This delicious and beautiful french cookie goes by the name of Madeleines and is super simple to make. The only thing you need is a special madeleine baking tin.

Making madeleines

Recipe for madeleines

It’s funny how you can be intrigued by something as soon as you see it. I probably saw madeleines first at one blog or the other. You know how that works when you’re browsing the internet right?

The origin of the madeleine has many different versions. As is usually the case with recipes that date back to hundreds of years ago. One story tells the tale of a Madeleine Palmier who made this delicacy for a Polish king. Another tells a tale of a maid with the name of Madeleine who baked the cakes in a scallop shell. Given it that unique look.

Madeleines recipe

Baking your own

Now to be honest I don’t really care where they come from, but I do know I love baking them. You can find metal baking pans and you can find silicon ones. I’ve tried both but like the metal ones better as the cakes brown a little bit better around the edges. When using the silicon they stay more blond. Which is still ok, but I love those little crunchy edges and that works best when baked in metal. I used this particular madeleine pan.

Recipe for madeleines

Burned butter

When browsing the internet I saw a couple of times that the key to making good madeleines is using burned butter in the recipe. That is definitely an option but I’ve tried both with the burned butter and without. Not going the extra mile to brown the butter, didn’t really make a huge difference in the end result. So if you want to make them a little quicker, you can definitely make these without browning it. Just melt the butter, let it cool down somewhat and continue the process as outlined below.

If you’re a lover of cookies, try these delicious red velvet cookies as well!

Making madeleines

Madeleines

5 from 1 vote
GangCake and cookies
KeukenFrench

This cross between a cookie and a cake is super delicious!
Prep time 15 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
Total time 30 minutes

25 cookies

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 170 gr unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp softened unsalted butter for greasing pan
  • 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs
  • a pinch fine-grain sea salt
  • 2/3 cups sugar
  • zest of one large lemon
  • seeds of one vanilla pod or vanilla extract
  • powdered sugar
  • a bit of extra flour for dusting baking pan

  • Preheat oven to 175 C
  • Melt the butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat until it’s brown and starts to smell rather nutty. Do make sure that you don’t let it get burned as that…. is something you do not want! Once brown, strain the butter (you can use a paper towel over a mesh strainer) so that the solids are left behind. Cool the butter to room temperature. By doing the butter first you can complete the rest of the steps while it is cooling.
  • While the melted butter is cooling, use the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to grease the madeleine molds – get in there and make sure you get in all the ridges. Dust with flour and invert the pan tapping out any excess flour. Mine came out of the pan very easily.
  • Put the eggs with the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick – you are looking for the eggs to roughly double or triple in volume – approximately 3 minutes. Continuing to mix on high speed, slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Whip for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and ribbony. Now with a spatula fold in the lemon zest and vanilla (just until mixed).
  • Sprinkle the flour on top of the egg batter, and gently fold in. Now fold in the butter mixture. Only stirring enough to bring everything together. You don’t want the butter to be too hot or it will work on your eggs.
  • Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each mold 2/3 -3/4 full. I found that the batter becomes thick quite quickly. I had to bake in several batches as the mold only holds 12 madeleines. This recipe makes double that amount.
  • Bake the madeleines for about 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. Make sure to check them from time to time. Once the edges turn golden remove from the oven and turn out onto a cooling rack immediately. Dust with icing sugar and serve. The madeleines are best eaten the day they are made.

Nutrition Information per portion

Calories: 101kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 19mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 236IU | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg

Disclaimer

The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.

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Simone van den Berg

Food blogger from the Netherlands. Loves good food. Likes to create healthy and easy recipes for daily use, but also loves the occasional sweet dish. Lives in the Netherlands with her two cats; Humphrey and Buffy. Profession: Food photographer, food blogger, recipe developer and nutritionist