Madeleines

 Madeleines are a delicious and beautiful french shell shaped cookie.  Even though they are french, the first time I had one was while I was in Italy.  My Italian friends took be grocery shopping with them and bought a bag of Madeleines to snack on in the car. I must have eaten 10 they were so good!  The other day, I was so excited to see the girl Sonia from my favorite Italian cook show called "Giallo Zafferano" make these Madeleines.  I wrote down the recipe and drove to the store to find a Madeleine pan and luckily I was able to find one at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I needed to have this pan or else as Sonia on the cooking show says, they are not Madeleines.  The shape is the reason for the name.  I hope you enjoy snacking on these as much as I do!
Please click here for printable version:

Special Tool: Madeleine Pan 

Ingredients: (Makes 24 Madeleines)

* 1 cup of flour

* 3 1/2 tsp. of Almond Extract (vanilla, orange or lemon would be good too)

* a pinch of salt
* 1/2 cup of granulated sugar

* 2 eggs

* 100 grams of butter (about 7 TBSPs)

* 1 3/4 tsp. of Baking Powder

* 2 TBSPs of whole or 2% milk

Procedure:

* In a small bowl melt the butter and then set aside to cool. 

* In a large bowl sift Sugar, Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt.

* Beat Eggs in a separate bowl and add cooled down butter and extract.

* Add the Egg, Butter, and Extract mixture to the Flour Mixture and whisk together

* Add the 2 TBSPs of Milk to the mixture and whisk again.

~*~Note~*~ the mixture should not be too thin or too thick

 

 * cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 1 hr. 

* Butter and flour your Madeleine Pan

* Fill each mold 3/4 of the way full.

* Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes until lightly golden.

 * When cool, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar if you would like!

 Enjoy!