Madeleines French Butter Cookie Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter and flour 12 (3 inch) madeleine molds; set aside.
• Melt butter and let cool to room temperature.
• In a small mixing bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and salt at high speed until light.
• Beating constantly, gradually add sugar; and continue beating at high speed until mixture is thick and pale and ribbons form in bowl when beaters are lifted, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Sift flour into egg mixture 1/3 at a time, gently folding after each addition.
• Add lemon zest and pour melted butter around edge of batter. Quickly but gently fold butter into batter. Spoon batter into molds; it will mound slightly above tops.
• Bake 14 to 17 minutes, or until cakes are golden and the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertip.
• Use the tip of the knife to loosen madeleines from pan; invert onto rack. Immediately sprinkle warm cookies with granulated sugar. Madeleines are best eaten the day they're baked. Leftover madeleines are wonderful when dunked into coffee or tea.
• Variation: Chocolate Madeleines: Omit lemon zest. Increase sugar to 1/2 cup. Substitute 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder for 2 tablespoons of the flour; sift into batter with flour.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour madeleine pans carefully. Melt butter and let it cool.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk eggs, sugar and salt together until thick, about 8 minutes. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Using a rubber spatula, fold in flour, rapidly but gently. Fold in butter gently, but make sure it does not settle to bottom. Quickly spoon mixture into prepared madeleine pans. Bake until golden, about 7 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool on racks.

Steps:

• Butter and flour madeleine molds thoroughly. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt butter and let cool.
• Beat together eggs, salt, and sugar until very light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and orange-flower water. Fold in flour, then the melted butter and orange zest.
• Pour batter into molds almost to the top. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cakes are firm in the center. Let cool for 1 minute in molds, then turn out onto racks.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F Generously butter and flour pan for large madeleines (about 3x1 1/4 inches).
• Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.
• Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 10-16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch. (Can be made 1 day ahead.).
• Dust cookies with powdered sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour twenty-four 3-inch Madeleine molds.
• In a medium bowl beat eggs, vanilla and lemon zest with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Beat for 5 to 7 minutes or until thick and satiny.
• Sift together the flour and baking powder. Sift one-fourth of the flour mixture over the egg mixture, gently fold in. Fold in the remaining flour by fourths. Then fold in the melted and cooled butter. Spoon batter into the prepared molds, filling 3/4 full.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden and the top s spring back. Cool in molds on a rack for 1 minute. Loosen cookies with a knife. Invert cookies onto a rack and cool. Sift confectioners' sugar over the tops or melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and dip the tips in the chocolate. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Have all ingredients at room temperature, 68° to 70°F Preheat the oven to 450°F Using melted butter, generously grease 2 madeleine pans, each with 12 molds.
• Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt and return to the sifter.
• In a medium bowl, mash and beat the butter with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until very soft and creamy. Warm the bowl by dipping it into hot water if necessary to hasten the softening of the butter.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, vanilla extract and optional lemon zest on high speed until thick and pale yellow, about 2 minutes.
• Sift the flour mixture over the top and fold in with a rubber spatula. Fold a dollop of the egg mixture into the butter. Scrape the butter mixture back into the remaining egg mixture and fold together. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Fill the molds three-quarters full; set any remaining batter aside. Bake unit the cakes are golden on the top and golden brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately loosen each cake with the tip of a slim knife and unmold onto a rack to cool. If necessary, wipe the molds clean, let cool, rebutter them, and repeat the baking process with the remaining batter. These are best the day they are made, but can be stored in an airtight container for a day or two.
• Notes.
• I have to lower the oven temperature to about 385° and reduce the baking time to 7 minutes or they burn. This can vary according to your oven, pans and how much batter you dollop into each mold.
• I add the zest of one lemon to the egg/sugar batter while mixing.