[Food + Drink Wednesday] Chocolate Madeleines

Sunday Afternoon Tea Time

Last week, I made these cookies, and they pretty much made the world a better place. Because that's what baking consistently does. These cookies are a bit temperamental and, yes, you do need a special madeleine pan to make them, but they will be worth the effort. Lots of butter and love are two of the main ingredients. And I have a lot to offer of both of those things. Just follow these instructions to a T, and DO NOT OVERMIX these bad boys. They require just-so mixing with a wooden spoon only. No mixers, people. Put your big guns down.

I bought this pan (pictured below) from Bed Bath and Beyond, and while it is non-stick, I still used lots of butter to make sure these did not stick one bit.

Wilton Pan, My Favorite

Chocolate Madeleines 

Adapted from the Williams Sonoma Baking book, which I highly recommend for the amateur baker.

Ingredients

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa (I bought mine at Trader Joe's. It was cheap and fantastic.)

2 large eggs 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt (I used sea salt to balance the chocolate)

6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled + extra for coating pan molds

Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Place a rack in the middle of the oven. 

2. Brush room-temperature or melted butter on your madeleine pan (this is not the 6 tbsp, this is additional butter). Each ridge should be thoroughly covered in butter. (*If you were a tiny person living on the madeleine pan, you should be able to swim in the buttery goodness in these molds.) Then dust the molds with flour and shake off any excess. If you don't shake it, you'll end up with white powder on your cookies once they're done cooking. No bueno. 

3. Sift the flour together with the cocoa powder. Set aside.
*I don't have a sifter, so I stirred with a fork to remove lumps. 

4. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, and salt. Beat vigorously until light in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes by hand. Beat in the vanilla. Sprinkle the flour/cocoa mixture over the egg mixture and mix lightly to incorporate. 

5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in half of the melted butter just until blended. Fold in the remaining melted butter. 

6. Divide the batter among the molds. Each mold should be about 1/2-1/3 full, as these cookies will rise like mini-cakes. 

7. Bake the cookies until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 12 minutes. You'll have a little bump on the back of each cookie.

8. Remove the pan from the oven, invert it over a wire rack, and shake out the cookies. Mine just popped right out after all the butter I had on the pan. 

9. Let cool for 10 minutes. If you plan to eat these right away, use a fine sieve to dust powdered sugar over the tops of the cookies. I used a tea strainer for this. Cover in plastic wrap if you plan to save these for later. They'll keep nice and tasty at room temperature for 2-3 days. 

These are best served warm, so eat them right away or heat them up later for guests. To re-heat, place them in a 250F oven until warm and then dust them with the sugar.