Italian Chestnut Flour Madeleine's (gluten free) But Sinfully Delicious!

Sweet little delicate morsels

The sun is shining and I am home with lilla A. I am now no longer a Madeleine's virgin. Yep, I have joined the baking pack and whipped up my first batch of these bourgeois cookies.  I love to try anything once, and since I have read so much about chestnut flour lately on the web. I thought  I would give these very lovely Madeleine's a try and even better they are so easy to put together. All you need is a little time in your day to wait for the resting mixture to "rest" and then your well on your way to oh la la cookie heaven.
I am a shopping beast when it comes to baking equipment and ingredients. I search the web most days for new and I must have items. This Friday Leila Lindholm's- leila's Generalstore is opening for business and I intend to be one of the first to shop in her lovely new store. So excited! www.leilasgeneralstore.se  Please check out Leila's homepage here to get acquainted with Sweden's leading baking queen www.leila.se  it is in both Swedish and English. Now, with that said let's get baking.

Ingredients


1 cup (128 grams) plus 4 tablespoons of Italian Chestnut flour, sifted
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup (64 grams) plus 1 tablespoon of sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon honey

The batter waiting for you to bake

Special equipment needed: Madeleine mold pan




Directions:
Melt the butter in a pot and let cool slightly at room temperature. Sift the flour with the baking powder and set aside. Place the eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat. (You can also use a hand mixer if you desire.)Add the sugar and the honey and beat until white in color and light.  In a separate bowl sift the Chestnut flour and the baking powder together. When sifted, add the flour and the baking powder and mix until incorporated.
Add the cooled melted butter to the dry mixture and stir until well combined. Cover your batter with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Preheat your oven to 420 F-210 C. Grease your Madeleine molds and fill each mold 3/4  full with the chilled batter. The batter is quite thick, and so make sure you start out with a little batter in each mold so you have uniformity in your cookie size.

Ready for the oven

Baked and cooling. Oh ,so nice.

bake your cookies for 6 minutes to get the  traditional "Madeleine's "bump"- then reduce the heat in your oven to 350 F-175 C. Continue to bake for around another 4-5 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently remove the Madeleine's from the mold and let them cook on a rack .NOTE: Make sure your cookies are around the same size to ensure equal baking. You do not want half baked and half gooey inside. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes before you turn out onto a rack, so the tops have a chance to set, and not get stuck on the drying rack.


I was so surprised how delicious and dainty these Madeleine's were. I hope that these make it into your baking wishlist. Please let me know what you think. I found my chestnut flour at a heath food shop in the city. There are many sites on the web that also sells the chestnut flour. Be warned it is pricey. I paid around 18 dollars for a kilogram on sale, and I live in an very expensive country. Good luck and happy baking. Leila here I come. See you Friday...