What appeals most to me in a recipe is the potential – the versatility of substituting one or two ingredients and giving the dish an entirely new flavor. That’s the beauty of this recipe. It has only two essential ingredients: puff pastry and a filling.

Feeling adventurous? Snub your nose at Pepperidge Farm and make your own puff pastry. Feeling rushed to get something out that your friends can munch on? Grab frozen puff pastry and a jar of pre-made pesto or your favorite preserves. Sweet or savory, you decide what you want on the inside. I wanted pesto.

Pesto Palmiers
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1/2-3/4 cup pesto*
1 egg
1 Tbsp water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out the puff pastry on a piece of parchment into a 12×12 inch square. Spread the pesto within 1/2 inch of each side of the pastry (you might use more or less than 1/2 cup). Using your spatula, make three indentions on the top edge of the dough at 3 inches, 6 inches, 9 inches to divide the sheet into quarters.

Fold the left and right edges of the puff pastry halfway to the center of the dough (to the closest quarter-mark indention). Fold the sides to the middle again until they’re almost touching. Fold the two halves together like a book.

I’ve stopped here and frozen the palmiers for later use. Just let the logs thaw a bit and then proceed.

Cut into 1/2 inch slices and place onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Whisk egg and water together and brush over the palmiers. Bake for 8 minutes, flip, and bake for an additional 6-8 minutes. Palmiers are best the day of baking.

*I used a traditional basil pesto recipe for this batch. Cilantro-pecan pesto, olive tapenade, sun-dried tomato pesto, and marinara also work wonderfully in this recipe.

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