Chocolate Madeleines

These Chocolate Madeleines are the perfect serving size for a sweet treat. Chocolatey and delicious, with a delicate crumb and crispy edges. 

Jump to:

• Why Make This Recipe
• 🥗 Ingredients for Chocolate Madeleines
• 🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
• 🧐 Recipe FAQs
• 👩‍🍳 Expert Tips
• Other French Cakes and Desserts
• 📖 Recipe
• More About Molly

Why Make This Recipe

• Perfect Size: Whether you consider French madeleines to be cookies or cake, these little delicacies are perfect for tea time or afternoon snack, or really anytime you need a little pick-me-up. One of these with a cup of tea is heaven.
• So Elegant: Madeleines are the height of sophistication with their delicate scalloped design. 
• Light Chocolate Flavor: These madeleines have a beautiful texture and a lovely chocolate flavor that is not heavy or overpowering. 

🥗 Ingredients for Chocolate Madeleines

• Cocoa powder: I love a dark dutch-process cocoa powder like Valrhona cocoa powder, but you can use whatever cocoa powder you prefer. Just make sure it is unsweetened. 
• Bittersweet chocolate: You can use semisweet chocolate for this madeleine cookie recipe if you prefer semisweet over bittersweet. Always choose a high-quality chocolate if you can—the flavor will really shine through in these cookies. 
• Sugar: You can substitute coconut sugar, monk fruit sweetener, or your other favorite sugar substitute instead of regular granulated sugar. 

🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Cut 1 stick of butter into chunks, and place in small heavy saucepan along with 1.5 ounces of chopped chocolate. 

2. Heat over low, stirring frequently, until both butter and chocolate are melted. Set aside to cool. 

3. Combine 3 eggs and ¾ cup sugar in a med-large bowl. 

4. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs with sugar for about 2 minutes, until mixture has thickened and has roughly doubled in size. 

5. With a sifter or fine-meshed sieve, add 1 cup flour, ¼ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt to the bowl.  

6. Stir until well-combined, then stir in ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and melted butter/chocolate mixture. 

7. Spray madeleine pan with cooking spray and put in the freezer for 15 minutes. Put the batter in the refrigerator to chill during this time. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

8. Remove pan from the freezer and fill each mold with a rounded tablespoon of batter, and spread out just a little bit—the amount should look like it would fill ¾ of each mold. 

9. Bake for 9 minutes, and remove when madeleines spring back if you touch them gently. 

10. Bang tray on the counter gently when you remove it from the oven, then wait a minute or two and carefully remove the chocolate madeleines onto a cooling rack.

11. Let cool, and sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve.

🧐 Recipe FAQs

👩‍🍳 Expert Tips

The first step of this Chocolate Madeleines recipe, to melt the butter and chocolate, may be the trickiest. Make sure you use a heavy pan and heat gently so as to not scorch the chocolate or brown the butter. 

If you don’t have cooking spray, you can use butter or olive oil to grease the molds before chilling and then adding the batter. Greasing the molds really helps quite a bit with removing the madeleines cleanly.

Note that you may be tempted to flour the molds after greasing them, but this results in an unattractive white film on the chocolate madeleines. 

It may seem fussy, but the 15 minute step of chilling the batter and the mold is necessary for getting the traditional madeleine “bump” on the top of the cakes. However, don’t leave the batter to chill for much longer or it won’t spread out much at all when you bake it.

This is different from a traditional madeleine, where you can chill the batter for much longer. The cocoa and chocolate just make this batter much stiffer. 

You can also double down on the chocolate flavor in this recipe by making a chocolate glaze to dip the madeleines in rather than the powdered sugar. Make a ganache by combining equal parts of chocolate and heavy cream (melt in the microwave or over low heat on the stove). Dip the madeleines, then top with sprinkles or mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts. 

Now that you have the technique down (and own the pan!), try my Brown Butter Madeleine recipe next.

Love cookies? You might want to try out my favorite Snickerdoodle recipe or my Matcha White Chocolate Cookie recipe as well! And if you are a shortbread cookie fan, don't miss these delicious Cacao Nib Hazelnut Cookies or these Strawberry Shortbread Cookies. We love these spicy, chewy Molasses Crinkle Cookies around holiday time as well.

If you're looking for other holiday treats, don't miss my Biscoff Truffles, Homemade Christmas Gumdrops, or Biscoff Cheesecake!

Other French Cakes and Desserts

Do you love French-inspired desserts as much as I do? Try a Strawberry Parfait, these Blueberry Lemon Crepes, a classic Chocolate Mousse or this Green Tea Crème Brûlée. Or check out some of the other recipes on my site, like these:

If you try this Chocolate Madeleines recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me. And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!

Instagram Users: Now that you've made this madeleine cookie recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!