Cardamom Palmiers

I LOVE cardamom!!!  These simple little treats are amazing and the cardamom flavor is so yummy.  Lately, I have found so many great fast puff pastry desserts.  Bad thing.  They are so simple that you can just whip them up on a whim.  Very bad thing.  These little gems will last for at least a week and stay crunchy and perfect.  You could replace the cardamom with cinnamon but really why would you?  Enjoy.

Cardamom Palmiers

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 lb puff pastry dough, homemade or purchased, and thawed if frozen

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cardamom.  Sprinkle a work surface with about 1 Tbsp of the cardamom-sugar.   Open the sheet of pastry atop the sugar and roll it into a rectangle 9 by 11 inches and 1/8 inch thick.  Cut the pastry rectangle lengthwide into 3 uniform strips each about 3 inches wide.  Sprinkle each strip evenly with 1 Tbls of the cardamom-sugar.  Working with 1 pastry strip at a time, fold each long side so they meet in the center.  Then, fold the pastry strip in half lengthwise so that you have a 3/4 inch wide piece of pastry, 4 layers thick; do not compress.  Roll the outside in more cardamom-sugar to coat.  Repeat with the 2 remaining pastry strips.  Refrigerator the folded strips for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray 2 baking sheets.

Using a sharp knife, cut the pastries crosswise into slices 1/2 inch wide.  Arrange the slices on the prepared baking sheets,  loosening the coil of each cookie slightly and spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until the bottoms are caramelized, about 20 minutes.  Turn the cookies over and bake until the tops are deeply caramelized, about 5 minutes longer.  Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.