Give classic French Madeleines an adorable and delicious twist with this Chocolate Dipped Madeleines recipe. It's the perfect treat for Valentine's Day!
My daughter loves madeleines, almost as much as she loves macarons.
These delicious French cake-like cookies are light, fluffy, pillowy desserts. They're technically considered tea cakes, but here in the US, they're often classified as cookies instead of cakes.
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🤔 What are Madeleine cookies?
A Madeleine is a classic French cookie that has the consistency of sponge cake on the inside, with slightly crisp edges. The distinct shell shape comes from using a traditional madeleine pan with shell-shaped molds.
With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought I'd put a sweet spin on these French cookies with my Madeleines recipe.
❤️ Why you will LOVE these chocolate dipped Madeleines!
Whether you call these cookies or cakes, madeleines are truly special.
- They are SO easy to make and done in under 30 minutes!
- The recipe calls for basic baking ingredients from your local grocery store that you probably already have in your pantry and refrigerator.
- Once you get the hang of this recipe, you can add flavor and color mix-ins for endless variation possibilities.
- They are light and fluffy with the texture of a cake, but small and easy to eat with your hands like cookies!
- You can use different colored melted chocolate and sprinkles. They're a great way to celebrate almost any holiday, birthday, or other special occasion.
- This is a fun cookie to decorate with the kids!
🥣 Ingredient notes
For these Chocolate Dipped Madeleines, I used a traditional madeleine cookie base. It consists of:
- granulated sugar
- unsalted butter
- eggs
- all-purpose flour
- vanilla extract
- lemon extract
- lemon zest
For the decorations:
- milk chocolate or white chocolate
- sprinkles
✅ Step-by-step instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F degrees Fahrenheit.
2. With a pastry brush, use 2 tablespoons of the melted & cooled butter to generously grease each of the 12 cookie slots in a madeleine pan or silicone mold. Be sure to reach within each of the mold grooves for full coverage.
3. Dust each shell-shaped mold with flour, tilting it around and gently tapping to move the flour over all of the molds and ensure even coverage. You can also use powdered sugar instead of flour if you prefer.
4. Once each mold is fully floured, tap the pan to remove excess flour. Set aside.
5. In a stand mixer or a large bowl using a hand mixer, combine sugar, eggs, and salt. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is thick and a pale color (about 4-5 minutes). Add in the vanilla and almond extracts, and reduce to low speed.
6. Slowly add the flour and beat until all of the flour is just incorporated.
7. Add the lemon zest, and then, using a rubber spatula, gently fold in half of the melted butter. Then fold in the remaining half of the butter.
8. Fill each of the molds evenly with the batter.
9. Bake at 375°F degrees in the center rack for 8-12 minutes, just until the edges have slightly turned a golden brown. The texture of the cookie should be soft and spongy, and it should spring back a bit when lightly touched.
10. Remove cookies from the pan onto a wire cooling rack and allow to cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
⭐️ Make the chocolate dip and decorate
Meanwhile, make the chocolate dip.
- Place either white chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips in a large heatproof glass bowl.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan and bring it to a low rolling boil.
- Remove from heat and slowly pour over the chocolate chip.
- Whisk together until the chocolate mixture is smooth.
Dip each cooled madeleine into the chocolate.
Then immediately decorate with your choice of sprinkles and place on wax paper (or return to the wire rack) to set.
Allow the decorations and chocolate to set before serving.
So fun and festive, right? I love how these turned out, but more importantly, so did my whole family!
❓ Recipe FAQs
Store Madeleines in an airtight container at room temperature. No need to refrigerate them. They should stay fresh for about 4-5 days.
You want a soft, spongy texture when baked. Be careful of overbaking, as that can lead to Madeleines that are dry or on the hard side.
👩🏽🍳 Kitchen tools and equipment
Madeleine pan - I bought this madeleine pan a few years ago, thinking I'd just make these cookies every once in a while. Now I can't stop making them!
Pastry brush - Use a small pastry brush to add a brush of butter into the metal molds. This holds the powdered sugar in and helps prevent the madeleines from sticking to the pan.
Stand mixer - You will need a stand mixer OR a large mixing bowl with hand mixer to mix together the madeleine ingredients.
Microwave safe bowl - You'll need a microwave safe bowl to melt the chocolate.
More Valentine's Day recipes
- Valentine's Day OREO Pops
- Valentine's Day Wines
- Air Fryer Lobster Tails
- Valentine's Day Dinner at Home
- Prosciutto-Wrapped Halibut
- Valentine's Day Dinner Recipe Collection
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
White Chocolate Dipped Madeleine Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled, and divided 2 tsbp for greasing the pan; 6 tbsp for cookies
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour plus extra for flouring the pan
- ¼ tsp lemon zest
Chocolate & Decorations
- 1 cup white chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup heavy cream or milk Can substitute dairy-free milk
- ⅓ cup baking sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. With a pastry brush, use 2 tablespoons of the melted & cooled butter to generously grease each of the 12 molds in the madeleine pan. Be sure to reach within each of the mold grooves for full coverage. Dust the pan molds with flour, tilting it around and gently tapping to move the flour over all of the molds and ensure even coverage. Once each mold is fully floured, tap the pan to remove excess flour. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, combine sugar, eggs, and salt. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is thick and a pale color (about 4-5 minutes). Add in the vanilla and almond extracts, and reduce to low speed. Slowly add the flour and beat until all of the flour is just incorporated.
- Add the lemon zest, and then, using a rubber spatula, gently fold in half of the melted and cooled butter. Then fold in the remaining half of the butter.
- Fill each of the molds evenly with the batter. Bake at 375 degrees in the center rack for 8-12 minutes, just until the edges have slightly turned a golden brown and the madeleines spring back a bit when lightly touched.
- Remove cookies from the pan onto a wire cooling rack and allow to cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the chocolate dip. Place white chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips in a large heatproof glass bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan and bringing it to a low rolling boil. Remove from heat and slowly pour over the chocolate chips; whisk together until the chocolate mixture is smooth.
- Dip each madeleine into the chocolate, and then immediately decorate with your choice of sprinkles and place on wax paper (or return to the wire rack). Allow the decorations and white chocolate to set before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
click here says
Do you know what that one recipe was that started you on your cooking passion? I have cooked since I was a kid, but I didn’t get serious until I was a sophomore in college and I felt this cultural obligation to make dumplings from scratch to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Dumplings have lodged themselves in my head as my link to Chinese cooking and culture, but even better than that – mastering dumplings gave me the confidence to go forward and try other recipes and techniques.
cookilicious says
OMG these look so good. Love Madeleine but never attempted to make them. Pinned this recipe for future. Thanks.for sharing.
Sheila says
This is really cute and perfect for the upcoming unicorn themed party I am organizing next week. Thank you for sharing this brilliant idea.
Aside from that, thank you for what you do and the cause you support. You are amazing.
Sharon Smith says
WOW!
Very delicious this chocolate madeleine cookies!
Love love love white chocolate chips😍😍😍😍
Create/Enjoy says
Yum! So pretty too! I've never made madelines but love that shape!
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife says
Thanks so much!
Gwynn says
These will be perfect with my cup of tea! Happy to be a part of this great fundraiser with you!
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife says
They're great paired with coffee or tea! :) Thanks, Gwynn!
Erin @ Platings and Pairings says
Such a very important cause with delicious cookies behind it. These madelines look amazing, and perfect for Valentine's Day Marlynn.
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife says
Thanks so much for the nice comment, Erin!
Eva says
YUM! I've been wanting to get a madeline pan and now I think I must. These sound delicious. I also love that these cookies are for a good cause!
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife says
Definitely get one! Thanks, Eva! :)
Melissa Chee says
These cookie are too PERFECT for Valentine's Day. I love them.
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife says
Thanks so much, Melissa!