12 days of christmas baking - day 3: madeleine cookies

for the third day of my 12 days of christmas baking we have these delicious-looking french madeleine cookies. they really are the perfect little treat! they are soft and delicious, and smells so good when they're baking in the oven. the best part is, they are so easy to make and bake in no time! the recipe i used says anywhere between 10-16 minutes, but not in my oven! i make these babies in 7 minutes or less. now, you would have to play around with yours to figure out the perfect time to take them out.

so, how are these soft cake cookies festive? well, of course i didn't have time to decorate them this morning, not even to sprinkle powdered sugar on them! but you can certainly dip half of them in chocolate ganache or white chocolate and sprinkle some green/red sprinkles or sugar. or instead of dipping them in the ganache, you can just drizzle the ganache over them. now, maybe i'll have to bake these again and do that, then take some pics to show. maybe some other time. :)

below's the recipe should you be interested. to make these madeleine cookies you will need a metal mold with scallop-shaped indentations (madeleine pans). you can find them at amazon.com or any cookware stores. enjoy!









gourmet madeleine cookies
recipe from bon appetit

ingredients:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
powdered sugar (optional – for dusting)

directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter and flour pan for large madeleines (about 3 x 1 1/4 inches). Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended. Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 10-16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Dust cookies with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

makes 20 madeleine cookies.

note: everyone's oven is different so the baking time may vary. as mentioned above, i only need 7 minutes to bake mine, so if you want to be extra careful and not have burnt madeleines, i say feel free to check them after 7-8 minutes.