To be honest I do have a little bit of a sweet tooth issue. Once I start with the candy and cookies I can't stop. This is a picture of one of my favourite types of cookies. These cookies are called palmiers (ˈpä(l)mēā) AKA Elephant Ears. In French it means Palm Tree. They are delicate cookies that are flakey, but almost sticky like honey on the edges, and then drizzled with sugar. Here maybe you should try making them yourself if you have time; TO THE RECIPE...
Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
Extra granulated sugar for dusting
3 to 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 (17-1/4 ounce) package frozen butter puff pastry sheets, thawed
Preparation
Line baking sheets with parchment Paper or a Silpat baking mat
In a small bowl, mix together 3/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon; set aside.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar on a clean work surface.
Gently unfold one of the pastry sheets. Place the pastry sheet on top of the sugared work surface, and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 of the sugar/cinnamon mixture to within 1/2-inch of the edges. Gently press the sugar/cinnamon into the pastry.
Using a rolling pin, gently roll out the dough into a 9 x 15-inch rectangle 1/8 inch thick, being careful not to press too hard around the edges. Continually coat both sides of the rolling pin with sugar.
Place the dough so one of the long sides is closest to you. Using your fingers, roll the dough length-wise into a long cylinder, as tightly as possible without stretching it (as you would a roll of wrapping papers), stopping when you reach the middle. Repeat the same rolling procedure with the other long side until you have two (2) tight cylinders that meet in the middle. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap; place in the refrigerator to chill at least 1 hour.
After the dough has chilled, remove from the refrigerator and unwrap the dough. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick slices (they’ll look like little scrolls). Sprinkle the tops with approximately 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Place the palmiers on the prepared baking sheets, and firmly flatten with the palm of your hand. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Repeat with remaining dough sheet, if desired.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Place the palmiers in the oven and bake 5 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees and continue baking until the pastry is golden brown and well caramelized, approximately 10 minutes.
NOTE: if baking more than one sheet at a time in one oven, switch positions halfway through baking. Remove from the oven; using a thin spatula, immediately transfer the palmiers to a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve shiny side up. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Palmiers are best the day they're made. Store palmiers airtight at room temperature up to 3 days; freeze to store longer.
One sheet of pasty dough makes about 20 Palmiers.
... Back to the whole face thing. If you cant tell it looks like the cookie is smiling. Sometimes we find ourselves in a place where we don't want to smile, but we have to slap a grin on. For example, today I think I might have just lost my best friend, Katy, because I gave up to sticking and believing to our friendship just because Ellie didn't want us to be friends. Now it felt terrible to have to leave such a strong friendship after seven years. But nobody wants to walk into there local Starbucks crying like a fool, even if you lost a best friend. So I slap a smile on. It is completely a fake one because I would have been sobbing at the time and someone might have called the police because they could have easily thought that I has been sexually harassed or assaulted. But life goes on. Nobody wants to be stuck in a hole forever, so you dig yourself out, no matter how much it hurts, and slap a smile on your face, even if it's completely fake.
-m
