Quick holiday cookies
Holidays perfect for quick cookies
Confession: I’m not much of a holiday baker. I don’t roll out gingerbread men and carefully decorate them; I don’t whip up buttery shortbread. I don’t participate in cookie exchanges.
It’s not that I don’t love eating those holiday-themed sweets (and thank you, friends who bestow their own culinary efforts on me).
It’s that I’m usually travelling to see family back home and don’t need a lot of baking around my house for entertaining or nibbling on while watching Christmas movies and decorating the tree. (Me in a house full of baking without a way to dole them out equals me eating a lot of baking.)
Instead, I get my fix in my mom’s kitchen where we make her signature mocha shortbread, English toffee and jam cookies.
There, at least, there are people to share in the eating.
All this doesn’t mean, however, that I don’t still have the urge to preheat the oven and put in something tasty on these short, cold December days.
And, yes, even though I leave town, I’ve learned it’s never a bad idea to have a few cookies on standby for last-minute guests or invitations to visit. I consider this less as holiday baking and more of ensuring there ‘are supplies for emergency entertaining (or being entertained).
Since this time of year means lots of outings — holiday parties and seasonal meet-ups with friends — I thought it would be good to add a new cookie to my arsenal: something easy and quick that can be made with just a couple of ingredients and little to no effort. Something I could easily whip up with things I have on hand and just a bit of time.
And yet, something I’d still be happy to share. And nibble on myself.
Palmiers are exactly that kind of cookie. Little more than puff pastry (and yes, I am absolutely advocating buying that — this is about making something simple) and sugar, these cookies bake up to be so much greater than the sum of their parts: crisp and buttery, with a nice, caramel-like sweetness from the cooked sugar.
Inspired by my favourite shortbread recipe, I decided to do a twist on the traditional palmier and add lemon and rosemary to the mix.
It turns out the idea isn’t as original as I thought (oh, Google, you know all), but I like that my idea has good company.
I’ve done a bit more lemon zest than some other recipes I came across, because I don’t skimp when it comes to my favourite flavour. And I go a little heavier on the rosemary than others suggested. A pinch or two of salt is key to baking, in my opinion — to enhance flavours — so I added a little bit of that as well.
The result is a deliciously buttery cookie, brightened with lemon and the woodsy, fragrant rosemary. Bonus, the little flecks of green add a nice colour to the golden cookies.
They were perfect for the last-minute invitation to visit a friend and see her new baby.
And a few left at home to nibble on while watching a Christmas movie.
Lemon-rosemary
palmiers
Since there are so few ingredients in these cookies, I am going to suggest searching out an all-butter puff pastry for really good flavour. I used Meyer lemons when I found them, but any lemon will suffice. 250 mL (1 cup) sugar 2 zest of lemons 1 piece frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions 0.5 mL (1/8 tsp) salt 5-10 mL (1-2 tsp) chopped rosemary
Chop the rosemary and set aside. Measure out the sugar into a bowl. Zest the lemons into the sugar. Using a spoon, mix until fully incorporated, pressing the zest into the sugar with the back of the spoon. (The sugar will take on a sort of sandy texture.)
Sprinkle half of the sugar on a clean work surface. Lay the pastry over top. Roll out the pastry a bit to get a nice rectangle and press the sugar into the bottom of the dough, then sprinkle the remaining sugar on top. Sprinkle rosemary all over the pastry.
Starting from the edges of the long sides of the dough, roll the pastry like a cinnamon roll, toward the middle. Roll the other side into the centre.
Wrap in plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for about an hour or until it firms up a bit.
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and slice into 1/2-inch (1-cm) slices. Place on the baking sheet, leaving about an inch (2.5 cm) between each slice.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the palmiers are golden brown. (Watch in the last couple of minutes as they can go from golden to overcooked in a short amount of time.)
Remove and let cool on the cookie sheet or on a rack.