Name: Espresso Cinnamon Cream Cheese & White Chocolate Palmiers Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
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

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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 ⅛-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 ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder, ½ teaspoon granulated sugar, and ½ 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 ½ 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 ⅛-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

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