Dessert in a Pinch

The other night the bf's cousin came to dinner. There wasn't a lot of notice, so I didn't have time to fuss over making a dessert like a cake or pie or some other confection worthy of company.

I went through the list of ingredients I had on hand and the time frame I had to work with, and then remembered this wonderful recipe from Ann Burrell for Palmiers. This is a quick and tasty little dessert that can be served up for just about any occasion that you need something lightly sweet. These little Palmiers are not too filling (unless you eat a dozen and I have...in one sitting) and you can add a couple of things to the cinnamon and sugar to dress it up.

Ingredients 1/2 cup white sugar, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, zest from one medium/large orange, 1 sheet puff pastry. Now here is the fun part you could cut out some of the sugar (like one or two tablespoons)and mix in some finely ground pecans or walnuts. You could also scrape a vanilla bean into the cinnamon and sugar along with the orange zest. Just don't overdue it go easy and keep the flavors light.

The next step is you take your cinnamon and sugar mix and spread half of it onto your work surface and place your sheet of puff pastry on top.

Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top.

By rolling out the puff pastry lightly you embed the cinnamon and sugar mixture into both sides of the pastry dough.

Roll the puff pastry up from each of the short sides keeping each roll tight and the same size, pinch each roll together so it holds it shape.

Cut 1/4 in. slices and place each slice on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees. Bake for about 10 min. on one side then flip the cookies over and bake an additional 8 min. or so depending on your oven. You want them to be golden brown.

Now admittedly I have to sorta play with mine after I slice them to get them to hold their shape and look good, so feel free to do the same.

But in the end you are going to end up with a plateful of happiness. These cookies are best if allowed to cool completely. They crip up the cooler they get, which makes for a really delightful cookie that is perfect to serve.