Dip your vanilla madeleines in chocolate and sprinkle them with crushed candy canes for an easy and fun holiday twist! This chocolate dipped madeleine recipe is also a great way to use up all those leftover peppermint candies after the holidays.
The addition of crushed candy canes on these chocolate dipped madeleines is totally optional. If you are not making these for the holidays, you can go right ahead and skip the candy canes for the more classic chocolate and vanilla flavor.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- This recipe is super easy to customize using different flavor chocolates, candies and sprinkles to tailor it to specific holidays or special occasions.
- The madeleine cookies themselves are light and moist while also rich and buttery.
- They are so fun, kids and adults will love them just the same.
- The best thing is if your madeleines have some imperfections on the scalloped shell side for any reason, the chocolate will hide them!
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips for each ingredient:
- Butter – unsalted butter is used in this recipe. Since we only need a very small amount of salt, I don’t recommend substituting salted butter here because it may make your madeleines too salty.
- Egg – I use both whole egg and egg yolk in this recipe. The additional yolk adds richness and keeps the madeleines moist.
- Vanilla – pure vanilla extract is used to enhance the flavor even in the chocolate madeleines. Make sure to stay away from artificial vanilla flavoring.
- Sugar – regular granulated sugar is used here. I haven’t tried using other types of sugar so I can’t really recommend substitutions. If you try using brown sugar, this may add extra moisture to the batter due to the molasses in the sugar.
- Flour – all-purpose flour is all you need here.
- Baking powder – traditional madeleine recipes don’t use chemical leavening, all the lift is provided by the air whipped into the eggs. However, I find that a little bit of baking powder helps give it a little boost if you happen to deflate the batter while mixing it, making this recipe foolproof.
- Salt – just a little bit of salt is added to the batter.
- Chocolate – I use Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers for this recipe. You can use any brand or chocolate you prefer, but I find melting wafers to give the best consistency when melted which make it very easy to dip.
- Candy canes – you’ll need about 3 to 4 large candy canes or 10 to 12 mini candy canes for this recipe. You could also use regular peppermint candy or peppermint crunch sprinkles which you don’t have to crush yourself.
Tools you’ll need
- You will need a specialty madeleine pan to bake these. It is a must to get the classic madeleine scalloped shell shape.
- A stand mixer or electric mixer will be needed to beat the eggs to ribbon stage.
- A pastry brush would be useful to butter the pan.
How to make chocolate dipped madeleines
The following instructions, step by step photos and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Make the vanilla madeleines
First, beat the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla extract together in the stand mixer with the wire whisk until light in color and creamy. The mixture should look thick and fall off the beater in a ribbon.
Second, sift together flour and baking powder, and fold it into the wet ingredients in two additions until just combined.
Tip: at this stage, the batter is quite thick. Don’t worry about mixing it until it is smooth or you’ll end up over mixing it.
Finally, fold the melted butter into the batter, transfer to another bowl, you’ll need the stand mixer bowl for the next steps, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and longer if you have time, before baking.
Tip: make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to get any flour that may not have been incorporated in the previous step.
Butter and flour your madeleine pan and spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into each cavity. This recipe makes about 24 madeleines. You can bake in 2 batches, 1 pan at a time. You can keep the remaining batter refrigerated while the first batch is baking.
Dip and sprinkle
Put the candy canes in a ziploc bag or any plastic bag, wrap the bag in a thick kitchen towel. Beat it with a rolling pin or something heavy and sturdy you have around to crush the candies.
Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a water bath. Or use a double boiler if you have one. Stir until smooth. Dip the madeleines, scalloped shell side, into the melted chocolate. Shake off excess chocolate and lay it, chocolate side up, on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Immediately sprinkle crushed candy canes over the chocolate covered madeleines before the chocolate starts to solidify. You can dip about 2-3 madeleines at a time and the candies will still stick.
More baker’s tips
- Baking powder makes this recipe less fussy – classic madeleines only rely on the air beaten into the egg mixture for volume and lift, but you have to work with the batter very delicately or risk deflating it. Adding a little bit of baking powder helps these rise in the oven even if you don’t have the most delicate of folding technique.
- Grease the pan even if it is nonstick – brush the madeleine pan with melted butter, get into all the creases. Then dust the pan with flour to give your madeleines an additional layer of protection. I have a nonstick pan but still do this religiously because occasionally I still get a batch that is tough to remove.
- Refrigerate your madeleine batter – this allows the batter to hydrate properly helping the madeleines cook evenly and rise taller to achieve their characteristic “hump”.
Variations
- You can make chocolate madeleines or red velvet madeleines as the base instead of vanilla.
- Add a little peppermint extract to the madeleines themselves or to the melted chocolate for a stronger peppermint flavor if you’d like.
- Use white chocolate instead of dark chocolate.
- Use different sprinkles for different holidays, rainbow sprinkles for birthdays, or crushed up freeze dried fruits for a fruity version.
Storage
Madeleines are best enjoyed the same day they are baked but can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container and will stay fresh for 3-5 days. They will last for up to a week but will start to dry out the longer you keep them, though still delicious.
Don’t refrigerate or freeze these madeleine cookies, especially if you have candy sprinkles on them, since condensation will form on the chocolate and candies making them melt.
If you didn’t put any candies or sprinkles on these chocolate dipped madeleines, you can freeze them for up to 3 months. Simply thaw at room temperature for a few hours before serving, the chocolate will sweat due to condensation but that’s okay.
FAQs
While madeleines tend to be referred to as madeleine cookies, they are actually little teacakes. These simple French pastries are known for their beautiful and distinct scalloped shell shape achieved only by using a specialty madeleine pan.
Madeleine batter is slightly runny at first like a thicker cake batter when you just finish mixing it. But once it is refrigerated, it will thicken further, though not quite like a cookie dough.
I’ve kept madeleine batter refrigerated overnight before and you can keep it refrigerated for up to 2 days if you don’t have time to bake the same day or want to make it a bit ahead of time.
First, make sure your madeleines are not underbaked, check that a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake is not wet, and the edges are golden brown. Second, allow them to finish baking and cool in the pan after you take them out of the oven before removing them.
To remove them, flip the pan over and tap the back of the pan until the madeleines fall out onto a wire rack or a kitchen towel. If this doesn’t work, try to loosen the edges with a butter knife.
More fun holiday treats
- Peppermint Brownies
- Christmas Pinata Cupcakes
- Red Velvet Cookie Cups
- Peppermint Chocolate Truffles
- Graham Cracker Toffee
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📖 Recipe card
Chocolate Dipped Madeleines
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 oz unsalted butter (melted and cooled, 170 g)
- 2 large egg
- 2 large egg yolk
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
- ⅛ teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (180 g)
- ¼ teaspoon of baking powder
- 10 oz chocolate melting wafers (284 g)
- 3 – 4 candy canes
- Melted butter and flour for pan
Instructions
- Melt butter in a small saucepan (or in the microwave) and set aside to cool.
- Add the whole egg, egg yolk, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract to a stand mixer bowl and beat together with the wire whip until light in color and creamy.
- Sift flour and baking powder into a small mixing bowl. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture with a spatula in two additions until just combined.
- Fold the melted cool butter into the batter, working quickly so as not to over mix.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, and longer if you have time.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and brush it onto the madeleine pan, wipe off any excess pool of butter and sprinkle the pan with extra flour, shake off the excess.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter in each madeleine cup. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Allow the madeleines to cool completely in the pan.
- Once cooled, remove madeleines from the pan. Wash the pan, butter and flour it again to continue baking the second batch.
- Allow the madeleines to cool completely before dipping them in chocolate.
- To crush the candy canes, put them in a ziploc bag, wrap the bag in a thick kitchen towel, use a rolling pin or something heavy and sturdy you have around to crush the candies.
- Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a water bath or a double boiler. Take off the heat and stir until smooth.
- Dip the madeleines, scalloped shell side, into the melted chocolate. Shake off excess chocolate and lay it, chocolate side up, on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Immediately sprinkle crushed candy canes over the chocolate covered madeleines before the chocolate starts to solidify. You can dip about 2-3 madeleines at a time and the candies will still stick.
- Allow the chocolate to harden at room temperature for a few hours before serving. Or eat them while the chocolate is still melted, it will be slightly messy but still good!
Notes
- Bake these in 2 batches or 1 pan at a time in the middle of the oven. Keep the remaining batter in the refrigerator while the first batch is baking.
- Make sure to chill the batter at least one hour before baking and up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
- Make sure to grease and flour your pan even if it is nonstick.
- Store baked madeleines at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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I’ve been wanting to make madeleines for so long and with Christmas coming up in just a few months, I’m saving this recipe to spoil my family rotten.