On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

Day 12 of The 12 Cookies of Christmas

Well, we've made it! All twelve days of the series, and I'm not disgusted by cookies yet.

As I recall, I had left you all in great suspense as to what the last cookie may be, providing only the foggiest clue that it would contain butter. I didn't even reveal it in the title of today's post, I wanted it to be that special and surprising.

Also surprising is the fact that it isn't technically a cookie.. any guesses?

At long last, I will divulge the identity of these butter-laden non-cookies...

Palmiers (Elephant Ears)

I know, I know, a pastry. However, I felt compelled to add it to this series. Elephant ears have become an informal tradition for us because we often have pastry scraps left over when making our holiday pies. It's so easy to just roll them into a slab and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Or if you want to get fancy you can use the rolling technique for a more polished palmier. This recipe from The Spruce Eats suggests using store-bought pastry, but it's simple enough to make it yourself.

Basic Pastry

2 C. flour

pinch of salt

1 stick (4 oz.) of cold butter. Cut into Tbsp. chunks. Work it into the flour with a pastry blender or rub it in with your hands.

add COLD water by the tablespoonful until the dough comes together.

Wrap dough in Saran wrap and chill in the fridge for 15-30 min.

Pastry Pointer

Keep it cold.

The most important thing about pastry is to keep everything cold: your work surface, your hands, the pastry itself. This is to maintain solid chunks of butter within the dough; the chunks are what create the puff when baking. If you work the dough too much and the butter "melts in," you won't get the flaky layers characteristic of pastry. I'll often wash my hands with cold water for several seconds before working with the dough.

Once your pastry is ready, follow the instructions of the recipe linked above. Hope you enjoy these marvelous French treats as much as I do. :) Bon appétit and happy Twelfth Day of Christmas!

'Til next time,

Eva