Madelines

Madelines are small, shell-shaped cake-like cookies lightly flavored with lemon. They are baked in a special madeline pan molded to form 12 shell shapes.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
• 10 tablespoons butter
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Melt the butter, and then allow it to boil briefly until it is lightly browned.
4. Blend 1 1/2 tablespoon of the melted butter with 1 tablespoon of flour. Set aside (this will be used to coat the madeline pans).
5. Allow the rest of the butter to cool
6. To make batter, measure 3/4 of the eggs into a bowl. Beat in the sugar and one cup of flour and set this batter aside for 10 minutes.
7. Add the butter to the batter along with the remaining 1/4 of the eggs. Add salt, lemon zest and vanilla.
8. Stir mixture over ice water until cold
9. Paint the Madeline pans with the butter-flour mix.
10. Drop a generous tablespoon of batter into each section of the mold. Don't flatten the batter: the madelines should be slightly raised in the middle.
11. Bake at 375 degrees on upper or lower middle oven racks for 15 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges.
12. Unmold cookies onto a rack and when cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes 24 3-inch cookies