It’s back to a more manageable every-other-week schedule for Baked Sunday Mornings, and this is our first project out of the new Baked Occasions, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. This is a great book; I can say that with confidence since I either tested or tasted just about every recipe in the book. I get a pass on the cake made of Rice Krispies due to my rice allergy.

These palmiers are a great way for us to kick off baking through the new book. On first glance, they seem kind of plain and ordinary, but they’re anything but. They’re extraordinarily buttery, very flaky and they have a kick, thanks to a bit of cayenne pepper added to the cinnamon sugar.

I’ve made a lot of puff pastry – the more laborious kind that involves a butter block and multitudes of letter folds. But more often, I make a rough puff pastry just like this one – pulse it in the food processor, and then give it a minimal amount of turns to create some layers. It works great, and is significantly easier and quicker than a properly made puff pastry. And most important, it gives the impression that you’ve spent hours of laboring over dough.

Once the dough is ready (it can be made ahead of time), the cookies are very quick to make – just roll them up with some of the cinnamon sugar, slice and bake. Don’t want to bother with the dough? Use an all-butter, store bought puff pastry (such as Dufour brand), and follow the instructions to roll, slice and bake. You’ll still love the results.

For the recipe and to see how the other Baked Sunday Mornings bakers fared, head over to Baked Sunday Mornings.

• Election Palmiers (Baked Occasions, p. 208)