Bursting with warming spices in every bite, these scrumptious gingerbread madeleines are incredibly easy to prepare and will have you reaching for more!
With the extreme summer heat slowly coming to an end and pumpkin spice making an appearance, I couldn’t help but get into the holiday mood! It’s never too early, is it?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Incredible smell: I don’t need to tell you how good your kitchen is going to smell after baking these! It’s so hard to resist the wonderful aromas of cinnamon, ginger and cloves!
- No mixer: I tried to keep this recipe as simple as possible. No need for a mixer, a whisk will do!
- Customizable: You can use whatever spices you like and as much as you’d like. The two main spices are ginger and cinnamon and you can use whatever else you’d like to make your perfect blend. I just added a little bit of cloves for simplicity and because it’s what I had on hand. But you could add allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, aniseed etc. I would say that these madeleines have a nice little kick. If you prefer a subtle flavor, feel free to use less spices.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Ingredients
We’ve previously talked about the role of each ingredient in depth when making classic madeleines in case you’re curious.
Making the batter
- Melt the butter in the microwave (or on the stovetop) and set aside to cool down slightly.
Tip: The butter shouldn’t be hot when added to the madeleines so it doesn’t activate the baking powder too soon.
- Whisk together (or stir with a spoon) the flour, spices, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes until combined.
- Whisk in the molasses and oil.
- Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and whisk just until combined (don’t overmix).
- Pour in the melted butter (slightly cooled)) in two additions and whisk just until smooth then cover and chill for at least an hour. The batter will firm up and be easier to portion and the flavors will develop.
Baking the madeleines
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (374°F), conventional setting.
- Generously grease the madeleine pan with butter.
Tip: Grease only the cavities you plan on using so the butter doesn’t burn. This recipe should yield about 18 madeleines so you might need to bake two batches, depending on your pan.
- Take the batter out of the fridge and briefly stir with a spoon to loosen. Fill each cavity with about a tablespoon of batter or until 3/4 full (about 22 g/0.8 oz. of batter).
Tip: Don’t fill the pan to the top, to avoid spilling and burnt edges.
- Bake on the middle rack for about 8 minutes, just until springy to the touch with lightly browned edges. Don’t overbake them or they will be dry.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for a few minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool down completely. Enjoy!
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Gingerbread Madeleines
Bursting with warming spices in every bite, these scrumptious gingerbread madeleines are incredibly easy to prepare and will have you reaching for more!
18
madeleines15
minutes8
minutes1
hourIngredients
80 g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (2.8 oz., 1/3 cup)
80 g all-purpose flour (2.8 oz., 2/3 cup)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (3 g/0.10 oz.)
1 teaspoon ground ginger (2 g/0.07 oz.)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs (100 g/3.5 oz.), at room temperature
100 g white granulated sugar (3.5 oz., 1/2 cup)
20 g unsulphured molasses (0.7 oz., 1 Tablespoon)
40 g neutral vegetable oil (1.4 oz., 3 Tablespoons)
Directions
- Melt the butter in the microwave (or on the stovetop) and set aside to cool down slightly.
- Whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes until combined. Then whisk in the molasses and oil.
- Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and whisk just until combined (don’t overmix).
- Pour in the melted butter (slightly cooled) in two additions and whisk just until smooth then cover and chill for at least an hour. The batter will firm up and be easier to portion and the flavors will develop.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (374°F), conventional setting. Generously grease a madeleine pan with butter. Tip: Grease only the cavities you plan on using so the butter doesn’t burn. This recipe should yield about 18 madeleines so you might need to bake two batches, depending on your pan.
- Take the batter out of the fridge and briefly stir with a spoon to loosen. Fill each cavity with about a tablespoon of batter or until 3/4 full. Tip: Don’t fill to the top, to avoid spilling and burnt edges.
- Bake on the middle rack for about 8 minutes, just until springy to the touch with lightly browned edges. Don’t overbake them or they will be dry.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for a few minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool down completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make-ahead tips: It’s best to bake only as much as you need and keep the batter in the fridge, well covered, for up to 2 days. Baked madeleines can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. They will get a bit sticky with time so you might want to use parchment paper to prevent them from sticking to each other.
- Madeleine pan: The madeleine pan I use has 12 cavities, with a capacity of about 1 oz. each. I fill each cavity with about 22 g/0.8 oz. of batter to make 18 madeleines.
- Baking several batches: Once you’ve unmolded the first batch of madeleines, wash the empty pan (with soap if needed) under cold water then dry well. Grease the pan once more then fill with the remaining batter and bake.
- If you find that the wire rack leaves marks on the madeleines (step 9), keep them in the pan for longer before transferring to the wire rack. Alternatively, once slightly cooled down in the pan, carefully move each madeleine from its original position to the side of the cavity and cool down completely in the pan.
- If you have trouble unmolding the madeleines, make sure they are fully cooked. If they are, either wait a little longer before trying to unmold again or gently try to slide them from one side to the other until they release.
- Molasses: Don’t use blackstrap molasses which has an overpowering flavor.
- Spices: I’m using rather large amounts of ginger and cinnamon for a nice spicy kick. But you can tweak the amounts to your preference and add whatever spices you like (such as allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, aniseed and even black pepper). Just make sure the spices are as fresh as possible for optimal flavor.
- Cup measurements: Please note that these measurements are approximate. For best results, I’d recommend weighing the ingredients.