Savory Palmiers with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary

Real Talk: What the heck is a “palmier”, anyway? These French pastries (pronounced “pahlm-yay” in case your friends ask) are traditionally lacquered with sugar, then rolled up. They’re also adorably called “elephant ears.” We filled these palmiers with a garlic-rosemary blend to make them less dessert-y. The cook time for the garlic is correct—just be sure to cook it over super-low heat.

Preheat oven to 400°. Cook garlic and oil in a small saucepan over low heat until garlic is bubbling around the edges but not taking on color, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook until garlic is softened and tender and your kitchen smells like garlic, 15–20 minutes. Add rosemary, red pepper, and a few generous pinches of salt and increase heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rosemary is fragrant and garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Be patient and let everything cool. Mash garlic mixture with a fork or potato masher to a coarse paste. There’s your filling!

Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface just to smooth out any creases. If you’re using a package of pastry that has 2 sheets, simply stack the sheets and roll out to a rectangle between ¼"–⅛" thick. Smear garlic mixture over pastry in an even layer, spreading to edges (a small offset spatula is good for this).

Okay, here comes the fun part: With 1 long side facing you, fold both long sides in toward the center line so the edges meet in the middle (do not overlap); press down gently to flatten. Brush exposed pastry with egg wash (which is just a beaten egg that will make the dough a beautiful color after baking). Now roll the sides you just folded lengthwise toward the center to form a double-spiral log with a seam running down the middle. Squeeze all along length of log to adhere. Roll whole log away from you 90° so seam is facing away from you. Trim about ½" off 1 end to clean up the edge, then slice log crosswise into ½"-thick pieces (you should have about 15).

You’re almost done! Transfer pieces cut side up to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing about 2" apart. Brush outside edges of pastry with egg wash, avoiding cut sides on top. Chill until pastry is firm, 10–15 minutes.

Bake palmiers 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue to bake until puffed and golden all over, 20–30 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Do Ahead: Palmiers can be baked 8 hours ahead. Let cool, then cover with plastic and let sit at room temperature until ready to serve.