Panellets

This traditional Catalan panellets recipe is easy to make with just 6 ingredients and fun to customize with different toppings.

Panellets

Bon dia, everyone! Today’s new recipe is special one from right here in the heart of Catalonia — we’re making panellets. ♡

I had actually never heard of these sweet treats before we moved to Barcelona. But a few weeks after we first arrived in the city at this time two years ago, I received a message on Insta from a local blog reader (who has since become one of my best friends in the city) saying that we absolutely had to stop by a traditional bakery in our neighborhood to try some panellets while they were in season. So we popped by to sample a few, and instantly fell in love with this sweet tradition.

As we came to learn, panellets (pronounced pah-neh-yets) are a limited-edition treat in Catalonia, available only for a short time leading up to All Saints Day (November 1), when they are traditionally served alongside roasted chestnuts and enormous roasted sweet potatoes. There are at least a dozen different flavors of panellets that you choose from, each of which have a traditional shape to match their flavor. But all are filled with a sweet almondy marizpan filling. And all are delicious. Our favorites by far are the (round) pine nut panellets and the (oval-shaped) almond panellets, which happen to be two of the most popular flavors. But you can also roll or stuff your panellets with everything from coconut to cocoa, coffee, quince paste, cherries and more. So many panellets to choose from!

Anyway, this past week leading up to All Saints Day, we coincidentally had a date on the calendar with that same friend and her boyfriend to go out for sushi. But at the last second, she messaged and asked if we might like to have a homemade panellet-making party instead — to which we immediately replied yes please. So Barclay cooked us all up a big batch of cozy cauliflower curry to for dinner. Laura and I set to work mixing up the lemony almond flour marzipan. Dani was on quality control with all of the toppings. And the four of us spent the evening rolling out a few dozen panellets, which ended up baking up perfectly in the oven. Our first panellet success!

We dove in while they were nice and warm, fresh outta the oven, and then boxed up the leftovers to share with our neighbors. (They always get a kick out of us learning how to make traditional Catalan recipes!) But after I posted about our panellet party on Instagram, enough of you all had asked for the recipe that we decided to go ahead and make a second batch so that I could share the recipe with you in time for All Saints Day.

So for those of you interested in giving panellets a try, here’s how Laura taught us to make them!