cinnamon sugar puffs

puff pastry can make any valentine's day special, even for those with very little baking skillz. this morning, as a trial run for v-day, i made these cinnamon sugar puffs without using a recipe, and todd didn't keel over. phew.

ingredients

• puff pastry (regular or whole wheat)
• flour
• ground cinnamon
• sugar
• cold butter (salted), sliced into thin slivers

directions

• put frozen puff pastry in fridge the night before to thaw.

the morning of:

• preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• take your rolling pin and dust it with flour.
• on a clean work surface, unfold the puff pastry and dust it with flour, too.
• roll out your puff pastry a little bit (not too thin) until it's 1/8" thick.
• slice the pastry into 2 1/2" wide long strips (you can make them thicker if you chose to. just keep an eye on the baking process so that they cook evenly and thoroughly).
  
• cover the pastry slices with a thick coating of cinnamon.
• do the same with the sugar.
• press the topping into the pastry.
• top the sugar/cinnamon mixture with a light sprinkling of butter slivers.*
• place a silpat over a large oven-safe pan (spay a pan with baking spray).
• carefully, roll each coated strip from end to end, and place seam-side down on the silpat/pan, about 3 inches from each other.
• sprinkle the tops of them with leftover sugar and cinnamon.
• bake for approx. 10-18 minutes. time will vary depending on size and pastry.

*you can also add raisins or other dried fruit, chocolate chips, jam, etc.