Orange Madeleines with Simple Orange Glaze

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This orange madeleine recipe is all about fresh citrus flavor wrapped up in a tender, buttery cookie. Simple to make, but they look and taste like a bakery delight.

Recipe At a Glance

Orange madeleines are close cousins to lemon madeleines, with just a few tweaks. We swap the lemon for fresh orange juice and zest and use a touch more juice in the batter. Everything else stays the same.

To make sure these madeleines have that unmistakable orange flavor, we finish them with a simple, two-ingredient orange glaze.

If you’ve never made them before, don’t worry—madeleines are super easy to bake. With just a few pantry staples, you can have a fresh batch ready in under 30 minutes. Once they’ve cooled, dip them in the glaze, and they’re good to go.

The straightforward ingredients and quick prep time make orange madeleines a great last-minute dessert to keep in your baking lineup.

Making orange madeleines for the first time? Read the ingredients notes, step-by-step instructions, and tips. If you’re familiar with the recipe, feel free to jump to the recipe card.

Ingredients Notes and Substitutes

Orange Madeleines

• Egg.
• Sugar. Caster sugar (superfine) is best because it melts more easily in a room-temperature egg, but regular sugar should do, too.
• Honey. Honey makes these cakes moist and adds extra sweetness. If you don’t have honey on hand, substitute it with extra sugar.
• Salt.
• Unsalted butter.
• Cake flour. Cake flour is best for these, but regular all-purpose flour should do, too. The texture will be slightly different, but that’s not a huge difference.
• Vanilla extract. A splash of vanilla adds a bit of extra flavor. Optional, but recommended.
• Baking powder. Baking powder helps the madeleines rise and develop their signature hump. Some traditional recipes skip baking powder and rely only on temperature shock, but we’re not taking any chances—or waiting an hour or two before baking.
• Orange. Choose a blemish-free one and organic if possible, as we’ll use both the juice and the zest. Juice and zest from a single medium orange is more than enough for both the madeleines and the glaze.

Orange Glaze

• Powdered sugar.
• Orange juice.

How to Make Orange Madeleines

1. Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
2. Melt the butter. Melt the butter on the stove and set it aside to cool.

3. Zest and juice the orange. Wash the orange well, then roll it on the countertop with firm pressure to release more juice. Zest the orange (a microplane works great) and juice it.

4. Mix the egg and sugar. In a bowl, combine the egg, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and honey. Stir until smooth.

5. Add half the orange zest and one tablespoon of orange juice. Stir until well combined.

6. Add the dry ingredients. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then mix until everything is fully incorporated.

7. Add the melted butter. Make sure the butter is warm, not hot, before adding it. Cool it down if it’s too hot by placing the pot in cold water for 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the butter into the batter and stir until smooth.

8. Prepare the pan. Grease the madeleine molds with butter. I usually cut a small slice of butter and spread it with my fingers. If your pan isn’t non-stick, dust it with flour and tap out any excess.

9. Pour the batter. Fill the molds about 3/4 full with batter.
10. Bake. Place the pan in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 360°F (180°C). Bake for 9–10 minutes, until the tops are set and the edges turn golden brown. Keep an eye on them after 8 minutes, adjusting the time as needed.

11. Cool. After baking, let the madeleines rest in the pan for a few minutes before releasing them. If they don’t come out easily, gently run a silicone spatula around the edges.
12. Make the glaze. Whisk together powdered sugar and two teaspoons of orange juice in a small bowl until smooth. If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar; if it’s too thick, add a little more orange juice. You want a glaze that flows slowly but smoothly.

13. Coat the madeleines. Once they’ve cooled, dip the madeleines in the glaze or brush it on with a pastry brush. If you like, sprinkle the leftover orange zest on top. Let the glaze set for a few minutes.
14. Serve.

Tips

• Make the glaze while the madeleines bake. Making the glaze takes 5 minutes tops, so if you get to it right after placing the pan in the oven, you’ll be done before the mini cakes bake.

Scaling the Recipe

Every madeleine pan is slightly different. So while this recipe makes 8 to 11 madeleines in my pan, depending on how much batter I pour into each mold, it might make more or fewer in yours.

So, what if you want to make a specific number of cookies?

This recipe yields about 2/3 cup (or 10 tablespoons) of madeleine batter. To figure out how much batter you’ll need, pour 1/3 cup of water into your molds, filling each mold up to 3/4. The base recipe will give you (about) double that amount in cookies. If you need more, simply multiply the recipe accordingly.

When scaling up, don’t scale the salt amount linearly.

Increasing the salt in proportion to the other ingredients can result in overly salty madeleine cookies, so it’s better to scale it down slightly. For example, if you’re doubling the batter, add about 50% more salt, and if you’re tripling it, add twice the amount of salt.

Storage

You can store orange madeleines in a sealed container on the counter for 3 to 4 days. Make sure the container is sealed tightly so the cakes don’t dry out that quickly.

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