Let’s Bake: Madeleines

by RogerJuly 20, 2022

Title image featuring a plate of golden baked madeleine cookies.

These buttery sponge cakes masquerading as delightful shell-shaped cookies are one of my favorite sweets. Madeleines are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, or as a unique treat at your next get-together. They aren’t easy to find, but they are relatively easy to make. With a few common pantry ingredients and a madeleine mold, you can bake up a batch of these golden wonders in no time. Join me in the kitchen and let’s bake madeleines.

Mentioned in this Episode

Madeleines are a quintessential French pastry; buttery, elegant, and delicious. The history of the madeleine has been debated, and you can find the standard info on Wikipedia, along with some more thoughtful treatments from around the internet.

To make an authentic madeleine, you of course need a madeleine pan or mold. These come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. A standard metal pan is pretty reasonable on Amazon. Silicone is a good option as well, especially if you want to use the mold for candy or ice.

Print

Madeleines

Author: Roger
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: Approx. 24 cookies

Print Recipe

Description

Golden buttery goodness, madeleines are essentially mini sponge cakes in a dainty shell shaped cookie.

Ingredients

Scale

1 cup (113 g) cake flour
1/4 tsp (2 g) salt
2 large eggs plus one egg yolk
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
1 tsp (5 ml) lemon extract
10 Tbsp (142 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-piece madeleine mold with butter, shortening, or cooking spray.
Whisk flour and salt together in a small bowl.
Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat eggs and yolk on medium high speed until foamy, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, lemon extract, and sugar and continue to beat until thick, about 5 more minutes.
Use a rubber spatula or spoon to fold in the flour and salt mixture until combined. Do the same with the melted butter until well combined.
Spoon or pipe half the batter into the madeleine pan, bringing the batter up to almost the rim in each mold. Bake on middle oven rack for 10 minutes, turning the pan halfway through the baking time. You can check the madeleines for doneness by lightly touching one. If it springs back after being pressed they are done.
Let madeleines cool for 10 minutes, then remove from mold and cool on a wire rack.
Repeat steps 5 & 6 with the remaining batter.