Lemon Madeleines

Name: Lemon Madeleines
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 110 min
Ingredients: 1 lemon's zest; ½ cup granulated sugar; 2 large eggs; 1 cup all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon baking powder; ¼ teaspoon salt; 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter (melted and cooled); 1 Tablespoon lemon juice; ½ cup powdered sugar; Lemon zest curls (optional)

With lemon zest in the batter and a sweet lemon glaze on top, these lemon madeleines make for the perfect treat to brighten up anyone’s day! These are naturally flavored with no lemon extract (though you can certainly add some if you want an even stronger lemon flavor). The outside is perfectly crisp and golden, while the inside remains light and airy. I recommend pairing these with lavender madeleines for the best tea time treats!

While recipe testing these, I tried two different dipping options: A lemon sugar and a lemon glaze. Both were good, but my husband and I couldn’t get enough of the ones with the glaze. I added a few curls of lemon zest on top for extra zing, and I really love the way these turned out!

A hand holds up a glazed lemon madeleine. — I love the bit of whimsy the lemon zest curls add to these homemade lemon madeleines!

Ingredients for Lemon Madeleines

Madeleines, just like macarons, have a short and uncomplicated list of ingredients. The fuss comes from the special pan the batter bakes in and the technique to add a lot of air into the cake, which I’ll cover in the step-by-step process below. I’ve listed what each ingredient does below so you can make educated substitutions if needed.

Lemon zest. Real lemon zest imparts a bright, citrusy flavor without having to rely on extracts.
Granulated sugar. Sugar helps incorporate air into the eggs while whisking, keeps these little cakes moist, and helps the bottoms turn golden brown while baking.
Eggs. By whipping eggs with granulated sugar, the proteins and fats help suspend air for a fluffy and delicate crumb that holds the cake together really nicely.
All-purpose flour. I prefer the texture of madeleines made with all-purpose flour compared to pastry or cake flour, so that’s what I use.
Baking powder. Traditional madeleine recipes don’t call for baking powder, as the lift was supposed to come solely from the air in the whipped eggs (much like chiffon cake). But since baking powder is widely available now, I include it to ensure you get nice, tall madeleine humps.
Salt. A pinch helps to enhance all the flavors and balance the sweetness.
Powdered sugar. These cakes are delectable on their own, but a little extra sweetness pairs nicely.
Lemon juice. When mixed with the powdered sugar, this makes a nice, lemony glaze to dip the madeleines in.

Ingredients for lemon madeleines on a quartz counter. — It’s really fun to see these citrus madeleines come together with so few ingredients!

How to Make Lemon Madeleines

Madeleines aren’t too difficult technically, but they do require a little extra work in the beginning to whip a bunch of air into the eggs. All that air is what helps give the madeleines their signature hump! I have everything you need to know to make these madeleines in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog post. But if you’d like a little extra guidance, the following step-by-step images and tips will let you know exactly what to look for!

Making the Lemon Sugar

Add the granulated sugar to a mixing bowl (either the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, if using a hand mixer). Then, zest a lemon directly over the sugar. I like using my Microplane zester, as it’s still super sharp five years later. Whisk the sugar and lemon zest together for 15-30 seconds, until the mixture smells citrusy and looks well-combined.

A lemon is zested into a stand mixer bowl with sugar. — I always like to zest my citrus directly over the bowl, as it makes sure all those oils in the peel get into the bowl for maximum flavor. Then mix the zest and sugar together.

A hand uses the whisk on a KitchenAid mixer to stir together lemon zest and sugar. — I always like to zest my citrus directly over the bowl, as it makes sure all those oils in the peel get into the bowl for maximum flavor. Then mix the zest and sugar together.

Whipping the Eggs to the Ribbon Stage

Add the eggs to the lemon sugar, and whisk on medium high with your stand mixer or high with a hand mixer. The mixture will start out pretty yellow, but as more air is whisked into the eggs, the batter will start to lighten in color.

After about 8 minutes of whisking, the mixture will have thickened considerably. You should be able to pick up the whisk and draw a circle in dripping batter over what’s left in the bowl. If you can see a visible trail in the batter before it disappears, you’ve whipped enough air into your eggs! If not, whisk for another minute or two before re-testing.

Two eggs are cracked into a stand mixer bowl with lemon sugar. — At the start of the whisking process, the lemon sugar and eggs will be quite yellow, but they’ll pale significantly once more air is added into them.

Thick batter drips off a whisk and leaves a trail in the batter before disappearing. — At the start of the whisking process, the lemon sugar and eggs will be quite yellow, but they’ll pale significantly once more air is added into them.

Folding the Lemon Madeleine Batter

Just like with macarons, we want to keep as much air as possible in the batter when adding dry ingredients. To best do this, gently fold the flour, baking powder, and salt into the whipped eggs. Circle the edges of the bowl with a good spatula, then go straight down the middle in one smooth motion. Repeat, turning the bowl as needed, until there are no dry patches.

You might notice a few small lumps; that’s okay! We still need to add the melted butter, so those will get stirred out in the next step.

Flour is folded into ribboned eggs. — Fold in the flour, leavening, and salt gently until just combined to prevent knocking too much air out of the batter.

Lemon madeleine batter without butter. — Fold in the flour, leavening, and salt gently until just combined to prevent knocking too much air out of the batter.

When the flour looks all mixed in, pour in the melted butter. I always recommend letting your butter cool to just slightly above room temperature, as hot melted butter will deflate your batter!

Use the same folding motion to gently mix the melted butter into the lemon madeleine batter. It won’t look like it will combine for the first few folds, but it will—I promise! Just look at the images below if you need proof.

When no streaks of butter remain, stop folding the batter. We want to keep as much air in these little cakes as possible!

Butter is gently folded into lemon madeleine batter. — The butter will start to incorporate after the first few folds to make a nice, moist batter.

Fully folded lemon madeleine batter. — The butter will start to incorporate after the first few folds to make a nice, moist batter.

Transfer the lemon madeleine batter into a piping bag, or cover the bowl with a lid. Chill the batter for at least 30 minutes in the fridge, or up to one day if you’d like to make these a little in advance. By chilling the batter, you give the flour a chance to properly hydrate and relax a little. This will give us a finer crumb than if we had baked right away, and the larger the temperature difference between the madeleine batter and the oven will give us taller humps!

Baking the Lemon Madeleines

For the most consistently-sized madeleines, I recommend piping the batter into each cavity in a madeleine pan. You can use a Tablespoon if you prefer, but I always end up with some smaller madeleines and some larger ones if I go that route.

Pipe or spoon about a Tablespoon of the batter into each madeleine cavity. Each one should be filled about half to two-thirds full to prevent the batter from spilling over the edges.

Place any leftover batter in a covered container in the fridge, then bake the madeleines at 375°F/190°C for 10-12 minutes. When fully baked, the lemon madeleines will have golden brown edges and tall humps that will spring back lightly when touched.

A hand pipes lemon madeleine batter into a madeleine pan. — Pipe or spoon the batter into a madeleine pan, then bake until the bottoms are golden brown.

Baked lemon madeleines in a pan, with one flipped over to show a golden brown back. — Pipe or spoon the batter into a madeleine pan, then bake until the bottoms are golden brown.

Dipping the Madeleines into the Lemon Glaze

I like making a really thick glaze to dip my madeleines, then adding a few curls of lemon zest on top for decor. To do that, I stir together powdered sugar into just a touch of lemon juice until it’s thick enough to leave trails in the rest of the icing. I also use a citrus zester to get really long strips of citrus zest that naturally curl up. Those tend to look nicest for design, but any zest will do the trick!

A spoon drizzles thick powdered sugar icing back into a bowl. — Mix together lemon juice and powdered sugar to make a thick glaze, then zest a lemon for added decor.

A lemon is peeled with a citrus zester for long strips of zest. — Mix together lemon juice and powdered sugar to make a thick glaze, then zest a lemon for added decor.

For this specific look, I dipped the lemon madeleines into the glaze at an angle, let some of the icing drip off, and then wiped off any excess along the edge of the bowl. While the glaze was still wet, I sprinkled a few lemon zest curls on top—that way they’d stick to the glaze!

A four-prat graphic showing how to dip madeleines into a lemon glaze. — Dip the madeleine into the lemon glaze at an angle, then top with lemon zest for curls for added decor.

FAQs about Lemon Madeleines

You can taste it, for sure! The lemon is stronger on the parts of the madeleines that have the glaze, though. You can add half a teaspoon of lemon extract if you want these cookies to be extra lemony.

The crisp exterior madeleines are famous for goes away pretty quickly if you store madeleines in a sealed container. I like to keep my madeleines in a container that’s only partially covered to allow some moisture to escape without drying the cakes out too much.

Madeleines are best eaten the same day you baked them, because the crisp exterior softens up over the course of a day or so. But the madeleines are still good to eat up to about four days after baking, if stored in an airtight or loosely covered container at room temperature.

Yes! I’d recommend using two limes or one orange to make lime or orange madeleines with this recipe. Use the juice from the fruit in the glaze, too!

Other Recipes You May Enjoy

I’m mad for madeleines here! Try my other favorite madeleine recipes, like my lavender madeleines and pumpkin spice madeleines.

For more lemon desserts, try my lemon meringue macarons and lemon blueberry loaf cake—both highly recommended for lemon lovers!

A lemon madeleine is flipped over to see the tall hump on the back. — It’s not a madeleine without the signature hump on the back!

Dish Cleanup: Gonna Take a While

I rate my recipe cleanups on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 is only a handful of dishes, and 5 is everything including the kitchen sink.

These lemon madeleines have a cleanup rating of a 4. You’ll have to clean the mixing bowl, your madeleine pan, and a handful of smaller bowls, along with a fine grater. If you add lemon zest curls to your madeleines, you may have another citrus zester to wash.

Lemon Madeleines

Ingredients for Lemon Madeleines