[Cookie 094] Gingersnap Palmiers

Hi! It's just like old times, ain't it? I'm back to posting like normal, or even better than normal considering that this is my second post this week. Who needs New Year's Resolutions when you're already kicking ass? Okay, that was obnoxious and totally inaccurate, but I am hoping to keep up this rapid-fire method of churning out cookies and blog posts into 2011. Anyways, it should be easy at least for the next few weeks since I'll be at home in California, with a great kitchen, a great pantry, and a house with no heat--perfect conditions for cookie baking. Of course, being winter, all things spicy and gingery and molassesy are first on the list. Gingersnap Palmiers? Hell yes!

Now, although these cookies look pretty nice, and sound pretty tasty, I'm just going to put it out there that the recipe is a little fussy as far as Martha's recipes go. I liked it; it was more interesting than 95% of her other recipes in this book. I'm usually really bored by these recipes, even the ones that produce great cookies. But this one required multiple steps and produced cookies that look pretty and different. So if you've got a good chunk of time to set aside, I'd recommend these!

But, be forewarned: you will make a giant mess of your kitchen. This delicious gingery molasses syrup will get everywhere. Oh, and here's an important tip: Even though the recipe says to first sprinkle the puff pastry with a sugar-spice mixture and then brush the dough with the syrup, you should do these steps in reverse! First, brush the dough with syrup, and then sprinkle sugar on it! And then roll the dough up by each side and freeze the logs. Another note: make sure to wrap the logs really well in plastic wrap, because the syrup leaks out of the ends of the logs and gets all over your freezer!

So, I don't know bout you guys, but I'm pretty sure I'm one of the only self-professed bakers who has never used frozen puff pastry before. And, I'm just going to put it out there: not so great. I'm sure homemade puff pastry is far better because this stuff is just kinda greasy and artificial tasting. I guess that's why Martha tells you to use a "high quality" frozen puff pastry. I guess if you're a fancy pants baker and you make your own puff pastry, by all means use it; otherwise, maybe splurge for the expensive brand of puff pastry. Or, if you're down with the regular kind, go for it anyway!

When you take the logs out of the freezer, be sure to let them soften up a bit before you try to slice them. This might seem obvious to all you who have used frozen puff pastry before, but I had no idea. The result was that the first few cookies I sliced off cracked and crumbled pretty bad. So....basically they looked like this:

...but then baked up to look like this:

Oh, and ANOTHER tip: After the first 10 minutes of baking, you are supposed to flip the cookies over and brush them with more syrup. First of all, I don't think this is really necessary, but more importantly make sure you let the cookies sit for a few minutes, because right out of the oven they are saggy and floppy and impossible to flip over. After a minute or two, they crisp up a bit and you can go right ahead.

Yeah, so as you can see I had a lot to learn on the fly with this recipe. But I still had fun making them! And they are perfect cookies for holiday parties, amirite?? I am right. So go ahead and get messy because it's worth it. Sure, they aren't the tastiest cookies I've ever made, but they are fun and pretty and make you feel like a professional pastry chef...a little bit.

Gingersnap Palmiers

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup dark unsulfured molasses

2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

14 ounces good-quality thawed frozen puff pastry, such as Dufour

Directions

Bring brown sugar, molasses, ginger, and 1/4 cup water to a simmer in a saucepan, whisking until sugar has dissolved. Simmer until slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour syrup into a bowl; let cool.

Whisk granulated sugar, salt, and spices in a bowl. Lightly sprinkle sugar mixture over a clean work surface; place puff pastry on top. Cut into two 10 1/2-by-7-inch pieces. Sprinkle generously with sugar mixture; press into pastry with a rolling pin. Brush generously with syrup.

Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll in from both long sides, meeting in the center; brush with syrup to seal. Sprinkle generously with sugar mixture. Wrap in plastic, and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours (up to overnight).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut dough crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Dip slices in sugar mixture. Space 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten with your palm. Freeze 30 minutes.

Bake 10 minutes. Flip, and brush with syrup. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake until darkened, 10 minutes more. Transfer palmiers to a wire rack; let cool completely. Palmiers can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 4/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5
Tastiness: 3.5/5
Attractiveness: 4/5
Is it worth it?: Yeah!

{Pairings}

Drink: Hot cider, or a hot toddy!

Song: Keep it Rollin' -- A Tribe Called Quest
Activity: Baking these cookies while listening to the new Kanye album...yeah?