From first glance to last crumb, this chocolate madeleines recipe is the perfect way to up your cake game. Quintessentially French, madeleines are bite-sized sponge cakes that are delicate and light. Perfect for everyday snacking or any special event that needs a little je-ne-sais-quoi.
This chocolate madeleine recipe is PHENOMENAL. Like, satisfy the choco-neutral coffee drinkers who want something to dip into their afternoon coffee and the hungry after-school chocoholics that rummage through the pantry looking for something to tide them over until dinner PHENOMENAL. That is if Yours Truly doesn’t get to them while they’re still warm. Because when these pillowy cakes are still warm, they have crispy edges, almost like brownies.
Or, you can dip your madeleines into melted chocolate. It’s a double hit of chocolate and a truly decadent experience. (These really are the perfect madeleines.) If I do that, I actually kind of enjoy helping the chocolate coating harden in the fridge for a satisfying-ly fudgy snap.
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Why You’ll Love These Fluffy Chocolate Madeleines
Dress them up… or down. Plain, sprinkled in powdered sugar or dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with rose petals. You can enjoy these little cakes for an afterschool snack, with a cup of tea or something a little classier like a valentine dinner, baby shower, bridal shower, or Mother’s Day tea.
For the chocolate lovers: Fluffy and delicate, but satisfy chocolate cravings.
Meal-planners and procrasti-bakers UNITE. To get the traditional ‘hump’ on your madeleines, the trick is to make this batter in advance. Anywhere from 1-24 hours in advance. And, I love that. It means you can whip up the easy batter in the evening and then come back to it the next day and have cake in less than 10 minutes!
Ingredients
- Dutch-processed cocoa: Dutch processed cocoa is known for its rich chocolatey flavor and darker hue. (Thank a heavily dutched, ‘black’ cocoa powder for Oreos.). It has been processed to reduce the cocoa’s natural acidity, meaning you’ll need to use baking powder as a leavening agent.
- All purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder: Baking powder reacts twice – once when you combine the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients and again when you bake it. Because of this, we can chill the batter and still achieve lift when we bake it.
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs mix better with the rest of the ingredients and also help bind with the butter and milk to emulsify, which will help your madeleines rise as well. If you need room temperature eggs fast, simply microwave a mug of water for a minute or two and then gently lower the eggs into the mug for 5 minutes or so.
- Milk: Whole is best, and there is so little, it doesn’t matter if it is room temp or not.
- Butter: I used unsalted butter in this recipe, but for many many years have swapped the two interchangeably and in most recipes, you probably won’t notice it. (I say most because things like salt and fat content in butter can be really important for some doughs and pastries.)
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips: Optional, but needed if you want chocolate madeleines dipped in chocolate. For this recipe you can use dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or even milk chocolate.
- Coconut oil: Only needed if you want to dip your madeleines in chocolate. Using a small amount of coconut oil or vegetable oil helps keep the chocolate from seizing and will give you the perfect consistency for dipping.
Equipment
- Madeleine pan: For best results with this chocolate madeleine recipe, especially the signature shell shape, you do need to use a special pan in order to make authentic French madeleines. I think the end result is pretty enough to justify it though, especially if you like bite-sized sponge cake. I also recommend simplifying your life and buying a non-stick pan to make these cakes. This is the non-stick madeleine pan I use.
- Pastry brush: to coat the madeleine pan with oil so the cakes don’t stick.
- Handheld mixer with whisk attachment: I don’t mess around with my stand mixer for this recipe. Instead, I use a handheld mixer, but you could also just mix everything by hand.
How to Make Double Chocolate Madeleines
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and lightly whisk with the milk and the vanilla extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined.
- Then, stir in the cooled, melted butter until combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap touches the batter so that it keeps it from drying out (developing a skin over the top). Store in the fridge for 2-12 hours. (Note: I’ve successfully made these up to a day later.)
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400F.
- Using a pastry brush, coat the madeleine tray with a little vegetable oil or spray with cooking spray. Then drop a tablespoon of the dough into each madeleine shell. Be careful not to overfill the shells. Alternatively, you can fill the batter into a piping bag and pipe the madeleines into the tray like that to avoid getting messy fingers.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until done. (In my experience the domes are the very last bit to finish cooking, and you’ll still see wet batter until they are done. ) Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes and then flip them onto a serving plate. They should come out of the tin fairly easy, but if necessary, run a knife around the edges to loosen.
- Meanwhile, add the chocolate chips and the teaspoon of coconut oil in a microwave safe dish. Heat in 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until the chocolate is fully melted.
- For the chocolate shell, dip the madeleines into the chocolate – I like dipping a corner of it into the chocolate, but you can dip half of it in either horizontally or vertically, too. Place gently onto a piece of parchment paper. Then, sprinkle with crushed rose petals or sprinkles. Then, let harden, either at room temperature or in the fridge until you can handle them without smudging the chocolate.
Additions and Substitutions
Substitutions
Use white chocolate for a stark contrast against the chocolate cake.
Use sprinkles instead of rose petals for a more playful vibe. (Think red and green if you are celebrating Christmas or rainbow if you’re making them for your kids.)
Recipe Tips & Tricks
This batter benefits from a rest in the fridge, but the jury is out on exactly how much time you need to chill it. You’ll get a hump on these madeleines with as little as an hour in the fridge. But ideally, you’ll leave these to chill at least 3 hours or even overnight.
Storage
Storage: These will last from 2-3 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Freezing: Freeze madeleines before dipping them in chocolate for up to 3 months in an airtight container. To thaw, simply remove madeleines and let them come to room temperature.
Looking for other ideas that go great with a cup of coffee or tea? Try this Strawberry Crumble Cake, this French Yogurt Cake, this cozy Apple Snack cake, or these easy Banana Nut Bars.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Madeleines Dipped in Chocolate
Equipment
- 1 madeleine pan
- 1 dutch processed cocoa powder
Ingredients
Chocolate Madeleines
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup dutch processed cocoa powder
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 7 ounces butter melted
- 3 eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate Coating
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
Make Madeleines
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- In a medium bowl, crack the eggs and lightly whisk with the milk and the vanilla extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined.
- Then, stir in the cooled, melted butter until combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap touches the batter so that it keeps it from drying out (developing a skin over the top). Store in the fridge for 2-12 hours. (Note: I’ve successfully made these up to a day later.)
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400F.
- Brush madeleine molds with a little vegetable oil or spray with cooking spray. Then drop a tablespoon of the dough into each madeleine shell. Be careful not to overfill the shells.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until done. (In my experience the domes are the very last bit to finish cooking, and you’ll still see wet batter on the tops until they are done.) Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes and then flip them onto a serving plate. They should come out of the tin fairly easy, but if necessary, run a knife around the edges to loosen.
Make Chocolate Coating
- Meanwhile, add the chocolate chips and the teaspoon of coconut oil in a microwave safe dish. Heat in 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until the chocolate is fully melted.
- Dip the madeleines into the chocolate – I like dipping a corner of it into the chocolate, but you can dip half of it in either horizontally or vertically, too. Then, sprinkle with crushed rose petals or sprinkles. Then, let harden, either at room temperature or in the fridge until you can handle them without smudging the chocolate.
