Ooh la la! Simple and elegant and easy to make with store bought puff pastry. Palmiers are a staple of any French patisserie. Buttery, not-too-sweet and you can customize them—swap out straight up sugar for cinnamon sugar or skip the sweet altogether and use Parmesan instead for a savory affair.
Ingredients
1 sheet store-bought puff pastry, thawed but cold
1/3 cup demerara sugar
Directions
Thaw puff pastry until pliable but still cool, either overnight in the fridge or on the counter for about 30 minutes. Roll dough to smooth seams, about 1/8–1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle 2-3 Tbsp sugar evenly over the surface and lightly press it in with a rolling pin.
Fold the left and right sides inward to meet in the middle, sprinkle with 2-3 more Tbsp sugar, and lightly press again. Fold the dough in half like a book, forming a long, flat shape with folds inside. Sprinkle remaining sugar on outside. Chill the dough on a baking sheet, covered, for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425°. Slice chilled dough into 3/4″-inch-wide cookies and place them cut-side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced apart about 1 ½ inches to allow for puffing. Sprinkle with more sugar if desired.
Bake for 18–20 minutes until dark golden. Flip them over if the bottoms begin to darken too much. Cool briefly on the baking sheet, then fully on a rack. Palmiers will crisp as they cool and are best eaten the same day, though they can be stored in an airtight container for several days.
If the idea of rolled pastries has you craving something cozy, rugelach is a perfect place to start. Tender, flexible dough and endlessly adaptable fillings make it as approachable as it is rewarding.
8 oz cream cheese, cold and cut into ½” cubes 8 oz unsalted butter, cold and cut into ½” cubes ¼ tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 ½ cups (9oz) all-purpose flour 1 cup raspberry or apricot jam ¼ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped fine ¼ cup breadcrumbs, optional Egg, beaten ½ cup granulated sugar
Directions
For the dough, blend all ingredients in a food processor until just blended, or work together into a soft dough with hands until it just comes together. Form into two discs about 1” thick, wrap in cling film and refrigerate until firm.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Once firm, roll out one disc to 10” circle, about 1/8” thick. Spread half the jam on disc, then sprinkle half the walnuts and breadcrumbs, if using.
Cut disc into 20 “pizza slices”, starting by cutting the circle into quarters.
Roll each slice from wide outer edge toward its point, creating the crescent shape. Repeat with rest of disc and second disc. Place each rugelach on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush each with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.
Ever wonder where the phrase “easy breezy, lemon squeezy” came from? We’re not saying it was this recipe… but we’re not not saying it, either. We’ll let you be the judge.
Ingredients
Crust
4 ½ cups (18 oz) all-purpose flour or Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour
2 cups (9 oz) powdered sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
1 lb unsalted butter, chilled and cut up into ½” pieces
Filling
8 eggs, room temperature
3 ½ cups (1 lb 7 oz) white sugar
8 Tbsp (4 oz) all-purpose flour or Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cups Meyer lemon juice + 2 tsp zest
Additional powdered sugar for topping
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Line a sheet pan with heavy-duty foil, leaving overhang, and spray with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar and salt. Cut in butter until mixture is wet and sandy. Press into the bottom of the pan, reserving about ¾ cup of dough. Bake 20–30 minutes, until golden. Cool slightly.
Use reserved dough to seal gaps between the crust and pan edges, patching any holes as needed. In a clean bowl, whisk eggs until blended, then whisk in sugar, flour and baking powder. Fold in lemon juice until just combined.
Fold foil overhang up along the pan edges, then slowly pour lemon filling over crust. Transfer carefully to oven and bake 20–25 minutes, rotate pan, then bake another 20 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely, then chill at least 2 hours.
To cut, flip bars out of pan, remove foil and flip right-side up onto a cutting board. Cut into 24 pieces, wiping knife between cuts. Dust generously with powdered sugar and refrigerate up to one week.
Warm, fragrant and just sweet enough, this spiced pear cobbler highlights the natural sweetness of ripe pears paired with cozy spices. It’s the kind of dessert that fills the kitchen with irresistible aromas and tastes even better served warm, ideally with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
Read more about this dish in our The Union article.
Ingredients
4 cups sliced fresh pears
1 ½ cups sugar
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
¾ cup all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup milk
1 large egg
Ice cream or whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Double the crust recipe for the tart above, and now you’ve got two desserts ready to roll. Add in cranberries with apples for some festive pop or even use some high quality pie filling, like Bonne Maman, instead (we won’t tell!).
Makes one 9”x13” pan
Ingredients
Crust (from Rose Tart)
3 cups Ultimate Crumb Topping (recipe above)
6 baking apples (we like Granny Smith), peeled, cored and cut into1″ pieces
1/3 cup cornstarch or all-purpose
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°.
Spray or butter sides and bottom of pan. Roll out pastry crust into pan, leaving a little up the sides – about 1”.
In a bowl, combine the apple pieces and flour/cornstarch and mix well. Pour into prepared pan onto crust evenly. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples, gently pat down, just enough so that a loose crust is formed, you want some volume, but you also want the crumb to stick. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crust is golden, and apples are soft and pierceable with a knife.
This recipe is a triumph. Nevada City School of the Arts baker, Sai LaPierre, spent months perfecting a base vegan muffin batter that could match even non-vegan students’ expectations. The school buys carrots from a few local farmers, but predominantly Super Tuber. The school thought, why not get vegetables into breakfast with a muffin? The raisins also add extra fiber, potassium and iron. The result was delicious!
Ingredients
1 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1 cup oat milk
3 cups all-purpose flour (feel free to sub gluten-free baking flour!)
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ cup sunflower or safflower oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups grated carrot
¾ cup raisins
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line muffin trays with paper cups and set aside.
Mix lemon juice or apple cider vinegar with oat milk and set aside.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the center of dry ingredients and add oil, vanilla and the oat milk/acid mixture. Combine into smooth batter.
Stir in grated carrots and raisins. Try not to overmix.
Divide batter evenly between muffin tins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
