Brown Butter Banana Madeleines. Light and tender little banana cakes with the nutty flavour of brown butter. Perfect for lunchboxes or afternoon tea!
Hi folks! Olivia here again with another easy baking recipe for you. I’ve been wanting to make madeleines for a while now, especially after having them so frequently while travelling in France.
A great use for ripe bananas.
If you’re like me, I always seem to have an excess of ripe bananas. When they are past the point of no return, I peel them and add them to a Ziploc bag in the freezer. That way, I have them on hand for baking or for using in smoothies.
These madeleines turned out beautifully using those frozen bananas. Additionally, I browned the butter before adding it to the batter to give these little cakes some nutty flavour. It’s worth the extra five minutes! Follow the instructions in the recipe to learn how to brown butter perfectly – without burning it.
Assemble in this order.
The components of this recipe are very simple. All you have to do is out them together correctly. The eggs and sugar get beaten until very foamy which gives the madeleines a lighter texture. Take the full 3-5 minutes to whip them and do your best to be very gentle in folding everything together.
Another great tip in this recipe is to chill both the pan and the batter before baking. This ensures a more consistent bake and a higher “bump” on each madeleine.
These scrumptious little cakes are delicious all on their own. If you like, finish with a dusting of icing sugar. And hey – if you want to dip them in chocolate, we support it!
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Brown Butter Banana Madeleines
Light and tender little banana cakes with the nutty flavour of brown butter. Perfect for lunchboxes or afternoon tea!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup banana, mashed (about 200 g or 2 small bananas)
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp orange zest (optional)
- Icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a small saucepan, brown the butter over medium-low heat. It should take about 5-7 minutes. Keep the heat consistent and keep an eye so it doesn't burn. When it is finished, it will smell distinctly nutty and the milk solids will be foamy on the top. Under the foam you will see a darker clarified butter with brown bits, but not burned. Set the butter aside to cool off for at least 10 minutes.
- Once the butter is melted and browned, use a pastry brush to lightly grease the madeleine pan. Put the greased pan in the fridge to chill. The remaining butter will be used in the batter shortly.
- Mix the flour, baking soda and power together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Mash the banana well so only small lumps remain. Set aside.
- With an electric or hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together for 3-4 minutes. The mixture should be very foamy and double its initial volume.
- Fold the banana, vanilla and orange zest into the egg mixture, doing your best to be gentle and keep the air bubbles.
- Fold in the dry ingredients until only a few streaks of flour remain.
- Fold in the cooled (but still liquid) brown butter as the last ingredient. Put the bowl of batter in the fridge to cool with the pan for 20 minutes.
- Spoon one tablespoon of chilled batter into each shell of the chilled madeleine pan. Do not deflate the batter or spread it into the shells: a dollop in the middle is perfect.
- Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes, depending on your oven. They are finished when a toothpick comes out clean, or when the tops spring back when lightly poked.
- Cool and finish by dusting with icing sugar. Enjoy!
Notes
If you only have one madeleine pan and all the batter doesn't fit, put it the batter back in the fridge until the first batch is baked and repeat the process.
Recommended Products
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Nutrition Information
Yield
18Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 142Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 34mgSodium 93mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 1gSugar 13gProtein 2g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Nicole Arns
Saturday 24th of February 2024
What’s an alternative to using a Madeline pan?
Olivia Parsons
Saturday 24th of February 2024
A small muffin tin could work though I haven't tried it. You may want to use a bit more batter if that's the route you're taking. I've just added the madeleine pan I'm using to the "Recommended Products" section below the recipe. Currently $11 CAD on Amazon. Thanks! Olivia.
Bella Breault
Saturday 24th of February 2024
So the browned butter is used only to grease the pan? No butter is added to the batter?
Olivia Parsons
Saturday 24th of February 2024
Hello! The butter is folded into the batter after all the other ingredients - step 9 in the instructions. I've just updated step 3 to clarify this as well. Enjoy! Olivia.