I Baked Madeleines

Last year, I helped a co-worker with a project on my own time. As a thank you, he gave me a King Arthur Flour gift certificate. With that gift certificate, I bought myself a Madeleine pan... something I never would have bought had I not been using "free money" because it is a uni-tasker. That said, free money = madeleine pan in this case!

I made the batter using this recipe (NOTE: I doubled it and wound up with almost 50 cookies) and could not have been happier with the results! The two changes I made were: (1) I used lemon zest instead of orange zest because that is what I had on hand and (2) I melted a little butter and brushed the pan wells with it instead of using non-stick spray. I let the batter sit in the fridge overnight (to ensure they had the traditional hump) and baked 'em this morning. OH... my ... goodness!

Because I'm going for Mom of the Year, I let the kids try them this morning and both kids gave the Madeleines their enthusiastic approval ... and then asked me if they could have another one for their lunches. Oh... OK! :)

Baking with Beth's Madeleine Recipe

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp orange zest (in my case, zest of 1 lemon)
• 1 c flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp butter (melted)
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar

1. Beat eggs with sugar until pale yellow. Add zest.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients. Add to the egg mixture gently, until just combined. Then add melted butter.
3. Refrigerate the batter at least 1 hour! Or overnight. This is really critical for getting the "hump" of a Madeleine, the traditional mark of this classic French cookie. 
4. Preheat oven to 350.
5. Lightly coat a non-stick Madeleine pan with baking spray using this technique. Spray the baking spray into a small bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly grease each well. (NOTE: I used melted butter instead.)
6. Spoon 1 Tbsp of batter into the center of the well and don't touch it. It will spread out by itself and keep a more uniform shape that way.
7. Bake 7-8 minutes (NOTE: Mine needed 8-9) until slightly golden around the edges and the centers look set and a slight hump has appeared. Allow to cool slightly and then remove from the tin and allow to cool.
8. Once cooled completely, dust with powdered sugar and serve.