Caramelized Bretzel Palmiers

Bretzelsonndeg is around the corner (this year Sunday, 15th March 2026), and it really is one of my favourite Luxembourgish traditions!

On this day, a man should offer his beloved a sweet pretzel. If she accepts, she in return will have to give her man a chocolate egg for Easter. If she refuses, she gives him a basket – hence the Luxembourgish expression ‘hie krut de Kuef’ (he got the basket) if you get dumped…

You can expect long queues at the bakeries this Sunday, so if you want to avoid them, you should consider making a bretzel yourself. But I understand that for most, the thought of standing in the kitchen for hours to recreate my yeast bretzel from the cover of my baking book is a daunting one..

That’s why I’ve come up with this super easy Bretzel cookie recipe. The inspiration comes from palmiers – litte caramelized puff pastry “ears” that are popular in France. I’ve simply doused store-bought all butter puff pastry with lots of spiced sugar, and then shaped it into a little bretzel. The result are super crispy, caramelized bretzel cookies. Perfect with a cup of coffee!

Ingredients

70g white sugar
20g brown sugar
1 tsp Anne’s Sweet Spice or cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1 all butter puff pastry (230g)

Method

Makes approx. 24 bretzels

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.

In a small bowl, mix the white and brown sugar with the spice and a pinch of salt.

Sprinkle 1/3rd of the sugar onto your work surface.

Unroll the puff pastry and cut in half. Lay one half onto the sugared surface and roll over it with a rolling pin.

Sprinkle the puff pastry with another third of the sugar, then top with the second puff pastry half. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and roll over with a rolling pin, so that the sugar sticks.

Using a pizza cutter, cut the pastry into 24 thin strips.

Take a strip and twist it onto itself, then shape into a bretzel and put on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake the bretzels for 12 minutes in the preheated oven and leave to cool on a wire rack before serving.