Fancy nibbling on Elephant Ears?

Elephant Ears!

Caramelising in the oven

Yep, that’s what they are called in our neighbourhood cafe. I have known them as Palmiers, if that rings any bells. Both names describe these cookies well but Elephant Ears makes them sound so much more interesting.

What is it about winter that makes you crave carbs? The local café near our gym serves wonderfully crisp and cinnamony versions of this cookie that the husband and I devoured one evening after a workout.

(Yeah, I know – I raised my eyebrows too at his suggestion. But disapproval lasted for a millisecond before I caved into temptation. )

The extra large size of these cookies, however, puts me off and I decided to give the recipe a go, albeit in a downsized version.

Simplicity itself, once you have the ingredients to hand.

1 pack of Puff pastry, sugar and baking paper or baking spray.

That’s pretty much what you will need to make these crumbly, caramel flavoured cookies.

I experimented with the quantities and they didn’t turn out too bad.

1. Roll out the puff pastry sheet. You want it to look like a rectangle.

2. Dust the puff pastry with sugar. I did this on both sides of the pastry sheet. If you prefer a cinnamon version, now’s the time to dust this on as well.

3. Roll the pastry from each side towards the centre.

4. Chill in the fridge for 5-10 minutes, if the dough has turned soft.

5. Pre heat oven to 375 F or gas mark 5.

6. Cut the chilled log into slices the width of your pinkie finger.

7. Grease or spray a baking pan or cover it with baking paper. (I prefer using baking paper and buttering it lightly since it makes it easier to get the cookies of the tray.)

8. Lay the cookies down on the sheet. Sprinkle them with more sugar at this stage, if you wish.

9. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until you can see the sugar caramelise and the cookies are golden.

10. Cool on tray.

11. Take pics before hungry hands reach for them!

Crisp, crumbly and caramelicious.

Enjoyed with a cup of steaming hot coffee, they guarantee to perk up the dullest winter afternoon.

Now that summer is here, I’m going to experiment with a savoury version of these.

Suggestions, anyone?