Arlettes are beautiful butter rich, crispy cinnamon biscuits. These French biscuits originate from the South of France in the early 1900s and are not dissimilar to the more well know Palmier (elephant ears) biscuits.
It is said that good things come to those who wait, and it’s certainly true where these little beauties are concerned!
Simply scrummy; Arlettes are crisp, light, buttery, and slightly caramelised with a little hint of cinnamon. I think they are what I would call a grown up biscuits, a little more refined than the average cookie and a delicious treat with a cup of tea or coffee.
They also make great biscuits to serve with ice cream. Try it with some of my equally grown up stem ginger ice cream. As well as creamy desserts such as my orange and rhubarb posset
The method used is a variation of puff pastry, but reversed so that the butter layer encases the dough rather than the other way round. Then it is rolled out and folded several times to build up the laminated layers of butter and dough in the same way as you would make a standard puff pastry.
For this reason, I must admit they do take a wee while to make, as the dough needs to be chilled after each rolling and folding. But the actual hands on time is relatively small and I think the end result worth the wait.
The trickiest part of making them is keeping the pastry cool so that the butter doesn’t melt and the pastry turn into a sticky mess. I would suggest on a hot day you would be better choosing a different biscuit to make.
How to make really easy Arlettes
So you love the idea my traditional Arlettes and would like to try them but you just don’t have the time right now. Then you can make this cheats Arlettes version instead.
- Use ready made puff pastry. Make sure it is an all butter pastry as you really need that for the flavour. Roll out to about 5mm ¼ in thick. Scatter with caster sugar and cinnamon and roll up tightly like a swiss roll and chill for 30 minutes.
- Then slice, roll out and bake the biscuits following the recipe below from step 6.
Traditionally flavoured with cinnamon I can imagine they’d be great made with other spices too, such as cardamom or nutmeg or even some lemon or orange zest for a little citrusy zing.
How to make traditional Arlettes step by step
Make the pastry
The pastry consists of two parts the dough and the butter layer.
1. To make the dough
Add the melted butter and water to the flour. Mix to a dough. Knead well. Shape into a square wrap and chill.
2. To make the butter layer
beat the flours into the softened butter. Shape and roll out butter layer between two sheets of parchment.
3. Layering the pastry
Place dough in centre of butter layer and fold up to enclose. Roll to a rectangle. Fold ends into centre then fold in half. Wrap and chill.
Repeat the rolling, folding and chilling process. If you struggle with the dough sticking to your rolling pin or the work surface try rolling out between two sheets of parchment.
Shaping the biscuits
Roll out pastry and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. fold up as before and chill. Roll out pastry and roll up like a swiss roll. Chill then slice.
Baking
Roll out each piece thinly. Place on a lined baking sheet. Bake turning halfway through Bake until golden. Cool before serving.
Traditional Arlettes
Ingredients
For the dough
- 125 g (4oz) strong white bread flour plus extra for rolling
- 125 g (4oz) plain flour (all purpose)
- 75 g (3oz) butter melted
- 100 ml (3½floz)cold water
For the butter layer
- 250 g (9oz) butter softened
- 60 g (2½oz) strong white bread flour
- 60 g (2½oz) plain flour (all-purpose)
For the filling
- 50 g (2oz) golden caster sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
for rolling and shaping
- icing sugar (confectioners sugar) to dust
Special Equipment
- cling film
- baking parchment
- Rolling Pin
Instructions
To make the dough
- Place 125g (4oz) each bread and plain flours into a bowl, mix to combine then make a well in the centre. Pour in 75g (3oz) melted butter and 100ml (3½floz) water. Using your hand combine the liquid and flour together to make a dough.
- Place the dough onto a well floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes until it is soft and smooth. Shape the dough into a 12cm (5in)square. Wrap in cling film and chill for about 45 minutes.
To prepare the butter layer
- Meanwhile, beat 250g (9oz) softened butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Add 60g (2½oz) each bread and plain flour and mix well. Place the butter mixture onto a long sheet of greaseproof paper and place another sheet on top. Flatten the mixture a little with your hand then use a rolling pin to roll the mixture to a 30 x12cm (12x5in) rectangle. Once rolled out chill for about 30 minutes.
To make the Arlettes
- Remove the butter mixture from the fridge and place it onto a well floured work surface, peeling off the parchment. Place the dough into the centre of the mixture and use the flaps of butter to fully encase the dough. Roll the mixture into a long oblong 40cm (16in) long.
- Bring the top edge to the centre and then bring the bottom edge to the centre. Fold the pastry mixture in half along the join line. Wrap and place into the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Remove the pastry from the fridge unwrap and place shortside closest to you onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll the pastry out again as before and repeat the folding procedure. Wrap and place in the fridge for a further 30 minutes.
- Mix 50g (2oz) sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon together in a bowl. Remove the pastry from the fridge, unwrap it and roll the pastry out into a long oblong as before on a lightly floured work surface. Scatter with the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the pastry ensuring the you go right to the edges.
- Fold as before. Roll the pastry out again, to form a 30cm (12in) square. Roll up tightly like a Swiss rol. Wrap tightly in and chill for a further 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 220℃ (200℃ fan)/425°F/gas mark 7. Remove the pastry from the fridge and unwrap. Trim the edges with a sharp knife to neaten. Slice into 18-24 slices.
- Dust the work surface liberally with icing sugar, roll out each slice until very thin, dusting with more icing sugar if necessary. Once rolled place the biscuits on lined baking sheets.
- Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully turn the biscuits over and cook for a further 5 – 6 minutes, or until golden-brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Repeat with the remain slices until all the biscuits are baked.
Notes
- When rolling out the butter mixture to form a neat rectangle Use a blunt knife to trim the edges, placing the offcuts onto the mixture and smoothing it out.
- Each time you roll out the dough try to keep the rectangle as neat and straight as possible (use the sides of your hands to gently knock the edges in as you roll to keep it neat.
- You may find it easier to roll the pastry bewteen two sheets of baking parchment.
- You will need to bake the Arlettes in batches as you will only get a few on the tray each time. You can roll out the next batch of Arlettes will the others are cooking but try to keep them as cool as possible before cooking.
- If you find the Arlettes are difficult to flip over, partway through the cooking, bake them for a further minute before attempting again.
I’m linking this post to #CookBlogShare hosted at Recipes Made Easy
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie
These look delicious! I am very intrigued by the pastry making method… does it result in a very different texture to puff pastry? Eb x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
To be honest Eb I dont think it does. It something I would like to find time to research more and do a side by side baking test to see what the difference in taste and texture is when tasting blind.
Nic | Nic's Adventures & Bakes
Thanks for sharing, these look a lovely treat 🙂
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
A fun bake when time allows
Kat (The Baking Explorer)
Oh I could eat several of these right now!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
They are rather moorish 🙂
Cat | Curly's Cooking
You really can’t go wrong with cinnamon at this time of year in my opinion. These look so tasty!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
I’d say you can’t go wrong with cinnamon at any time of the year it one of my favourite spices.
Louise Fairweather
I have never made these myself – they look fantastic #cookblogshare
Helen @ family-friends-food.com
Those look and sound delicious! I’m not sure I’d have the patience for the rolling and folding, but I might give your easy cheat’s version a go…
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
I find the rolling and folding quite therapeutic if you are not in a rush. But for other times the cheats version is fine.
Magdalena
This definitely does look like a technical challenge in the baking competition, they do look absolutely delicious!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
I believe it was a technical challenge on bake off back in 2015
Chloe Edges
I have to say there is something really rather satisfying about a fold and roll, fold and roll type recipe. Especially when it has such a beautiful outcome!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
I have to agree Chloe I find it very therapeutic when I have the time.
Sarah James
Wow, they look delicious, & so thin too, I love the sound of a cinnamon arlette. Congrats on your star baker award 🙂
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Cheers Sarah, and yes they were really scrummy! Mr E took a few into the office with him and they were soon demolished! Thank you Sarah, and congrats to you on your award for your shaped bread 🙂
Thanks for popping over and commenting,
Angela x
Amanda
You did such a good job making them so thin- well done! x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Amanda
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Mother Mands
Whoo! Congratulations Star Baker! Told you you'd of won the technical challenge 😉
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
🙂 Thank you Mands x
Anonymous
These look better than the ones on the show! Look at those tight curls!
Saskia / girlinbrogues.com
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thank you Saskia, I think I must have had a spot of luck with these little dudes! 🙂
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Tracy
Congratulations – they really are spectacular – and your instructions are very clear. I made a biscuit box for this week's challenge as I was scared by arlettes, but now I have read your guide I will definitely give them a go!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thank you Tracy! You know, I was phased by the biscuit box!! Lol!! I'll pop over and have a look.
Do have a go at the arlettes, they do take a while but they're really tasty!
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Mandi Brooks
I'm comparing my attempt with yours and I think I now know where I went wrong. Yours are a lot, lot thinner than mine which might explain why they took longer to cook in the oven too.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
I've just popped over to your site to have a gander – I don't think your Arlettes are much thicker than mine. I must admit that I had to bake our Arlettes longer than what Paul's recipes stipulated – it was about 6 minutes on the first side and then about 5 on the second! I don't know about you, but I found the flipping over stage difficult part way through the bake – the Arlettes were wanting to crinkle as I tried to lift them with the fish slice so I ended up baking them a tad longer to crisp them up more before trying again.
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Jibber JabberUK
You've got more patience than me! They do look worth the effort involved though.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
To be honest, it wasn't too bad making them; although the total time to make them seems a lot, there is a LOT of chilling involved and so it allowed me to get other 'jobs' done in and amongst.
Ooh yes, they were soo worth it, very yummy and full of flavour.
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Cat Sherrin
These are perfect and you made them look easy 🙂
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you so much Cat! I think the key really is to take your time and keep chilling the pastry between each roll and fold. 🙂
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Domesticated Momster
These look so good I could eat the whole batch! YUM! Look perfect to go with afternoon tea. Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe with #foodpornthursdays.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Ha-ha-ha 🙂 they were definitely moreish and very yummy. Mr E took quite a few into the office with him and they were soon demolished! They'd be great with afternoon tea.
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Hannah Spannah CB
Gosh, these look stunning, well done ou. I bet they tasted gorgeous #GBBO
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
🙂 thank you so much Hannah. They tasted divine, and I'd certainly make them again.
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Louise Fairweather
Oh well done these look fantastic
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you so much Louise 🙂
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Cathy Glynn
These look better than the ones on GBBO, the swirls are great x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw, thank you so much Cathy x
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Jasmin Charlotte
These look so impressive!! I dont think I'd be able to make something this technical but would definitely love to eat it! x
Jasmin Charlotte
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Ha-ha-ha 🙂 I'm sure you could make them Jasmin, just take your time and go one step at a time.
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Jenny
wow these look better than the ones in the technical challenge!!! so think with perfect swirls! well done x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thank you Jenny 🙂 Though I did have the luxury of not being under a time constraint and being able to read about them properly rather than just being given scant instructions. The cinnamon swirls really came out very well.
Thanks again Jenny 🙂
Angela x
Mother Mands
Spot on them, I reckon you'd of won the technical challenge with them 😉
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Your a doll 🙂 Thank you so much Mands! But don't forget I had the luxury of not baking against the clock or the stress of cameras watching me!
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
Lucy Allen
Loving the swirls! They look so good, I would love to try one. A 27 cm arlette sounds like a very tasty treat!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Lucy, I'd send you one via carrier pigeon but I'm afraid they've already been consumed! The 27cm dude couldn't really be described as petite; and the other weren't far off that size either to be honest.
You'll have to give them a go, they're not that difficult really. I think the hardest part was flipping them over at the right time – too soon and they crinkled and too late they'd be too crispy.
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x
helen
these look absolutely perfect. I bet they were lovely with a cuppa.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you Helen 🙂 I don't know about perfect, but we certainly really enjoyed them, and yes they went down great with a cuppa.
Thanks for popping by and commenting,
Angela x