Lemon Madeleines! Your favorite French tea cake cookie with perfect notes of lemon! Perfect for spring!
I’ve been wanting to make Lemon Madeleines for the longest time. These are not only my youngest daughter’s favorite baked treat but they are also her namesake. We buy them pretty much every time we pick up coffee at Starbucks and it was about time I made these at home.
“Madeleines are a French tea cake (thought of as a cookie) that are instantly recognizable with their scalloped shell shape that is ribbed on one side, and smooth, with a hump, on the other. Direct from the oven these buttery sponge cakes have wonderfully crisp edges and such a moist and tender crumb that they are best eaten right away.” A dusting of powdered sugar is all that they really need, if anything, and you can also brush the still warm Madeleines with a tangy lemon glaze or dip these babies in melted chocolate.
Now, this was my first time baking these so I tried to read up as much as possible. . I was trying to get the perfect Madeleine cookie. . I think mine came out too brown, probably from the butter I used to grease the pan and my humps were a bit too big. I followed Joy of Baking’s advice and chilled the batter for at least an hour in order to get that characteristic “hump”, but I think something went wrong. I will have to test and bake again and see. . The batter can also be covered and stored in the refrigerator for about three days, so you don’t have to make all the cookies at once.
But we still devoured every single one of these! If you have any tips you can share with me, please do!!! These are the perfect tea cake cookies for brunches, parties, get togethers and more.
And I will leave you with this very important TIP: Grease (and flour) your madeleine tin pan and set in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, or up to an hour. This will help you easily remove the baked madeleines after baking.
I hope you enjoy!
And I’m thrilled to say that I’ll be on a jet plane headed to Miami for BlogHer Food on Thursday. . woot woot!! Follow me on Instagram if you’re interested in seeing some photos.
Lemon Madeleines
Ingredients
- non-stick baking spray to grease the pan or butter
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 4 eggs
- Special equipment: a madeleine pan
Instructions
- Grease your madeleine tin with baking spray or butter and set in the freezer. Additionally, you can lightly dust the pan with some flour (after the butter) as well, knocking out the excess. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Preheat your oven 400 degrees F.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small saucepan melt the butter, and stir in the sugar, honey and lemon zest. Lightly beat the eggs, and temper them into the butter mixture. Whisk into the flour mixture to make a smooth batter. Remove your tin from the freezer and pour the batter into the molds and bake until the cakes are puffed up, golden around the edges and cooked through, for 10 to 12 minutes.
Recipe from the Cooking Channel.
