Vanilla Madeleines

Today, I’m sharing all the tips for making perfect vanilla madeleines at home.

The fancy look might intimidate you to try making them, but surprisingly, they are super easy to make. - The batter can be made quickly in 5 to 10 minutes!

🧡 I love the madeleines because:

• It is so simple: You can make the batter within 10 minutes. And the baking time is so short (about 10 minutes).
• Its texture: Freshly baked madeleines are lightly crispy outside and fluffy inside.
• The beautiful smells of butter and vanilla come from the oven as you bake them. - It creates delicious memories with your family and friends.
• The beloved look: The ruffle pattern, cute bump, the perfect size... It has attracted people over the centuries! It's a perfect little snack to serve your guest as a gift, a tea snack, etc.
• You can make the batter ahead and bake it later whenever you need to enjoy the fresh ones.

💬 I like to make a different flavor when I gift them in a box, such as lemon madeleines.

In this post, you'll learn essential baking tips such as:

• Tips for creating beautiful, even caramelization on the surface.
• The reason for chilling the batter before baking them
• Tips for letting them rise maximum in the oven
• How to avoid it from getting dry
• How to store them properly

... and so on.

Let's get started!

Jump to:

• 📌 What's in Madeleines?
• 📌 How To Make Madeleines
• 📌 Uses for Madeleine
• 📌 How To Store Madeleines
• 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
• 📌 Lemon Madeleines
• 📌 Printable Recipe
• Madeleines
• 📌 Pin It!
• 💬 A Sprinkle Of Life

📌 What's in Madeleines?

The 11 ingredients:

The essential ingredients to make madeleines are sugar, egg, flour, baking powder, and butter. And we are adding salt, vanilla, lemon zest, honey, milk, and oil to them today. Check below to see the roles:

• Granulated sugar
• Salt
  • It gives more depth in flavor.
• Vanilla beans
  • You can also use vanilla extract instead when vanilla beans are not available.
  • I used Madagascar vanilla beans. I love the exotic, sweet smell.
• Lemon zest
  • I love adding a hit of the refreshing flavor.
• Whole eggs
• Honey
  • Honey helps to keep madeleines moist. It also caramelizes the surface more.
• Milk
  • It also helps to make it slightly moister.
• Oil
  • Oil helps to create a lighter texture when the cake is at room temperature.
• Cake flour
  • Use all-purpose flour if you can’t get cake flour. The texture gets fluffier with cake flour.
• Baking Powder
  • Baking powder is needed to let the cake rise more since we do not whip eggs for madeleines.
• Unsalted butter
  • Butter adds rich flavor and moist texture.
  • Use melted butter.

📌 How To Make Madeleines

The 7 Simple Steps

The madeleine batter

1. Mix sugar, salt, vanilla beans, and lemon zest in a bowl.
2. Add eggs, honey, milk, and oil. Mix well.
3. Add sifted cake flour and baking powder. Mix until it looks smooth.
4. Add warm melted butter (40 - 50 C | 104 - 122 F) and mix.
   • Clean a bowl with a spatula to check if it's even.
5. Let it rest in the fridge for over one hour (Ideally more than a few hours).
   • Meanwhile, Grease your pan with a thin layer of butter, dust all-purpose flour, and toss to remove the excess. Chill it in a fridge until right before use.
   • Preheat the oven to 395 F | 201 C.
6. Pipe the batter onto a mold up to about 85% of the capacity.
7. Bake at 365 F | 185 C (Preheat: 395 F | 201 C) for 9 - 10 minutes.

📝 More Tips With Images

Now, let me share detailed tips on each step, which are all crucial for making madeleines successfully.

💬 As a preparation, I like to start melting butter and sift flour (cake flour and baking powder) beforehand.

Step 1: Mix sugar, salt, vanilla beans, and lemon zest in a bowl.

⚠️ Do not zest lemon too deep: The white part below the yellow skin is very bitter!

Step 2: Add eggs, honey, milk, and oil. Mix well.

💬 There is no need to whip it: Mix well until everything is incorporated evenly.

Step 3: Add sifted cake flour and baking powder and mix.

👩🏻‍🍳 Cake flour is lumpier than all-purpose flour and bread flour. I recommend sifting it ahead.

First, mix gently so the flour will not scatter everywhere. And gradually speed up.

Initially, it will look lumpy (the image on the top right).

Continue mixing, and it'll eventually look very smooth:

Step 4: Add melted butter and mix.

I melted butter with a water bath this time.

When heating it with a microwave, stop frequently toward the end to avoid it from exploding. (I made a huge mess many times!💦)

💡 It's essential to use warm, melted butter not to start getting hardened as you mix since butter turns into a solid as it cools down. It should feel very warm when you touch it. (40 - 50 C | 104 - 122 F).

💬 Finally, clean a bowl with a spatula at the end to ensure everything is blended evenly.

Step 5: Let it rest in the fridge.

Chill it in the fridge for at least one hour, ideally for a few hours if you have time.

And meanwhile, let's prepare the pan!

This is the pan I used.

👩🏻‍🍳 By chilling the pan until right before use, the coated butter gets hardened and sets nicely, which creates more even, beautiful caramelization all over the surface of madeleines.

Step 6: Pipe the batter in a pan.

💬 The batter gets firmer after it's chilled due to the butter inside.

Use a pastry bag to divide the batter easily. (Not a must, though!)

Pipe right after the pan is taken out from the fridge:

Divide the rest equally so that each gets the same amount:

💬 Pipe up to about 85 % of the capacity. - The bump gets smaller when it's not filled enough, and the cake spreads too much when it's filled too much.

And immediately bake!

💬 One batch of the recipe makes about 16 Madeleines. * It can vary slightly depending on the capacity of the madeleine pan you use!

Step 7: Bake at 365 F | 185 C (Preheat: 395 F | 201 C) for 9 - 10 minutes.

It is so exciting to look at them rising in the oven. The iconic bumps are so cute!!

Let them cool completely on a pan:

The cake is very soft when it's hot. Touch gently!

And it is done!!

It's best to eat when it's just made and still warm. - It's lightly crispy outside and so fluffy inside.

And the smell of madeleines...!! The amazing buttery aroma slowly spreads from the oven as you bake them. Rei and Chocola always notice that and gather around the kitchen😊

📌 Uses for Madeleine

Enjoy homemade madeleines on many occasions, such as:

• Afternoon tea snack
  • It is a perfect little treat to enjoy with coffee or tea. I heard some people like to dip it in hot tea and enjoy it.
• Morning treat
  • There is something about having freshly baked madeleines in the morning. - It makes an excellent start for the day😋
• A gift
  • Gift them to someone special. They'll be surprised to find out you made them! This time, I also baked lemon madeleines and made the assorted box:

📌 How To Store Madeleines

Madeleines could get dried quickly, mainly because they are so small.

When you are not eating them right away, wrap or bag them. (Put them in an air-tight container or ziplock for double protection!)

The shelf-life

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

Making the batter ahead

The great thing about madeleines is that you can make the batter ahead and use it later when you need it.

I baked only 8 pieces:

Make the batter the night before if you're busy in the morning, bake it quickly, and serve the warm madeleines!

You can make it up to 1 - 2 days ahead.

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!

Watch this video to learn how to make the madeleines visually and have a deeper understanding of all.

Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it 😉

📌 Lemon Madeleines

💬 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.

Also, check out how to make lemon madeleines.

As you may know, I LOVE lemon desserts. - It is my FAVORITE dessert! The lemon icing makes it taste exceptional.

📌 Printable Recipe

💬 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.

📌 Pin It!

Pin it if you love this recipe, and find so many other recipes on my Pinterest page!

💬 A Sprinkle Of Life

Rei got a gardening kit from grandma as a birthday present. We planted them about 5 days ago, and look how they are growing already!!! The leave of basil and cosmos popped out. SO exciting. Feeling like a kid again😊

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