Palmiers with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary

These French pastries are traditionally lacquered with sugar, then rolled up. They’re also adorably called “elephant ears.” We filled these palmiers with a garlic-rosemary blend to make them less dessert-y. The cook time for the garlic is correct - just be sure to cook it over super-low heat. Starting with store-bought puff pastry for this recipe means these crispy, buttery, savoury palmiers only look hard. Your guests will be impressed.

8 cloves garlic, smashed
¼ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt
1 (17 oz) pkg frozen puff pastry, preferably all-butter, thawed
1 large egg, beaten to blend

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

Cook garlic and oil in a small saucepan over low heat until garlic is bubbling around the edges but not taking on color, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook until garlic is softened and tender and your kitchen smells like garlic, 15-20 minutes. Add rosemary, red pepper, and a few generous pinches of salt and increase heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rosemary is fragrant and garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Be patient and let everything cool. Mash garlic mixture with a fork or potato masher to a coarse paste. There’s your filling!

Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface just to smooth out any creases. If you’re using a package of pastry that has 2 sheets, simply stack the sheets and roll out to a rectangle between ¼-⅛" thick. Smear garlic mixture over pastry in an even layer, spreading to edges (a small offset spatula is good for this).

Okay, here comes the fun part: With 1 long side facing you, fold both long sides in toward the center line so the edges meet in the middle (do not overlap); press down gently to flatten. Brush exposed pastry with egg wash (which is just a beaten egg that will make the dough a beautiful color after baking). Now roll the sides you just folded lengthwise toward the center to form a double-spiral log with a seam running down the middle. Squeeze all along length of log to adhere. Roll whole log away from you 90° so seam is facing away from you. Trim about ½" off 1 end to clean up the edge, then slice log crosswise into ½"-thick pieces (you should have about 15).

Transfer pieces cut side up to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing about 2" apart. Brush outside edges of pastry with egg wash, avoiding cut sides on top. Chill until pastry is firm, 10-15 minutes.

Bake palmiers 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4) and continue to bake until puffed and golden all over, 20-30 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Makes about 15.

Make Ahead:  Palmiers can be baked 8 hours ahead. Let cool, then cover with plastic and let sit at room temperature until ready to serve.