Today I’m teaching you exactly how to make Classic French Madeleines! They taste just like the ones you’d find in a Parisian boulangerie!
Classic French Madeleine Recipe
I’ve been trying to stay focused… but there’s a constant whisper in my ear: 2 weeks till Paris! Of course, the day count changes as the days fall off the calendar, but the message is always the same. Vacation is coming and it’s coming soon. So I decided to channel my unavoidable excitement into something sweet for you: a week’s worth of French inspired recipes! Beginning with a lovely batch of Authentic French Madeleines.
And just a little disclaimer: I classify this recipe as “classic” because I have several French friends who kindly helped me develop this recipe. But if you are French and this is not classic to you, I’d love to hear how you make your mads in the comments below ♥
But for now, let’s move on with the recipe! Because classic or not, these delicate little shell shaped sponge cakes are sweet, buttery, and so DELICIOUS!
Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success
How to Make this Authentic Madeleine Recipe:
- First things first! To make this recipe, you will need a Madeleine mold. If you don’t already own one, here’s a link to the best madeleine pan.
- Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s discuss brown butter! Because it’s the very first step in this recipe and it’s an important one. To brown butter you’ll need a saute pan, butter, and a little patience. You’ll melt the butter as normal, then continue cooking it over medium heat – stirring occasionally – until it reaches a golden brown color. Watch your butter closely as it browns, because it can burn easily! Once it’s nice and golden brown, remove it from the heat and pour it into a heatproof bowl – being sure to scrape all of the golden bits off the bottom of the pan. And that’s it! Easy, right? You’ll want to do this step first because the butter needs to cool a bit before being added to the batter.
- Because cold ingredients don’t bond, your eggs must be at room temperature before using them in this recipe.
- One of the most important steps in this recipe is beating the eggs and sugar together. You’re going to want to gradually add the sugar into the eggs, and beat the mixture for a long time; about 3 to 4 minutes. I find 3 and 1/2 minutes is my “magic number”, but visually you’ll want the mixture to be pale and very thick.
- And the hardest part of this recipe?! The waiting! The batter must be refrigerated for at least 4 hours. The good news? You can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days!
- When it’s time to bake the madeleines, you’ll want to grease your mold generously with softened butter and a dusting of flour. Otherwise they’ll stick 🙁
- Finally, be sure to keep an eye on them as they bake. They’re ready when their “bellies” have risen and they’re golden brown.
What is a madeleine?
Madeleine cookies? Madeleine cake? What the heck are they, right? I’m going to clear it up for you right now 😉
Although many think that madeleines are French shell shaped cookies, they are actually CAKE. The batter is typically baked in a shell-shaped mold and the finished product is often decorated with confectioners’ sugar or some type of glaze.
One more thing! Madeleines are truly best served warm, and definitely best served within an hour of baking them. They lose moisture quite quickly, so they’re not a cake I suggest making ahead of time. But as I mentioned above, you can make the batter ahead of time, then bake off fresh batches as needed. I love baking them for brunch because they’re so good with a cup of coffee or tea.
Now that I feel I’ve “mastered” Classic French Madeleines, I’m eager to start experimenting with new flavors! So I was hoping you’d help me pick out the next flavor I should post? I’m between mint chocolate or lemon poppy seed?! Both sound so good to me!
This is the best Madeleine recipe! So perfect, in fact, I think Proust might even be proud…♥ (key word *might!)
More French Recipes:
If you try this French Madeleine Recipe, let me know! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your kitchen creations makes my day.
Classic French Madeleines
Prep
Cook
Inactive
Total
Yield 20 madeleines
These Classic French Madeleines are light, fluffy, and so good with a cup of tea!
Ingredients
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted until browned
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, sifted, optional
Instructions
- Cut the butter in tablespoons and place them in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, until the solids sink to the bottom of the pan and turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and pour the browned butter into a small bowl. Stir the vanilla and lemon zest into the butter, then set aside to cool.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside until needed.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed while gradually adding the sugar. Once all of the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and continue whipping the mixture until it's very thick and pale in color, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the mixer off and, using a silicon spatula, fold in the flour mixture in three additions, stirring just until combined. Fold in the butter mixture.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days.
- 30 minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F). Generously brush the molds of your madeleine pan with butter, then lightly dust with flour.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, spoon level scoops of the batter into the center of each mold. You don't need to spread the batter.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until the "bellies" have risen and they're golden brown.
- Cool madeleines in the pan placed on a cooling rack for a minute or two, then gently loosen them from the molds. If they stick, carefully run a small knife around the edge of the cakes until they release.
- Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve warm, with coffee or tea.
Courses Dessert
Cuisine French
Susan Reedy says
February 19, 2018 at 8:17 pmLast sentence of step 3. First fold in the flour in 3 additions, then fold in the butter. I have a very similar recipe…just be patient with the folding, especially the butter. It seems like it’s not going to come together at first, but it does! The brown butter makes it amazing!
online cake delivery in noida says
February 21, 2018 at 12:20 pmWhat a beautiful and mouth-watering classic french medeleines. i love this idea and i will definitely try it at home. It would be perfect starter for special day celebration.
sanaaya says
February 23, 2018 at 1:36 pmHAHAHAH same thing happened to me. i missed the brown butter and its right there
fnaf says
March 1, 2018 at 4:46 amGaaah. These look so delicious! <3
mira says
March 27, 2018 at 2:57 amThese cookies look so pretty! Great tips, too! Pinned!
Abby says
March 31, 2018 at 2:17 amThese are my favorite cookie! I’ve never made them, however for fear they would be too complicated. You take the intimidation right out of it!
Mukesh says
April 9, 2018 at 10:48 amThanx for sharing amazing recipe.
Diane says
April 27, 2018 at 7:02 pmI am doing these tomorrow for sure
Last time I tried they did not have the bump but the rev. So had did not cool anything or wait so that must of been the problem I will do yours
Irene Kustedja says
May 10, 2018 at 1:04 pmTried this today and really really enjoy the taste. I don’t have the mould so I used different shell mould with smaller size and only made 1/3 of the recipe. Need to invest on the real madeleine’s mould as I will be maling this again and again.
vex 3 says
May 23, 2018 at 9:14 amThe cakes look delicious and attractive, thanks for sharing the recipe I will definitely learn to do it
Jyoti Mulani says
August 23, 2018 at 9:38 amPlease provide eggless version of the Madeline’s…
Nancy says
December 15, 2018 at 12:20 amWHY would you want an eggless version?? NOT possible, make another cookie!! These Madeleines are the “Classic French Recipe” NOT to be fooled with!!!
Adam Arnold says
March 2, 2019 at 10:54 pmHahaha! No shit!!!
Elle says
May 27, 2019 at 2:22 pmIf you absolutely Must do these eggless due to allergies and not just for vanity then use the aquafaba generic replacement protocol, aquafaba is the only way for these to keep the hump without eggs. Beat it the same as the eggs are recommended to be beaten in this recipe. But seriously, if not due to allergies leave the recipe as is, it is Devine.
rosemary Crawford George says
November 26, 2018 at 8:18 pmcan you freeze these and make them ahead weeks in advance?
Elle says
May 27, 2019 at 2:25 pmYes, can be frozen and keep for 2 months.
Must be completely cooled before putting in air tight container and omit the powdered sugar dusting step until serving.
When taking these out of freezer DO NOT THAW, simply put on cookie sheet and pop into oven at 350f for 2-5 minutes,
Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Jane says
November 29, 2018 at 9:31 pmLove the idea. Can you please tell me what 1/2 a cup or 3/4 cup are in grams?
Thanks
Linda G says
June 2, 2019 at 3:04 pmHere is an easy conversion link: dish.allrecipes.com/cup-to-gram-conversions/
1/2 cup = 64 grams. 3/4 cup = 96 grams
Irene says
November 30, 2018 at 5:21 pmI use a silpat madeleine mold. Is it ok to use the Pam baking spray?
Karen says
May 23, 2019 at 8:00 amdo you like the silpat madeleine mold? I’m thinking of buying one.
Maria Lijo says
December 9, 2018 at 1:43 pmthanks dear for sharing this lovely recipe. They taste amazing loved it.
Kathryn says
December 12, 2018 at 1:56 amI just made a batch of these. Awesome recipe! I used vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract. Will try extract next time to see if there’s a big difference. I overfilled the molds but lesson learned. Thank you for sharing!
Nancy says
December 15, 2018 at 12:23 amWHY would you want an eggless version?? NOT possible, make another cookie!! These Madeleines are the “Classic French Recipe” NOT to be fooled with!!!
Tom says
December 31, 2018 at 5:01 amThis was my first time making Madeleines. They came out beautifully. No changes made other than reducing the cooking time by about 2 minutes. The cool part is I was making two types of madeleines. conventional and vegan. I used this recipe for the conventional and then for the vegan I swapped aquafaba for egg and avocado oil plant based butter for the butter. They were wonderful and have been requested again.
Gale says
January 31, 2019 at 6:49 amI would love to make these cookies. My mixer does not have a whisk attachment. Will that be a problem?
Lolita says
April 19, 2019 at 2:42 pmMade them, and i baked many Madeleines in the past. Your recipe is the best! So easy and so delicious! Thank you 🙂
Maggie says
May 6, 2019 at 7:05 amI just made these and they’re delicious! But they are almost completely flat on top, no bump. I followed the recipe exactly, no substitutions,. So what could have gone wrong? Eggs too small? Baking powder too old? Didn’t mix long en ough, or too long (4 minutes with a hand mixer, whisk attachments)? The butter seemed to resist blending in, so maybe I lost the air. I’ll try again.
Sunil says
May 22, 2019 at 7:31 amThanks for sharing I was looking for a French madeleine recipe and found this. I will try this french madeleine recipe at home.
Will Sordon says
May 30, 2019 at 4:37 pmAbsolutely amazing recipe, the illustration photographs are really very gorgeous!
Raushan says
May 31, 2019 at 10:26 amDon’t know how they taste but looks very delicious. I have never tried this before. So, I will try this recipe and hope my family would love it.
Linda G says
June 2, 2019 at 3:06 pmSome wonderful flavors, to change things up a bit, are: coconut/lime, raspberry/lemon, and chocolate/orange.