Cinnamon Palmiers

Pastry

• 1 lb Rough puff pastry or store-bought puff pastry — thawed if frozen

Coating

• 1 cup Granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp Ground cinnamon

Prep

1. Stir the sugar and cinnamon together and spread half of it on a clean work surface.

Shape

1. Roll the pastry out on the sugared surface, sprinkling more sugar on top as you go, into a rectangle about 12x10 inches, pressing the sugar into both sides. (Tip: Get a generous, even coating everywhere — bare patches of pastry won't caramelise or hold together as neatly.)
2. Fold both long edges in to meet at the centre, then fold each of those halves in again to meet at the centre, then fold the whole thing closed like a book, so you have six layers stacked. (Tip: Chill for 15 minutes if the pastry gets too soft to fold cleanly at any point — cold pastry holds a crisp fold far better than warm.)

Chill

1. Wrap and chill the folded log until firm.

Slice

1. Slice into 1/2-inch pieces and lay flat, cut-side down, on a lined baking sheet, spaced well apart — they spread significantly.

Bake

1. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until the bottoms are deeply caramelised, then flip each one over and continue baking until the second side is caramelised too. (Tip: Watch closely once you flip — the sugar can go from perfectly caramelised to burnt in under a minute.)

Cool

1. Cool on a rack — they firm up and crisp further as they cool.