You will love my Gluten-Free Lemon Madeleines which are light with a tender crumb and the bright, tangy flavour of lemon. With their pleasantly curved shell shape, these classic French teacakes have an elegant appearance, yet are made from simple, everyday ingredients. They are ideal for morning or afternoon tea or served as dessert with our No-Churn Lemon Ice Cream.
Made these Madelines for a picnic and they were beautiful! so easy to make, very straight forward, no mucking about. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a recipe that isn’t complex, and need to get them done quickly.
– Nicolas
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Whilst some recipes for Madeleines are complex, my method for making them is simple and is suitable for an experienced cook or a beginner.
- This gluten-free version of a traditional, small, French cake is indistinguishable from the original wheat flour version. The little cakes are deliciously light with the always popular flavour of lemon.
- You will find so many ways to enjoy them. They are ideal served with a cup of tea or coffee, to take on picnics or to potlucks, perfect when entertaining such as for baby showers or Mother’s Day. As well, they make beautiful gifts.
Recipe Inspiration: a recipe that my Mum would make when she ran her gluten-free catering company many years ago. It is still a favourite today.
Ingredients and Substitutions:
Please see the recipe card further along in the post for exact quantities of ingredients and the full method.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter in this recipe so I can control the salt content.
- Eggs – I use large free-range.
- Caster/superfine sugar – my preference in the Madeleines.
- Vanilla extract – use a good quality product which has been extracted from the vanilla bean and not synthetically flavoured.
- Gluten-free plain/all-purpose flour – we use a good quality commercial blend that contains xanthan gum. If your blend already contains it, there is no need to add any more.
- Baking powder – ensure that it is gluten-free.
- Salt – I use coarse kitchen sea salt, sometimes known as kosher salt. A small amount boosts flavour of baked goods.
- Lemon zest – avoid the white pith as it is bitter.
- Icing/powdered sugar – for dusting the Lemon Madeleines. This is optional. If you use icing mixture check that it is gluten-free.
Variations:
Orange zest – can be substituted for the lemon zest.
Regular flour – if you prefer to use regular flour, I recommend trying my Spiced Orange Madeleines, as the recipe uses a slightly different technique.
How To Make Gluten-Free Madeleines:
Please see the recipe card further along in the post for exact quantities of ingredients and the full method.
1 – Prepare your Madeleine tin:
Prepare the baking trays by brushing each mould with melted butter and dusting with gluten-free plain/all-purpose flour. It is essential that this is done properly, so the madeleines are able to tip out of the tin easily without sticking.
2 – Add your ingredients to a food processor:
Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor, and blend until they are thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the food processor if necessary. Do not over mix the batter.
3 – Add the batter to the tin and bake:
Divide the batter between the moulds. Bake in your preheated oven until they have risen, are golden brown and cooked through.
4 – Remove from tin:
Cool them in the tray for one minute. Set a clean tea towel on your bench and remove the Madeleines by sharply rapping an edge of the tray on the bench. They should easily fall out.
Serve whilst still warm or place them on a baking rack to finish cooling.
If desired, dust with icing/powdered sugar to serve.
Hint: don’t leave the cooked madeleines in the tin for longer than one minute, or they may start to stick to the pan.
Tips for Success, Storage and FAQs:
Ideally, they are best eaten on the day they are baked, fresh from the oven. However, they are still delicious up to day three.
Yes, you can freeze them. Wait until they are thoroughly cooled then wrap the little cakes in cling wrap and place them into the freezer in an airtight container. This is to prevent them drying out in the freezer. Store them for about 2 months. Thaw them at room temperature and reheat for just a few minutes.
It is important that the Madeleine tins be thoroughly prepared. The shell shapes require a coating of melted butter followed by a dusting of flour after which the excess is shaken off. The careful preparation of the tins means that the little cakes are easily removed.
Top Tip:
When baking, it is important to have your eggs and butter at room temperature. This helps the ingredients to emulsify and create a smooth batter.
If you have not thought to remove your eggs from the refrigerator, just put them in a bowl, cover with warm water and leave them to sit for a few minutes. Do not use hot water or you risk partially cooking the eggs.
Serving Suggestions:
You will find many ways to enjoy these elegant little Gluten-Free Madeleines. Some suggestions are:
- With a cup of tea or coffee for morning or afternoon tea.
- Enjoy them for any occasion or celebration, be it Mother’s Day, a baby shower or engagement party. They are always popular.
- As a dessert alongside our Brandied Oranges or Caramelised Yoghurt Cream.
I hope you will love this easily made recipe. The fragrance of these little cakes as they are baking will fill your home. It is warm and alluring, attracting all within reach. But don’t worry, they don’t take long to cook, you will soon be able to enjoy some.
Please let me know in the comments below if you try them.
Alex xx
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Gluten-Free Lemon Madeleines
Equipment
- 2 12-hole Madeleine baking trays
Please note:
For accuracy, when weights are provided, we recommend weighing your ingredients. This will produce the best results. All oven temperatures listed are for fan forced.
Ingredients
For Preparing the Tins:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter – melted See Note 1
- 1 tablespoon gluten-free plain/all-purpose flour See Note 2
For the Gluten-Free Lemon Madeleines:
- 90 g unsalted butter – melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs – at room temperature
- 115 g caster/superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 115 g gluten-free plain/all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder See Note 3
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoon lemon zest – finely grated
- pure icing/powdered sugar – for dusting, optional See Note 3
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees C (355 F).
- Prepare the baking trays. Use a pastry brush to generously paint the holes of the madeleine trays with the 1 tablespoon of melted butter.
- Dust the baking tins with the 1 tablespoon of flour and shake off any excess flour. (See Note 4.)
- Add all of your ingredients to the bowl of a food processor. Blend all the ingredients together to combine them, scraping down the sides of the bowl once during processing.
- Evenly divide the batter between the moulds – you'll want roughly 3-4 teaspoon of mixture. The moulds will be about ½ full. It is not necessary to spread the mixture in the mould; it will spread as it cooks.
- Bake the madeleines for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown, the mixture has risen a little in the middle and they are cooked. Cool them in the tray for one minute.
- Set a clean tea towel on your bench and then remove the madeleines by sharply rapping an edge of the tray on the bench. They should easily fall out. Serve warm, or place them on a baking rack to finish cooling. Dust with icing/powdered sugar prior to serving.
Video
Notes
- Tablespoon: we use a standard Australian tablespoon which is 20 ml (4 teaspoons). For readers located elsewhere in the world, please use 1 tablespoon + 1 tsp.
- Flour: we use a good quality commercial gluten-free flour blend. The blend we use contains xanthan gum to stabilise and provide structure to the recipe. If your flour blend already contains xanthan gum, there is no need to add more.
- Baking powder/icing sugar: ensure it is gluten-free.
- Preparation of the tins: it is important to prepare the baking tins with melted butter and a dusting of flour. It ensures that the madeleines will be easily released from the tins.
- Serving: I like to serve the Gluten-Free Madeleines with a dusting of icing/powdered sugar. However, you may prefer to leave them plain, dip them into a simple icing or you could melt some chocolate of your choice and dip the tips of the madeleines into that.
- Storage: ideally, they are best eaten on the day they are baked, fresh from the oven. However, they are still delicious up to day three.
- Freezing: wait until they are thoroughly cooled then wrap the little cakes in cling wrap and place them into the freezer in an airtight container. This is to prevent them drying out in the freezer. Store them for about 2 months. Thaw them at room temperature and reheat for just a few minutes.
Nutrition Estimate:
Nutritional Disclaimer:
The nutritional information is an estimate only, and is derived from online calculators. For accurate results, we recommend calculating the nutritional information based on the ingredients and brands you use.
Tina
So yummy thanku for the recipe
Alexandra
Thank you so much, Tina!
Lisa
These Madeleines are my favorite. Thank you for sharing
Alexandra
Thank you, Lisa – I am so pleased you love this recipe!
Amanda
These are lovely, especially when dipped in chocolate. 🙂
Alexandra
Oh yum! That is delicious!
Angela
I absolutely love these Lemon Madeleines, thank you for the recipe
Alexandra
Thank you so much, Angela! I am happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe.
Kind regards, Alex
Kat
We made these yesterday they were absolutely divine.
Thank you for a delicious and easy to follow recipe.
Alexandra
Thank you so much, Kat, and also for sharing your delicious photo of the madeleines on Instagram!
We are thrilled you enjoyed them!
Best wishes, Alex
Jo
I followed the recipe carefully. Madeleines looked lovely in oven and within a minute of being out they deflated and are flat? WhAt did I do wrong?
Alexandra
Hi Jo,
I would say that they may have still been slightly undercooked when you removed them from the oven – especially if they were looking good whilst they were in the oven.
Other possible factors would be:
– baking powder out of date
– overworking the mixture/knocking the air out of it
– oven temperature not correct.. we keep a thermometer in our oven so we can track that it is heating efficiently. eg: even if the oven is set on 200 degrees, it doesn’t mean it is 200 degrees.
Hope that helps for next time! Kind regards, Alex
Pam
I love any kind of “small bite sweet” and Madeleines are the original. Thanks for all of the great tips!
Alexandra
Hi Pam, thank you for the terrific feedback. I am so pleased that you also enjoy Lemon Madeleines. 🙂
Priya
Thanks Alex
I think the flour may have been the culprit. Is usually weigh, but was a wee b it blaze so I scooped 🙈 will give it another bash and see. I used butter. Thanks so much!
Priya
Oh my goodness! My typing is shocking! I meant-I usually weigh my flour, but I was a wee bit lazy….
Alexandra
Hello Priya, it may have been scooping the flour. It is more accurate to use weights when baking rather than cup measures as they can vary so much. We have been making this recipe for many years so I’m confident that it will work for you. Please let me know how you get on. 🙂
PS
Hi, do I need to leave the batter in the fridge for at least an hour before baking to get that coveted hump? Tq
Alexandra
Hi there! No need – we bake straight away and still achieve the hump – in part, as this is a GF recipe and so the gluten doesn’t to rest 🙂 Thanks, and enjoy!
Francine Sharpe
I’m over the moon with this easy and delicious Madeleine recipe! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve always wanted to make Madeleines and now that I feel confident, I’m going to be making them again and again! Stay safe during this horrid pandemic and enjoy your isolation cooking!
Alexandra
Hello Francine, I am delighted that you enjoyed the Lemon Madeleines. This is a favourite recipe of mine also. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Jamie
Brilliant recipe. They’re amazing. Was expecting them to be lacking but they’re just perfect
Alexandra
I am delighted to hear that Jamie, thank you so much for letting us know.
Vanessa
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Alexandra
Vanessa, they are at their best on the first day and still delicious on the third day. I don’t know beyond that as they don’t last long here. ;)You can, however, freeze them in an airtight container if you want to keep them longer. 🙂
Robyn J
These are utterly delicious, and love the fact you have managed to make them gluten free!
Alexandra
Thank you so much, Robyn!
Ricco
Yummy… so good
Alexandra
Thank you. This is a lovely, easily made recipe. 🙂
Brian Jones
Fab recipe, tasted great and the how-to tips really helped get them right first time! Superb!!!
Alexandra
I am so pleased that you like them Brian; thanks for letting me know. 🙂