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Last Updated on February 22, 2026 by becky
Made with dark brown sugar, cardamom, and fresh orange zest, these brown sugar palmiers offer a unique twist on a classic French pastry.
What are Palmiers?
Originating in France, the palmier is a sweet, crunchy cookie made from puff pastry and sugar. They’re sometimes called palm leaves, palm hearts, or French hearts, due to their resemblance to a palm leaf.
I first learned to make traditional French palmiers during Basic Pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu London. As he conducted the demonstration, the chef instructor told us stories of his childhood in France, and how his mother always made palmiers for him as an after-school snack.
That pastry school demonstration was the first time I learned to make palmiers. (I’m pretty sure it was also the first time I’d ever even heard of them…) Nevertheless I quickly fell in love with this crispy, sugary treat, and haven’t stopped making them since. Palmiers are easy to make, and difficult to mess up. While most recipes require you to be careful to not destroy the layers in a sheet of puff pastry, for palmiers it really doesn’t matter. Smashing the pastry is part of the fun.
Traditionally, palmiers are made with caster sugar, but there are plenty of other variations you can try, too. In this recipe I’ve used brown sugar, ground cardamom and orange zest for a spiced, autumn-inspired twist.
Brown Sugar Palmier Ingredients
To make these brown sugar palmiers, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Butter – For greasing the tray and spatula. Unsalted and salted butter are both fine; feel free to use whichever you happen to have on hand.
- Brown Sugar – I tested my palmiers with dark brown sugar, but light brown sugar will also work.
- Ground Cardamom – You’ll need two teaspoons of ground cardamom. Save the rest! It’s great for making ruby and cardamom blondies, or this flourless orange almond cake.
- Orange – You’ll need the zest of one navel orange. I recommend zesting on a Microplane rather than a box grater.
- Puff Pastry – I almost always start with store-bought puff pastry, but feel free to use homemade if you enjoy making your own. You can also make palmiers by re-rolling puff pastry scraps, as I’ve done with these puff pastry cheese twists.
How to Make Palmiers
Although somewhat complicated to describe, the process of making palmiers actually requires very little effort. You start by rolling a sheet or block of puff pastry into a rectangle. Then you roll the dough in sugar, in same way you’d use flour to roll a sheet of pie or cookie dough. Next, you fold the sugary dough into a long, rectangular roll, cut the roll into slices, and arrange them cut sides up on a well-buttered tray.
Then, flatten the slices on a tray using the palm of your hand, freeze for a few minutes, then bake in the oven until caramelized, crispy, and deeply golden brown.
For a closer look at the palmier-making process, check out this step-by-step video:
Selecting the Best Puff Pastry for Palmiers
You can make palmiers with homemade puff pastry, or with the pre-made, store-bought kind.
There are generally two kinds of pre-made puff pastry available: A rolled version sold in the refrigerated section, and sheets or blocks that come frozen. I’ve found that the refrigerated version is more common in the UK, while US stores tend to carry the frozen sheets. Either product will work. If using frozen pastry, thaw it according to the directions on the package.
These palm-shaped cookies also offer a creative way to repurpose scraps of puff pastry left over from other recipes. (For another way to use up leftover puff pastry, try my “no waste” puff pastry twists, too.) I like to bake palmiers whenever I have a partial block or half-empty box of puff pastry—not enough to save, but too much to throw away? Make palmiers!
Palmier Recipe Tips and Tricks
Remove your palmiers from the baking tray immediately. If you allow the cookies to cool on the tray, even for a few minutes, the sugar will adhere to the tray and make it impossible to remove the palmiers. The whole experience will end in frustration s you try in vain to scrape each palmier from the tray with a knife. (Trust me. I learned this lesson the hard way!)
To avoid catastrophe, use a metal spatula to transfer the palmiers to a wire rack while they’re still hot from the oven.
How to Enjoy Brown Sugar Palmiers
Palmiers make a sweet and crunchy breakfast treat, and they’re also perfect with a cup of tea as an afternoon snack. They’re definitely best enjoyed on the day they’re made, so the one drawback is that you can’t really bake these in advance. But these are so good that they’ll probably disappear within a few hours of baking anyway!
Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions
Palmiers are best enjoyed on the day they’re made. If you do need to save them overnight, store the biscuits in an airtight container. They won’t spoil, but they’ll definitely soften and lose their characteristic crunch and flakiness by day two.
Other puff pastry recipes you might enjoy:
Strawberry Puff Pastry Hearts
Fig, Goat Cheese, and Onion Galette
Lattice Puff Pastry With Caramelized Onion
Puff Pastry Twists
Anchovy Sticks with Puff Pastry
Blackberry Pear Mille-Feuille
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
Brown Sugar Palmiers with Cardamom and Orange
- Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield14 3-inch palmiers 1x
Brown sugar, cardamom, and orange palmiers. A fun twist on a classic French pastry!
Ingredients
Butter, for greasing tray and spatula
150 grams dark brown sugar (3/4 cup)
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
Zest of 1 orange
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed according to package directions if frozen
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400° F / 205° C. Generously butter a half sheet rimmed baking tray. Freeze until ready to use.
In a small bowl, use a fork to combine dark brown sugar, ground cardamom, and orange zest.
Dust the countertop or a silicone rolling mat with half of the brown sugar mixture. Unroll puff pastry over top.
With a rolling pin, roll pastry to approximately 12 x 14 inches. Use a sharp chef’s knife to trim the edges to create an even rectangle.
With a pastry brush, lightly brush puff pastry with water. Sprinkle with remaining brown sugar mixture.
With a rolling pin, roll brown sugar mixture into the pastry.
With the back of a knife, lightly mark the pastry widthwise to divide it into 6 equal parts, each measuring about 2 1/3 inches wide.
Using the markings as a guide, fold the pastry inward, then fold it over itself again. Finally fold inward again, as though you’re closing a book. When finished, you should have one thick strip of pastry, about 2 1/3 inches wide and 14 inches long. (For a closer look at the folding process, watch the video in the post above.)
Place strip on prepared tray. Freeze for 10 minutes.
With a sharp chef’s knife, slice into 1-inch pieces. You should have 14 pieces total.
Arrange on prepared tray, cut sides up, allowing 2-3 inches in between each palmier.
With the palm of your hand, flatten each slice to create the classic heart shape. Freeze 10 minutes more.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. With a buttered flat metal spatula, flip and bake for 10-12 minutes more, or until caramelized, flaky, and deeply golden brown.
Immediately remove palmiers from tray. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Store leftover palmiers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.
Notes
See the video above to watch me demonstrate the process of rolling and folding palmiers.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Freezing Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
- Category: Biscuits and Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: French Pâtisserie
