These crispy cookies are pretty to look at and very easy to make. The chocolate and espresso filling appeals to kids of all ages.
When I was growing up, my dad was the household’s scrambled egg and sandwich chef. However, he waited until I was grown up and living on the other side of the continent to become a master cookie baker. My waistline is grateful, but my taste buds are not. He studied recipes, tried multiple variations and built a repertoire of new family favorites – chocolate chip, triple ginger (I have never tasted another ginger cookie that can hold a candle to these), peanut butter.
Each time we go to visit him, my family begs for batches that we can stash in our suitcases to bring home. If only the TSA agents would recognize a box of cookies as a legitimate form of bribery. We could build a lucrative business of slipping all sorts of goods through customs, like hockey pucks and beaver hats. We are a sophisticated lot in Canada. Of course, we could make the cookies ourselves at home – my dad is not stingy with the recipes – but it is just not the same. That pinch of fatherly love would be missing. There is one cookie, above all the others, that captured my senses and devotion. White chocolate chip cookies with cinnamon and espresso.
These palmiers are made as a tribute to those cookies. When I first made my Savory Mango & Cheddar Cheese Palmiers, I learned that palmiers come together with very little effort and very fewer ingredients. When I want to experience the sweet, rich flavors of my favorite cookies dance across my tongue, but just do not have the time to whip up a batch, these palmiers will be my cheat treat. In this dessert, sweetened cream cheese is whipped with espresso and cinnamon and spread across store-bought puff pastry. After spending a little time in the fridge, they are cut into thin cookies and baked.
As I bit into the first palmier, the tender puff pastry flaked onto my tongue. This was followed by the slightly tart, savory cream cheese and a sweet bit of half-melted white chocolate. While they will never take the place of my dad’s cookies, these treats have a strong attraction of their own.
The recipe:
Thaw one sheet (8 ounces) purchased puff pastry and roll the sheet into a rectangle that is at least 8 inches wide and no less than 1/8-inch thick. With the standard puff pastry sheets found in the grocery stores, you won’t have much rolling to do.
In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, beat 4 ounces low-fat cream cheese until it is light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder, 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Beat until thoroughly combined.
Using a rubber spatula spread the cream cheese mixture over the entire surface of the puff pastry. Sprinkle 1/2 cup white chocolate chips evenly over the cream cheese.
Roll each long end of the rectangle into the center. Cover and chill for about 15 minutes. Cut the roll crosswise into 1/8-inch slices and divide the palmiers between two baking sheets covered with parchment paper.
Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Bake the palmier until they are puffed and light golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Quickly flip the palmiers and place back in the oven, switching positions of the baking sheets. Bake for an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the palmiers to a cooling rack and cool completely before serving.
Make ahead: The palmiers can be baked and then store in the fridge in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days, or frozen. Before serving, place unthawed palmiers on a baking sheet in a 350 degree F oven for 5 minutes.
More palmier recipes:
Cookin’ Canuck’s Savory Mango & Cheddar Cheese Palmiers
Canelle et Vanille’s Raspberry Palmiers
Recipe Girl’s Fig & Gruyere Palmiers
Eating Out Loud’s Pesto Palmiers
Espresso Cinnamon Cream Cheese & White Chocolate Palmiers Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz purchased puff pastry sheet, thawed
- 4 ounces low-fat cream cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Roll the puff pastry sheet into a rectangle that is at least 8 inches wide and no less than â…›-inch thick. With the standard puff pastry sheets found in the grocery stores, you won't have much rolling to do.
- In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese until it is light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add espresso powder, sugar, and cinnamon. Beat until thoroughly combined.
- Using a rubber spatula spread the cream cheese mixture over the entire surface of the puff pastry. Sprinkle the white chocolate chips evenly over the cream cheese. Roll each long end of the rectangle into the center. Cover and chill for about 15 minutes.
- Cut the roll crosswise into â…›-inch slices and divide the palmiers between two baking sheets covered with parchment paper. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Bake the palmier until they are puffed and light golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Quickly flip the palmiers and place back in the oven, switching positions of the baking sheets. Bake for an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the palmiers to a cooling rack and cool completely before serving.
- Make ahead: The palmiers can be baked and then store in the fridge in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days, or frozen. Before serving, place unthawed palmiers on a baking sheet in a 350 degree F oven for 5 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
jenn
i really hope these are low in calories because that’s what i kept telling myself as a chowed down one after another! they’re a little fussy to make, but they are worth the effort!
would love to know why you have to chill them a second time for 1 hour, but other than that it was a great new culinary experience. even my 17 yr old who tasted the cream cheese mixture by itself and said “no way i’ll eat that!” liked them quite a bit when they were done and the white chocolate chips had melded with that!
bed frames
This is a very nice recipe and a very bright idea! I like it so much. I really must give this a try.
Michelle @ Brown Eyed Baker
Awesome, awesome, awesome! Love combination of cream cheese, espresso and cinnamon! And of course pastry… loooooove pastry!
Fuji Mama
I'm still giggling over the thought of you smuggling hockey pucks and beaver hats through customs…tee hee! These look delicious!
Jenny
Another gorgeous recipe Dara! Beautiful, need one now!!
Michelle
Cinnamon and Cream Cheese is such a great combination!
[email protected]
These are beautiful – love the additional flavors. I've only ever made them with sugar. I have got to try these!
Stephanie
All I can say is wow – these looks great!
A SPICY PERSPECTIVE
They are so pretty! And what a fantastic flavor combo!
Tasty Eats At Home
OMG. These are sinfully delicious!
Cristina
Such a beautiful and sophisticated dessert with not a lot of ingredients! Tasty ingredient list, however and all favorite things: espresso, cinnamon, white chocolate and cream cheese…very lovely.
Congrats on the Top 9 today!
Cookin' Canuck
Thanks for all of your kind comments.
Evan, Judy & Gerard- I promise that these are very easy to make. Go for it!
Lym @ I'll Have What She's Having
These sound fantastic! My dads cookie repertory isn't as impressive as your dads, but he does make the best biscotti I've ever had. I think you're right' its the touch of love that goes into them.
Bren
My sis is the baker in the family, so it's nice trying to bribe her into making goodies for us! Love the espresso in this, as it's the best thing in the world!
Good luck slipping food with TSA! I have some great ideas! 🙂
Judy
Congrats on the Top 9! These palmiers look 'to die for'! I love anything and everything that involves cream cheese. I will have to try making these one day but certainly would prefer someone else make them for me. So lucky to have your dad bake… even if it's only when you visit. 🙂
Velva
Cheers to your dad. These look awesome. I can see why you want to stuff your suitcases.
Trix
Like Drick, I haven't had palmiers in a long time, but these really reawaken the desire! Congrats on Top 9!
penny aka jeroxie
cinnamon must be my favourite spice right now.