Lemon Madeleines

These lemon madeleines are perfectly citrusy with a burst of natural lemon flavor. The texture is so fluffy, tender, and moist inside while lightly crispy on the outside. And the best part is it is so easy to make! Make the madeleine batter in 10 minutes with only 10 minutes of baking time.

📌 Why you'll love this recipe

• It's perfectly citrusy: The natural flavor of lemon zest and lemon juice is nothing to be compared with lemon extract. The perfect amount of lemon flavor and aroma spreads in your mouth at first bite! The tangy lemon glaze plays an important role in this.
• The steps are so simple: You can make the batter within 10 minutes. And the baking time takes only 10 minutes!
• Its texture: The buttery cakes are lightly crispy outside and perfectly fluffy and moist inside. 
• The beloved look: I'll be sharing tips for creating an evenly browned surface with a cute signature hump on the top.
• Make the madeleine batter ahead and bake later whenever you want to enjoy the fresh ones!  

There is something about baking homemade fresh madeleines and sharing them with family. These simple yet delicious treats give us such happy, luxurious moments that will be cherished for years. The buttery smell and citrus flavor brighten up all our moods, even in the sleepy morning.

I'm sharing how to make it step-by-step with clear tips, images, and a video.

Let's get started 💪🏻

📌 What Are Madeleines?

The classic madeleines are small French butter cakes baked in shell-shaped molds. The origins of the Madeleine are said to date back to the 18th century in Commercy and Liverdun, two communes of the Lorraine region of France.

Madeleine is one of the most beloved French desserts, as well as cream puffs, eclairs, crème brûlée, and opera cake. I love the lemon version as a lemon fan. 🍋 I often bake them with classic vanilla madeleines and chocolate madeleines and make an assorted gift box.

Are Madeleines cookies or cakes?

Although they are sometimes called "cookies" due to the small bite-size look, they are technically small butter cakes that are designed to stay soft and moist inside. The ingredients are very similar to pound cakes or other types of butter cakes, but they are normally just larger. Some people may want to call them cookies, depending on the culture or region they grew up in, which happens all the time for other desserts.

📌 Ingredients For Lemon Madeleines

Madeleine batter

• Unsalted butter: Butter adds rich flavor and moist texture. Use brown butter for a deeper taste!
• Lemon zest: The aroma of lemon is enhanced by the zest. Do not zest the lemon too deep - The white part below the yellow skin is very bitter!
• Granulated sugar 
• Salt: It gives more depth in flavor.
• Honey: It helps to keep madeleines moist. It also helps to caramelize the surface more.
• Whole eggs: It helps to create a fluffy texture with the help of baking powder.
• Cake flour: The texture gets fluffier with cake flour. Use all-purpose flour instead if you can’t get it. Cake flour is lumpier than all-purpose flour - I recommend sifting it always!
• Baking powder: Baking powder is needed to let the cake rise more in the oven since we do not whip the eggs.
• Lemon juice: Preferably use fresh lemon juice. You can use regular lemons or Meyer lemons. 

For a madeleine pan

• Soft butter: A little bit of butter is needed to grease the pan.
• All-purpose flour: Dusting flour on top of the butter makes it easier to take out the cakes from the pan. It also creates more even caramelization on the surface. I recommend using all-purpose flour or bread flour since they are less lumpy and spread more evenly than cake flour. (The crust gets slightly crunchier with bread flour.)

Lemon Icing

• Powdered sugar 
• Lemon juice 
• Water 

📌 Tools For Lemon Madeleines

• Bowl
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Nonstick Madeleine pan: I recommend not compromising the quality since it can affect how beautifully the surfaces get browned. This (affiliate link) is my favorite madeleine tin, which I've been using for years. 
• Pastry brush: Use it to grease butter over a pan and coat the lemon icing on the surface of the madeleines. 

📌 Step-by-Step Instructions to Make Lemon Madeleines

Madeleine batter

1. Mix lemon zest, sugar, and salt in a large bowl with a whisk.
2. Add eggs and honey. Mix well. There is no need to beat eggs - Mix well until evenly incorporated.

3. Add sifted cake flour and baking powder. Mix until smooth. Continue mixing until you don't see any lumps of flour.
4. Add warm melted butter. Mix well.

5. Add lemon juice and mix. Switch to a rubber spatula at the end and scrape off the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure the batter is evenly mixed.
6. Let the batter rest in the fridge for a few hours (or at least one hour. Longer is better to create bigger humps on top of madeleines). Meanwhile, Grease the pan with a thin layer of soft butter, dust all-purpose flour on top, ensure all the surface is covered with flour, flip the pan, and toss it on the counter to remove the excess flour. Chill the pan in the fridge until right before use. Preheat the oven to 395ºF (201ºC).

7. Pipe the batter into the prepared molds using a piping bag. Fill up to about 85% of the capacity of the shell.
8. Turn the oven temperature down to 365ºF (185ºC) and bake them for 8 - 10 minutes until the bumps bounce back very gently when touching them. Remove the cakes from the pan while they are hot. Touch them gently since they are very soft. Let them cool before coating the lemon icing. 

Lemon Icing

9. Mix powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water in a small bowl until smooth.
10. Coat it on top of the madeleines thinly with a pastry brush.
11. Line them on a baking sheet and bake them at 302ºF (150ºC) for 1 minute to let the surface dry and add a slightly crispier texture. 

📌 Expert Tips

• Butter: It's essential to use warm, melted butter to prevent it from hardening as you mix since butter turns into a solid as it cools down. It should feel very warm when you touch it. (104 - 122ºF | 40 - 50ºC) 
• Madeleine Batter: By chilling this madeleine batter, the glutens in the flour get rested more and weakened, which helps the cake to rise more in the oven. The cold batter also creates bigger bumps on top of Madeleines in the oven due to the temperature gap. - They get much smaller when the batter is at room temperature. The batter gets slightly firmer after it's chilled due to the butter inside, but it is still pipeable. 
• Madeleine Pan: By chilling the prepared pan until right before use, the coated butter gets hard and sets nicely, which creates more even, beautiful golden brown caramelization on the surface of the madeleines. 
• How to pipe: Use a pastry bag to divide the batter easily and equally. (Not a must, though!) Pipe right after the pan is taken out from the fridge and bake them right away before the greased butter gets soft. The madeleine humps get smaller when it's not filled enough, and the cake spreads widely when it's filled too much.
• Baking: One batch of the recipe makes about 16 Madeleines. * It may vary slightly depending on the capacity of the madeleine pan you use. Be careful not to overbake them to prevent them from getting dry.

📌 Uses For Lemon Madeleine

Enjoy delicious homemade lemon madeleines on many occasions, such as:

• Afternoon tea snack: The little cakes are a perfect match with a cup of tea or coffee. 
• Morning treats: Having freshly baked delicious madeleines in the morning gives us a great mood to start the day! The refreshing lemon scent spreads in the room.
• A gift: These easy yet fancy treats are perfect to gift for someone special. They'll be surprised to find out you made them!

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store lemon madeleines?

When you are not eating them within that day, wrap them with plastic wrap or bag each of them in small plastic gift bags. (Put them in an airtight container or ziplock for double protection!

What is the shelf life of lemon madeleines?

Store them at room temperature or in the fridge, whichever you like:

• At room temperature: for up to a few days (in a shaded, cooling place).
• In the fridge: for up to 5 days

Can I make the lemon madeleines without the lemon icing? 

You can, but I highly recommend trying it since it makes the madeleines more citrusy and delicious! The icing also helps to prevent the madeleines from getting dry quickly.

Why didn't my lemon madeleines rise much in the oven? 

The solutions:

• Rest the batter enough before using it. It helps to let them rise more in the oven.
• Is the heat of your oven stronger or weaker than normal? See if you need to adjust the temperature. 
• Make sure the quantities of ingredients are exact. (I recommend using weight measurement to be most precise.)

Can I make the lemon madeleine batter ahead of time?

Yes! The great thing about this Madeleine recipe is that you can make the batter ahead and use it later whenever you need it. You can make it up to 1 - 2 days ahead. 

📌 More Lemon Desserts

• Lemon Pound Cake
• Lemon Buttercream Frosting
• Lemon Curd
• Lemon Mousse

📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!

Watch this video to learn how to make lemon madeleines visually and have a deeper understanding of each step!

Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it 😉

💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love hearing how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.