle about half of the sugar and coffee mix over your work surface, set the chilled puff pastry on top. Sprinkle the remaining mixture over the pastry. Roll it into the pastry with a couple of passes of your rolling pin, or the nearest wine bottle. Turn the dough, and flip it over once or twice, and continue to roll the sugar mix into the surface of the pastry until most of the Greek coffee is incorporated and will caramelise combined with the sugar. This shouldn’t take more than a dozen or so passes.

2) Spread the paste over the pastry with a small metal spatula. This is the only tricky part, you don’t want to tear the pastry, and the dough will want to slide around. I have found that if you warm the spread, just a bit, you will have much better luck. Using the microwave on it’s lowest setting, warm the spread for just a few seconds at a time, until it is more spreadable. Don’t be tempted to slather on a thick layer of spread. More is not better when it comes to this recipe. Use only a very thin layer of spread, or it will ooze out and burn on the bottom in the oven. Next, sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts over the pastry.

3) With the tip of a knife cut a tiny notch to mark the middle along the short edge of the pastry. Carefully roll each long side of rectangle toward the centre line, so the sides meet in the middle. Wrap rolled pastry in plastic and put it in the freezer until firm, at least 30 minutes.

4) Preheat oven to 200˚C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

5) Use a sharp knife to cut pastry roll into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet with a couple of inches between the cookies. They will spread out during cooking. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge for 15 minutes.

6) Bake until golden brown, 15-18 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!