
Madeleines are a type of soft, buttery sponge cake cookie from France. These cookies have been one of my kids favorites since they were toddlers. We used to live a few blocks from both their school and a Starbucks and we often walked or rode bikes to both to burn up some of their energy. These cookies were their favorite thing to get and at some point I decided to start making my own.

These cookies are super fast and easy. They are made of just butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, flour, and a pinch of salt. You can coat them in powdered sugar if you like or just serve them as is. They are lightly sweet and have a cake like texture. You do need a Madeleine pan to make the shell shape, but you can get one for less than $20 and these are so easy to make you will use it often.

Traditionally, the batter for these is supposed to be rested. I have found with the recipe though I prefer the cookies without the resting period, which is great because they only take about 15 minutes to make if you don’t rest them.
Madeleines
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup AP flour
- 10 tbsp melted unsalted butter
- powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
- Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until fully combined. Add the pinch of salt and the flour and mix until just combined. Slowly add the melted butter and mix until just combined. Use a cookie scoop or a tsp to measure batter into your Madeleine pan. You don't want to fill up the well completely because the batter will spread when baked (see pic).
- Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes but watch the cookies closely. They are supposed to be soft so you really don't want to overbake them. I overbaked mine in the picture. There should only be slight browning on the edges. As soon as the little hump forms in the back of the cookie and looks cooked you know they are done.
- Cool until slightly warm and then dust with powdered sugar if you like.
One thought on “Madeleines”