Best Elephant Ear Cookies Recipes

ELEPHANT EAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast pecans on a baking sheet until fragrant and lightly toasted, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Grind pecans, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor until very finely chopped (mixture should resemble very coarse sand).
• Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place puff pastry sheets side by side on floured parchment; press together at seam to form a 9 1/2-by-18-inch rectangle. Roll out to an 11-by-20-inch rectangle using a rolling pin. Transfer pastry on parchment to a baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes. Brush generously with beaten egg, and evenly sprinkle with pecan mixture, patting it into dough. Starting with a short side, use one hand to roll up as tightly as possible, holding unrolled portion firmly with other palm. Brush off excess flour with a dry pastry brush as you are rolling, and press sides back into shape (they tend to splay). Roll tightly in parchment.
• Freeze dough until firm, about 20 minutes. Cut crosswise into 1-inch slices. Generously sprinkle a work surface with granulated sugar, and coat both cut sides of dough slices in sugar. Press dough slices to flatten slightly. Roll out into 6- to 7-inch rounds on sugared surface, sprinkling more sugar on top as needed. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, 3 per sheet; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Bake in batches until golden brown, 17 to 18 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on baking sheets.

PALMIERS COOKIES (ELEPHANT EARS)

Steps:

• If frozen, thaw puff pastry in the fridge overnight or on the counter for about 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle a cool, flat surface with sugar. Gently open up the sheet of puff pastry and lay flat on top of the layer of sugar. Sprinkle sugar evenly all over the sheet of puff pastry.
• Fold the long sides of the pastry in 1/4 of the way, then sprinkle with more sugar.
• Fold the long sides toward each other again so they meet in the middle, and sprinkle with more sugar.
• Using a rolling pin, gently roll down the sheet of puff pastry to deepen the creases so the rectangle will hold the shape. You don't want it unfolding again!
• Fold the rectangle in half one more time, and gently roll down the strip of dough so that it is pressed together and holds its shape. Again, you do not want to make the dough thinner, you are just ensuring it stays folded. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill on a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and slice into 1/4 inch pieces. Place the slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet cut-side down, so you can see all the little folds in the dough. Make sure the folds stay tightly together. Allow plenty of space between each one, as the dough will expand on both sides as they bake.
• Place them in the oven and begin checking them after about 5 minutes. Cook time could be anywhere between 5 - 15 minutes depending on how big your palmiers are. Once the palmiers are caramelized on the bottom, carefully flip each one over with an offset spatula and return to the oven for 5 more minutes.
• Remove palmiers from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack. Again, transfer them with an offset spatula and take care not to burn your fingers.

CINNAMON ELEPHANT EARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar and kosher salt and pour it over a flat surface such as a wooden board or marble slab. Unfold the sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar mixture.
• Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon and spread it evenly on the puff pastry. This is not about sprinkling, it's about an even covering of sugar. With a rolling pin, lightly roll the dough until it's a 13-inch square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the square toward the center so they go halfway to the middle. Fold them again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough. Then fold one half over the other half as though closing a book. You will have 6 layers. Slice the dough into 3/8-inch slices and place the slices, cut side up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
• Bake the cookies for 6 minutes, or until caramelized and brown on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, until caramelized on the other side. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

EASY ELEPHANT EARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Mix sugar and cinnamon., On a lightly floured surface, roll one sheet of pastry into an 11x8-in. rectangle. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar. Working from short sides, roll up jelly-roll style toward the center. Wrap in plastic; freeze 10 minutes. Repeat., Unwrap and cut dough into 1/2-in. slices; place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

ELEPHANT EARS

Steps:

• In small saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar and shortening. Heat until shortening melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm, 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). Sprinkle in yeast and let sit until foamy.
• Transfer mixture to large bowl, and stir in flour to make a dough. Knead until smooth, cover and let rise 30 minutes.
• In a large heavy skillet or deep fryer, heat 1 inch of oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Roll out 1 to 2 inch balls of dough into thin sheets. Fry sheets 1 to 2 minutes on a side, until puffed and golden. Drain on paper towels.
• Combine cinnamon and 6 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle over warm pastries. Serve.