French Madeleines Recipe

Try this easy French madeleines recipe and enjoy a traditional taste of Old France, as the crisp, golden exterior of each tiny cake gives way to its soft, pillowy interior, often infused with the essence of orange or lemon.

This textural contrast, combined with the cake's subtle sweetness, creates a momentary escape to happier, simpler times with each bite. Learn tips and tricks for achieving the perfect petite madeleine and impress your guests today!

Traditional French Madeleines Recipe

Mom's Recipe Scrapbooks (1920s)

Les Petites Madeleines

Sugar, four and a half ounces; flour, three ounces; butter, one ounce; egg yolks, four; whites of eggs, three; a pinch of baking soda, a taste of lemon peel.

First mix and stir the yolks with the sugar and when they have become whitish, add the flour and stir for fifteen minutes more. Mix with the butter, melting or softening it fine if it is hard, and finally add the whites when they are well beaten. The flour must be previously dried.

This cookie may be given different shapes, but keep it always thin and in little volume.

It can be put in little shell-like molds greased with butter and sprinkled with flour, or else in a baking tin, keeping it not more than half an inch thick, and cutting it after baking (400°F) in the shape of diamonds and dusting with powdered sugar. —The Italian Cook Book (1919)

Madeleines Without Butter

Put three eggs in a bowl with a quarter of a pound of sugar and beat them until frothy, then mix in slowly three ounces of dried and sifted flour, and grate in a small quantity of lemon or orange peel.

Grease some small madeleine moulds, fill them with the mixture, and bake in a slow oven (325°F). When the cakes are baked take them out of the moulds, and keep dry in biscuit tins until wanted. —Oscar Tschirky of the Waldorf (1908)

Bonus Recipe: French Almond Cookies

Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon mace, 2 cups pastry flour (or 1-3/4 cups hard wheat flour), 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 cup chopped almonds.

Directions: Cream butter well and gradually work in sugar. Beat and add egg. Measure once sifted flour and sift again with mace; add gradually to mixture, putting baking powder into last part of flour. Add almonds.

Chill, shape into roll, and chill again overnight. If necessary, reshape the roll, and chill again before cutting down in very thin slices.

Bake slices on a buttered sheet in a moderate oven (350°F) 15 to 20 minutes. These are good looking cookies, crisp and with good flavor.

Tips for Baking Madeleines

• Lightly brown the butter before adding it to the batter. This simple step adds a nutty, caramel-like depth to the cakes.
• Let the batter rest, preferably overnight in the refrigerator. This allows the flour to fully absorb the liquid ingredients and makes for a more tender result.
• Chill the batter and pan for an hour or more before baking and ensure the oven is preheated. The cold pan in the hot oven creates steam which helps to form the madeleine's traditional hump.
• Feel free to experiment with flavoring. For example, try adding nuts or coconut, a pinch of lavender, or a hint of almond extract.

Madeleine Recipes: Frequently Asked Questions

About the French Madeleines Recipe

Be sure to try the authentic French cookie recipe for making Petites Madeleines. These little French cakes with their iconic scallop-shell shape are synonymous with Old France and traditional French baking.

One legend says the famous cake-like cookies were given their name by King Louis XV (1710-1774) to honor Madeleine Paulmier who was the esteemed cook of his father-in-law, Stanislas I, the exiled King of Poland.

You'll be thrilled with the Old World taste of these little homemade cakes that rose to prominence in the northeastern French region of Lorraine. As King Louis XV would say, "Ces madeleines sont délicieuses!"