A Christmasy Day + Make Up Look + Cookies | Part 2!!!

Why hello again Christmas Lovers!

After I did my make up today, I spent the whole day baking Christmas cookies with my mom!  We had a super fun time and I got even more into the Christmas spirit than I was already (if that is even possible).

One of my favorite Christmas cookies to make are palmiers.  Anne Burrell from the Food Network has a fantastic recipe that uses orange zest and they make the whole house smell like Christmas.

Here is how we made these AMAZING little cookies:

First we gathered all of our supplies: 2 sheets of puff pastry, 2 oranges, sugar, ground cinnamon, a small bowl, a grater or zester for the oranges, a cutting board or surface to roll the dough on, a rolling pin, 2 cookie sheets, a fork, and plastic wrap.

Set the sheets of puff pastry side by side and let thaw for about 30 minutes, unless you make your own - and in that case, good for you!

While the pastry is thawing, I measure out 2 cups of sugar, 4 teaspoons of cinnamon, and zest 2 small or medium oranges.  I then combined these in a small bowl with a fork.  The smell is HEAVENLY.

When the pastry is thawed, I spread out a quarter of the sugar mixture on my surface.  Then I unfold one sheet of the pastry and spread another quarter of the mixture on top.  

Using a rolling pin, I rolled the dough to about 1/8 of an inch thick.  Make sure to press down really hard to get the sugar to stick onto the dough.

Then, rolling from the shorter sides (if there are any... I'm not a very good roller so by this time it has lost its original shape) roll until they meet in the middle.  This may take some practice, but it doesn't need to look SUPER pretty - it spreads out while cooking anyway.

Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Here you can see that I did both sheets of pastry and placed them side by side to rest in the refrigerator.  Waiting for this to set is the hardest part, after your hands already smell all Christmasy and you are anticipating the deliciousness that will be coming out of the oven!!!!

Speaking of ovens... I preheated mine to 400 degrees.

After they chilled, I cut them into 1/4 inch slices and laid them onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Like I said, appearance doesn't really matter - they will cook and caramelize and no one will care what they look like.

I then place the palmiers into a 400 degree oven.  I recommend only doing one pan at a time.  Last year, when I tried to place both baking sheets in the oven - the bottom one was really burned.  

This really is the best part of the whole process (besides eating them).  The entire house is filled with the smell of cinnamon and oranges.  Does anyone know if they make a palmier candle? I need it.

Let them cook for 11-12 minutes, remove from oven and turn them all over.  Then I cook them for 6 more minutes.  Look how brown and delicious they are already!

Yum!! This is what they look like when they first come out of the oven.  Don't they look all delicious and amazing?

I snapped a few pictures of the other cookies we made: rolo pretzels (which are not really cookies) and some delicious red velvet and white chocolate cookies!

What are your favorite cookies to make???

I hope you enjoyed part 2 of my Christmasy day (don't forget to check out Part 1), and I look forward to sharing more of my festive adventures with you.

With Love,

Traci J