French Madeleines Recipe

4.48 from 23 reviews

Are French Madeleines a cookie or a cake? I don’t care! I only know that they’re so easy to make and even easier to eat.

Prep Time45

Bake Time8

Total Time38

Servings:24 cookies

Ingredients

6 ounces unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lemon (finely grated zest)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon table salt
3 large eggs
1 large yolks
5 ounces granulated sugar (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons )
5 ounces all purpose flour (1 cup, see note)

Instructions

Melt 6 ounces unsalted butter in a small saucepan. Continue heating the butter until it foams, bubbles and the milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan. Allow the milk solids to brown but be careful not to let them burn. Pour the browned butter into a small bowl, leaving the milk solids in the pan.
Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/8 teaspoon table salt to the browned butter. Set aside to cool but not solidify.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk 3 large eggs, 1 large yolks with 5 ounces granulated sugar until pale, aerated and the batter leaves a "ribbon" on the surface when drizzled.
Sift 5 ounces all purpose flour over the eggs and fold in by hand with a wire whisk. Fold in the browned butter. Set the batter aside to rest for 1 hour.
While the batter is resting, preheat oven to 400°F. Butter the madeleine pan.
Use a scooper or a heaping tablespoon of batter to fill each cookie mold 3/4 of the way.
Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown around the edges and set in the center. Madeleines are best eaten slightly warm or within a couple of hours of baking.

Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

Nutrition