Palmiers

Recipe Developer Sandra Gluck, who's helping us with our next GH cookbook, shared her recipe for crisp cookies that resemble butterflies. For Hanukkah, Sandy and her family usually have foods fried in oil, like latkes and jelly donuts. But these cookies are fancier, and a perfect ending to a dairy-based meal (they contain butter and sour cream). Sandy's version starts with quick, or mock, puff pastry and turns out beautifully flaky in half the time that traditional puff pastry takes.

INGREDIENTS conv. chart U.S. Metric

3 cup(s)	all-purpose flour
1.5 cup(s)	(3 sticks) butter (no substitutions), cut up
.75 cup(s)	sour cream
1 cup(s)	sugar

DIRECTIONS

Measure flour into large bowl. With pastry blender or 2 knives used scissor-fashion, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in sour cream. Transfer mixture to lightly floured work surface and knead until dough holds together. Flatten dough to 8-inch by 6-inch rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, at least 2 1/2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar onto work surface. Divide dough in half. Wrap half and return to refrigerator. Roll remaining half of dough on sugar to 14-inch square. Using side of hand, make an indentation down center of dough. Starting at 1 side, tightly roll dough until it reaches indentation. Repeat with other side, incorporating as much sugar as possible into dough. Refrigerate roll 2 hours or up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 weeks.
Repeat with second half of dough and remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
With serrated knife, cut roll crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. (Return roll to refrigerator if it becomes too soft to slice.) Place slices, 2 inches apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet.
Bake 10 minutes, carefully turn cookies over and bake 5 minutes longer or until sugar has caramelized and cookies are deep golden. Let cookies remain on cookie sheet on wire rack 1 minute to cool slightly. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Store cookies in tightly covered container up to 1 week.

Photo: Mark Thomas

COOKING INFO

Serves	12
Yield	--
Prep Time	--
Cook Time	10 per batch
Total Time	50 plus chilling
Oven Temp	--
Edit serving size Recipe ingredient amounts have been adjusted. Cooking times and temperatures may be affected by increasing the amounts used, so please check food carefully during cooking.