Jesicakes: Lemon Thyme Glazed Madeleines

Madeleines are one of my favorite treats. I have to admit, the first one I ever had was when I was working at Starbucks. And I thought they were great until I went to Paris and rediscovered them there. Since then, I've only had them a few times in the states because I never really see them in bakeries. I've always wanted to bake them and I finally got myself a madeleine pan so I could do so. I've wanted to make something a little different from just the classic ones...Earl Grey, Lavender, something along those lines. I recently had dinner at ABC Kitchen in NYC, and for dessert we got their doughnuts of the day, one of which was a Lemon Thyme Glazed one. I knew instantly that was the flavor profile I wanted for my first madeleine attempt! They came out great. Spongey, light, delicate, yet moist. The cake itself is very light with a bit of the lemon flavor, and the glaze just puts it over the edge into heavenly territory. It'll be nearly impossible to eat just one of these sweets!

Lemon Thyme Glazed Madeleines

Recipe adapted from Annie Eats
Made Gluten Free by Jesicakes
Makes about 2 dozen standard Madeleines. Most likely double that of the minis
Print Recipe - For Madeleines and Glaze

Ingredients for batter

- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup brown rice flour
- 1/3 cup sorghum flour
- 1/3 cup white rice flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum*
- 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
- zest of 1 lemon (approx. a packed Tbsp)
- 9 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

Ingredients for glaze

- 1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

- zest of 1 lemon (approx. a packed Tbsp)

- approximately 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme chopped finely

Extra melted butter and white rice flour to grease and flour the madeleine pan

*I accidently used too much xanthan gum in my batter. I used about 3/4 tsp and it was definitely too much. So I'd say at most use 1/2 tsp. You can even try a 1/4 tsp and see how the batter feels. Mine was way too sticky (but didn't really affect the outcome).

The madeleine dough has to set for at least an hour...so don't worry about preheating an oven just yet. Just get all your ingredients ready. In a large bowl mix together the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, white rice flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, and xanthan gum.

Brush the pans with the extra melted butter. Make sure it gets in the crevices of the pan.

Dust the pan with the extra white rice flour. Tap out the extra flour. Place the pan in the fridge or freezer until it needs to be used.

With either an electric hand mixer or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt.

Mix on medium-high for about 5 minutes or until they're frothy and thickened.

Using a sifter, gradually sift in the flour mixture into the batter and fold it into the batter.

Add the lemon zest to the cooled butter. Slowly drizzle the butter over the batter while simultaneously folding it into the batter. Fold only until the butter is incorporated into the batter, being careful not to over mix it too much.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour, up to 12 hours.

While your batter is chilling you can make your glaze. Add the lemon juice to the powdered sugar and whisk it until smooth.

Add the lemon zest and thyme to taste. I used a little less than a whole lemon's worth of zest and approx 1-1 1/2 tsp of thyme.

After an hour at least has passed, take your batter and your pan out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to 425˚F.

Fill the center of each cup about 3/4 of the way full (approx. 2 Tbsp). You shouldn't need to spread the batter at all. Mine was a little too sticky because of the aforementioned xanthan gum problem so I needed to, but the batter will spread to fill the pan in the oven.

Bake for approximately 8-9 minutes. You want to bake them until they feel springy. The ones on the left were slightly over baked. They were a tiny bit dry. Surprisingly they were just in a minute longer than the batch on the right which came out perfectly. I baked those for 8 minutes with a turn after 5.

You can immediately tilt them out of the pan. Allow them to cool on a cooling rack.

When they're cool enough to handle, brush the glaze onto them. I mainly glazed the tops, then after I glazed the whole batch, turned them over and smoothed out the drips and lightly glazed the bottom as well. (The glaze will drip a bit! So make sure you have something under your drying rack!)

You can also add a little extra lemon zest to the top if you want more of that flavor. Allow the glaze to set (it will no longer feel sticky. It'll be smooth).

These are a perfect little snack. They're best when fresh, but they stay well for a few days in a sealed container. Make sure before you pack them in a container that you are positive they're completely cooled. Otherwise the glaze will never really set and the madeleines will get soft or soggy.