Gluten free madeleines with lemon and almond flour
These gluten free madeleines are very simple and easy to make with just the right level of sweetness and perfect for when you’re entertaining friends.
While you are preparing for a coffee date with friends you receive word that one of the couple is eating gluten free. You were planning to make classic French madeleines but that idea can now go out the window. These gluten free madeleines tick all the boxes; they are easy to make, super delicious and your friends will love it!
Gluten free madeleines
Sometimes a photo looks better than the finished dish. And sometimes the dish tastes better than the photo would imply. These gluten-free madeleines fall into the latter category. Not my best photo, but guys these gluten-free madeleines are very delicious! You just have to believe me on my word for this.
Table of Contents
I love gluten free baking and sometimes I actually find it easier to work with then a version with gluten. One thing to know when trying out gluten free baking is that some cookies will stay fresh a little shorter in time then the version with gluten. That said these little cakes here are absolutely perfect. Since I made them both with and without gluten I find this version maybe even better.
In fact, if you don’t tell someone, they’ll never guess that these madeleines are gluten-free.
I baked these gluten-free madeleines in a special madeleine pan. You just have to have one in the house, of course, but it really works best with these cookies. You could try using cupcake molds maybe and not overfilling them, but no idea how that will turn out. The batter cannot be used without a cookie pan as it resembles something between a regular cake and typical cookie dough.
There’s quite a lot of oil going into these madeleines. Both coconut oil and olive oil. That may be one of the reasons they stay so delicious. And the lemon zest also helps with that. At least if you like lemon. You can substitute the lemon for either lime or orange if you prefer. Or make a citrus mix.
Points of attention
To make the gluten free madeleines, you obviously need a madeleine tin. While I am all about trying out different kinds of baking tins, but if you want to bake madeleines, you need a madeleine tin. There is just no way around it.
Then it is important to grease the tin well. I use either butter or a ready-made baking spray for this purpose. The batter thickens quite a bit if you leave it standing for too long. I made a total of 24 madeleines with this recipe. That means – if you have a regular made pan with 12 madeleines you need to bake it in two batches. The second batch will therefore stand on the kitchen counter for longer and the batter will firm up in between. The coconut flour and tapioca make the batter firmer. If that bothers you can smoothen the batter for the second batch a bit by adding some almond milk or a splash of lemon juice. Just enough to make it thinner again.
Making the madeleines
Now in order to make the madeleines you need a large bowl or use the bowl of your stand mixer. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature and melt the coconut oil before hand so it can cool down a bit.
Now mix the dry ingredients together in a separate medium bowl and set aside. Add the sugar and the eggs into the bowl and whisk eggs until fluffy. I used coconut blossom sugar which does give it a slightly different taste. You can definitely use regular sugar if you prefer. I always think coconut blossom sugar has a bit of a caramelized flavor to it. Don’t use honey as that will change the consistency of the madeleine cookies.
Now add the dry ingredients to your egg mixture and whisk on low until just combined. Add the wet ingredients to you mix. Don’t overmix at this point. Make sure you brush you madeleine mold well with melted butter or coconut oil. You can also dust it with a bit of rice flour to make sure they come out perfectly. I haven’t had any issues with getting them out but I do use a non stick madeleine mold.
Check the recipe card for the full instructions.
Baking
Now you place the gluten free madeleines into the preheated oven and bake them for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Take them out of the oven and leave to stand for a few minutes. Take them out of the mould and leave to cool on a cooling rack or wire rack. And enjoy them with your afternoon tea. As an extra finishing touch it is also delicious to dip them into a bit of melted chocolate. So good!
Can I substitute the olive oil?
Yes, you can substitute the olive oil and coconut oil for butter if you prefer. So in that case use 200 gr of butter (without salt) to make the gluten-free madeleines.
What can I use to replace the almond flour?
You can replace the almond flour with, for example, chufa or cassava flour. The taste will be different, but you can replace it 1-to-1. As for using cassava flour, I don’t like the texture of that with these madeleines so I would advice against replacing the almond flour with the cassave. But you can definitely try with this or other gluten-free flours or use a flour mixture.
I’ve used a mix of almond flour, coconut flour and tapioca flour here. The tapioca starch is the thing that binds it all together and can be replaced with arrowroot flour if you want. Don’t use only coconut flour here as that will make these french madeleines too dry.
You can keep the gluten-free madeleines in an airtight container for a couple of days. Now if you’ve made these gluten-free lemon madeleines and you liked them? I would love it if you left a star rating on the recipe card. They’re definitely one of my favorite cookies.
Gluten-free madeleines with lemon
Equipment
- madeleine baking sheet
Ingredients
- 80 gr melted coconut oil
- 200 gr coconut blossom sugar
- Zest of 3 lemons
- 3 eggs
- 105 gr coconut flour
- 45 gr almond flour
- 35 gr tapioca
- 1 tsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 60 ml almond milk
- 125 ml olive oil
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F)
- Put the sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a mixer. To this, add the eggs one by one and beat on high speed until fluffy.
- In another bowl mix the coconut flour, almond flour, tapioca and the chia seeds. Add the baking powder and salt to this as well.
- Turn the mixer on low and add the dry ingredients.
- Then mix it with the almond milk, melted coconut oil and olive oil.
- Divide the batter between a madeleine mold that is well greased.
- Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Information per portion
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.
