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Chocolate and hazelnut palmiers are a 3-ingredient recipe for spreading Christmas cheer. Light, crispy puff-pastry butterflies are centred with a swirl of velvety, nutty, chocolate spread and studded with chopped hazelnuts. Package them up as beautiful handmade gifts, serve them with coffee for unexpected guests, and remember to leave one out for Santa!
What to do with the rest of the Nutella? Tempting as it is to just grab a spoon and dig in, I’ll gently suggest these chocolate Nutella rolls with vanilla sugar glaze instead. A similar concept to the cinnamon bun and an easy freezer.
This recipe has been on the Vikalinka blog since my kids believed in Santa Claus. So, it’s been emotional re-reading it. It’s made me nostalgic for those precious days and the magic of Christmas seen through tiny, but wide, eyes.
Nowadays, both are away at university, and all those cute Christmas traditions have dissipated into the past and I can’t remember when we last baked cookies together.
Although they will still gladly gobble them up if they are produced! And this year, these puff pastry palmiers will be washed down with a mug of mulled wine. Silver linings, I guess.
How to make chocolate palmiers
This truly is the simplest of all baking recipes- so it’s a great one to do with small kids when school is out for the holidays.
The three ingredients needed for palmiers are ready made and ready to go:
- pre-made, store bought all butter puff pastry
- a jar of Nutella (or nut-free chocolate spread)
- a handful of chopped hazelnuts (optional)
Onto the puff pastry sheet, spread the Nutella then sprinkle with the nuts. Then the fun bit. To make the butterfly shape, or palm-leaf shape if we’re translating from French, roll from either end of the pastry sheet until the two ends meet in the middle in a kind of scroll.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Don’t be tempted to skip this part! After it’s chilled, slice the scroll into 14–16 even palmier cookies and place on a This is an affiliate link.baking sheet with plenty of space between, and bake!
The hardest part is waiting for them to come out of the oven!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Make sure the puff pastry is chilled before the palmiers go in the oven. This will help maintain the heart-like shape.
- Warm the Nutella for a more spreadable consistency.
- Rolling from the long side will give you mini palmiers (14-16). Rolling from the short side will produce larger ones.
Serving suggestions
Leaving the chocolate palmiers to cool means they will be delightfully flakey and crisp, then dust with a drift of icing sugar for extra festive effect. Serve with your favourite coffee, tea or luxurious hot chocolate.
Everyone loves a handmade gift, especially one you can eat! Homemade Christmas cookies are breathtakingly festive and delicious. Make your own signature selection boxes to give to family and friends. Here are another four tasty treats to include:
Lemon and ricotta cookiesLight, lemony and a break from chocolate.
White chocolate and matcha cookiesRed and green M&M’s make these chewy chocolate chip cookies all Christmassy.
Chocolate candy cane cookiesChocolate cookie and a peppermint crunch with a decorative design.
Honey, cinnamon and walnut rugelachCrumbly crescents filled with Christmas flavours.
Storage and leftovers
These pretty puff pastry palmiers will keep for up to a week in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container. They make good freezers too. Freeze once cooled and store for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven at 175C/ 350F for 10-15 minutes.
More Christmas treats
Nutella and Hazelnut Palmiers
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Baking sheet
- This is an affiliate link.Offset spatula
- This is an affiliate link.Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 320g / 11oz puff pastry, 1 pre-made sheet
- 4-5 tbsp nutella
- 45g / 1/3 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Put your sheet of puff pastry on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Spread Nutella on your puff pastry sheet with a spatula in a thin layer. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts all over.
- Start rolling tightly from one side and reach the centre, repeat the same on the other side until you reach the centre. If you roll from a long side you will have mini palmiers like I did but if you roll from a short side you will end up with large palmiers.
- Cover it with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425F/220C.
- Take your roll out of the fridge and slice into 1/2" thickness. Place palmiers 2" apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes until golden.
- Cool on a wire rack, then dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I refrigerate these longer than 30 minutes? If so, do I need to allow them any time before putting them in the oven? Thank you!
Yes you can and they can go straight to the oven, no need to wait, Tricia.
How can these be stores? And how long do they usually last?
Hi Kayla, they should be stored in an air-tight container and preferably finished within a week.
These look incredible – I can’t believe they just have 4 ingredients!
YUM! I love palmiers and the fact that they take about 2 minutes to make, makes them all the better. I just made a batch with cardamom and orange zest, but I think a nutella version will have to be in my future!
I love palmiers! With Nutella and hazelnut, these would be a definite favorite :).
Everything tastes better with Nutella, right!