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Delicate and soft classic French cookies flavored with matcha powder, these Green Tea Madeleines make the most delightful sweet treat. Invite your friends over and enjoy it with Japanese tea like sencha, hojicha, or genmaicha.
Calling all the matcha fans! The new green tea dessert recipe is (finally) in, and today I’m sharing a delicate and tasty Green Tea Madeleines (or Matcha Madeleines) recipe. If you love these delicious and soft classic French cookies and the unique flavor of matcha, then these delicious madeleines are definitely for you. Why Matcha? Well, it’s my favorite ingredient for sweets and it’s also becoming a popular ingredient here in the States.
Watch How To Make Green Tea Madeleines 抹茶マドレーヌの作り方
Delicate and soft classic French cookies flavored with matcha powder, these Green Tea Madeleines make the most delightful sweet treat. Invite your friends over and enjoy it with Japanese tea like sencha, hojicha, or genmaicha.
The Classic Madeleines
Madeleine is a traditional small cake from Commercy and Liverdun in northeastern France. They are small sponge cakes with a shell-like shape, traditionally flavored with just vanilla, but some also include lemon zest, which is also one of my favorite.
I’ve been making these classic French Madeleines for some time. Most recipes you see are very similar as it’s rather a simple recipe, and I have tested different recipes to see which one my family likes the most. When I tried the recipe from Julia Child’s From Julia Child’s Kitchen, I really liked how perfectly the Madeleines turned out. Since then, I always come back to this recipe, but I changed the ingredients and methods a little bit over time.
There’s no reason to be intimidated by these French tea cakes. Madeleines are probably one of the easiest baking recipes I’ve made, and since my son loves them it’s also one of the cakes that I make most frequently.
Helpful Tips for Making Green Tea Madeleines
Here are some tips that will help you make good Madeleines.
- Use room-temperature eggs as they expand in volume when beaten. If you forget to take them out of the fridge, submerge chilled eggs in warm water for several minutes.
- Rest the batter in the refrigerator for at least one hour. I usually just refrigerate the batter overnight. By chilling the batter, it helps to give the madeleines their distinctive bumps (the bulging shape of the cookies).
- Don’t be shy about butter when coating the molds. It helps you take Madeleines out of the pan after baking as well as achieving nice golden color.
- Use a 1 Tbsp measuring spoon to transfer the batter. It’s the easiest way to measure the exact amount for each mold and not overfill.
- Use good quality matcha. The good quality matcha should have a bright green color, not dull green. By the way, you can’t grind regular “green tea leaves” to make matcha. More about matcha below.
- Use metal pans as I think they conduct heat better than silicone molds, but I’ve seen some people make beautiful Madeleines with silicon molds, so it’s up to you.
Where to Get Matcha for Green Tea Madeleines?
If there is a Japanese supermarket nearby, try checking their tea section for culinary use matcha. In my local Japanese supermarkets, they carry several grades of matcha powder including this Maeda-en brand matcha powder. In my local Asian supermarkets, I haven’t found 100% matcha powder yet. Be aware of some packages that are labeled “matcha”. Unfortunately it’s not real matcha and it’s most likely a package for a cold drink that contains matcha and sugar. When it’s 100% matcha, the price should be around $8-10 for 1 ounce (28 grams). Yes, matcha powder is considered very expensive even in Japan. And get a small bag because you will need to use it within 2-3 weeks.
How to Enjoy Green Tea Madeleines
From all my taste test for this recipe, I got to enjoy Green Tea Madeleines as the afternoon snack with my children. Instead of European tea, I recommend enjoying these madeleines with Japanese tea, like sencha (煎茶), hojicha (ほうじ茶), or genmaicha (玄米茶). The Japanese teas go much better with matcha flavored snacks and sweets. I am getting hungry just talking about this dish, time to go open my snack container and enjoy one before my family eats them all. Till next time…
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Delicate and soft classic French cookies flavored with matcha powder, these Green Tea Madeleines make the most delightful sweet treat. Invite your friends over and enjoy it with Japanese tea like sencha, hojicha, or genmaicha.
- 4 oz unsalted butter (1 stick or 113 g) (plus 1 Tbsp for coating the pans)
- ⅔ cup sugar (133 g)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) (120 g) (plus 1 Tbsp for dusting the pans) (See Notes)
- pinch kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp matcha (green tea powder)
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature)
- 1 Tbsp milk (whole or 2% fat, room temperature)
- 1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar/powder sugar (optional for dusting)
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Gather all the ingredients.
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Melt the unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Be careful not to burn the butter. Once melted completely, transfer to a small bowl and let it cool.
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In a large bowl, add ⅔ cup sugar. Then sift 1 cup all-purpose flour, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp. baking powder, and 1 Tbsp. matcha (green tea powder).
- Whisk all together to combine.
- In a medium bowl, combine 2 eggs and 1 Tbsp. milk. Whisk together till frothy.
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Add the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Using a rubber spatula, stir until just combined.
- Slowly add half of the cooled melted butter. Make sure to blend the butter and mixture well before you add more butter. Mix until just blended and do not over mix.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest the batter for 3 hours, or if you have the time, overnight (highly recommended). If you don't make soon, put the batter in airtight bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
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Melt the 1 Tbsp. butter in microwave. Using a pastry brush, brush butter in the molds of two 12 full-size shell-shaped madeleine pans. Then using a fine mesh strainer, lightly dust 1 Tbsp. flour over the molds.
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Remove the batter from the refrigerator and fill each mold in the madeleine pan with 1 Tbsp. of the batter. I scoop the butter with a 1-Tbsp. measuring spoon and transfer the batter into each mold with a mini rubber spatula. No need to smooth out the batter in the mold as it’ll melt in the oven.
- Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 11-13 minutes, or until the madeleines’ edges looks done and the tops spring back when touched.
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Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 3 minutes. Using a fork, gently release the madeleines from the molds and transfer them onto a cooling rack.
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The madeleines are ready to serve when they are slightly warm or at room temperature. Dust the tops with confectioner’s sugar if desired. If you are storing/freezing the madeleines, do not dust with sugar until you are ready to serve.
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Madeleines get dry rather fast and are best eaten within a few hours after they came out of the oven. To store them longer, let the madeleines cool COMPLETELY. Then you can freeze them (they'll keep for 2 months) or place them in a Ziplock bag (and enjoy within 48 hours). Defrost the madeleines at room temperature first before dusting with confectioner’s sugar. The nice crunch they have right after being baked will slowly fade away and the madeleines will become soft.
All-purpose flour: The weight for 1 cup of all-purpose flour varies depends on how you measure it. A properly measured cup of flour weights 120 g (4.25 oz). When you measure flour by volume, please follow the methods below. I’ve tested this method many times, and if you do it properly, 1 cup is VERY close to 120 g each time.
1. Fluff up the flour several times with a spoon.
2. Using the spoon, sprinkle the flour into your dry-cup measure (the one that measures exactly a cup at the top).
3. Scrape off the excess with a knife.
Equipment You will need:
Recipe adapted from Julia Child's "From Julia Child's Kitchen”. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing another matcha recipe! I just know I’ll love these. Now to find a madeline pan! 🙂
Hi Donna! Yes, you’ll love these. It’s REALLY easy to make (and dangerous)! 😉
Hi Nami, I have tried this twice, but every time the dough turned out hard after I put into the fridge. Also the cookie became ball-shape looking than a perfect shell if you know what I mean. I notice the milk you used in the video looks more like one table spoon, or could be some other reason that I don’t know.. Please help! They still taste heavenly btw.
Hi Song! Oh my gosh, I’m sorry I didn’t respond to your comment… your comment notification had become “read” in my Inbox by accident, and I didn’t read your comment till now!
I truly apologize for my delayed response.
The dough does become hard. It’s not liquid when you place on the madeleine pans (see my video?). I understand what you mean, so basically the ball shape stayed that way till after you bake and it doesn’t deform into madeleine shape…
And yes, I use 1 Tbsp. milk. Did you see anywhere that I wrote other measurement than 1 Tbsp.??? If so, let me know!
Hope I can help you make nicer shape Madeleine!!
Thanks for your reply Nami:) No worries, I haven’t got time to experiment again since I post the question. No, you did’t write anywhere other measurements, I was just guessing the milk would be the reason. I also skipped using flour to coat the pan but only used olive oil. Maybe that’s why. Well, thanks again and next time I will follow exactly and hope they will turn out looking better:)
Hi Song! He hee, that’s it! You have to use flour (and butter). 😀 It is eventually becoming a part of cookies (flour + butter). Yours will be great next time! 😉
Hi Nami,
Hope this email finds you well. I made your green tea chiffon cake for the first time and it was oishii! I love the green tea glamour and the fluffiness if the cake. Thank you for sharing the wonderful recipe. 🙂
For the Madeleines, can I use soy milk instead?
Please advise. Thank you.
Thank you Cindy! So happy to hear you liked the chiffon cake! I have never used soymilk for Madeleine before. I’m sure you can use the milk but I don’t know how they come out – taste, moisture, etc. Let us know if you try! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I’ve baked using your recipe several times and they taste delicious. However, every time, the hump on my madeleine is much bigger than yours. Is there a reason for that?
Thanks.
Hi Rachel! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! I have read a few articles/recipes that say the longer you keep in the fridge, the higher the hump is, and recommend to keep the batter overnight in the fridge. For the video (I try to remember…) I think I only store for several hours. Is yours overnight? If so, I guess we know the reason… If not, I’m not too sure why… 🙂
Ohhh, yes I left it in the fridge overnight. Thanks for the info ^_^
Just made matcha madeleine today :), super moist and delicious! kids loved it too . Thank you Nami!
Hi Liz! Yay!! I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Just wondering Nami, can I substitute the green tea with chocolate powder?
Thank you.
Hi Liz! Yes, you can do that. 🙂
Hi Nami,
How long does this madeleine last ?
Hi Elizabeth! I wrote in Step 13) Store COMPLETELY cooled madeleines in an airtight container for a few days (best enjoyed within 24 hours) or wrap individual madeleine in plastic wrap and put in a freezer bag for 2 months. Defrost the madeleines at room temperature first before dusting with confectioner’s sugar. Hope this helps!
Thank you Nami!
Hi Nami, do you have lemon Madeleine recipe? Can I substitute green tea with lemon?
Thank you,
Liz
I make with lemon zest and lemon juice. 🙂
Add/swap:
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (instead of milk)
1 Tbsp. lemon zest (instead of matcha)
1 tsp. vanilla
Hi Nami, I discovered the reason why my madeleines didn’t rise. I mistook my tub of icing sugar for all purpose flour…silly me! Gonna try your recipe again 🙂
Hi Chloe! Thanks so much for letting me know! Good luck next time! 🙂
I LOVE this recipe! It was simple, and they turned out perfectly. I love the detail you put into your blog, with step by step, and the video; it made it impossible for me to mess up! 😉
used Tealyra (www.tealyra.com) “Everyday Matcha”, and it had just the right amount of matcha flavor.
This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
Hi Christine! Thank you!!! I’m so glad to hear yours came out well too! Thank you for your kind words about my recipe/video. 🙂 I like to keep it as detailed as possible (although I may forget some stuff once in a while…). 🙂 I’ve never heard of that tea company before. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Nami, I’ve been admiring your recipes/blog for a while, but didn’t dare to try any of the recipes so far in case I stuffed them up.
I tried this madeleine recipe recently and can’t believe how easy it is and how well they turned out! It was my first time ever making madeleines. I’m so excited to make another batch of these again. Everyone who tasted them said they’re really yummy. Thanks for posting 🙂 🙂 I will start attempting more of your other recipes!
(P.S. Also love that you included a video tutorial – very helpful!)
Hi Kath! Aw I’m so glad you tired this recipe! It’s pretty easy to make (only problem is you need the special baking pans!). My daughter brought these to the class (for her birthday) and they were well received. Yes, try more recipes! I’m in a process of creating “Beginner” category… I just started and stopped. I hope you start from these recipes (once I create it). 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/tags/easy/
(see? I only put a few so far…)
Hi nami,i have tried this recipe yesterday evening & i really love it. However, my madeleines tasted a bit dense & not fluffy enough.. Which area should i improve?
Hi Sandra! Thank you for trying this recipe! Since you mentioned “dense”, my first question is if you used a kitchen scale to measure flour. I think you might have more flour compared to wet ingredients. Please see Note 1 in the recipe about how you measure accurately with cups. If you use a kitchen scale, then maybe sifting wasn’t enough, or was the oven temp was too high for your oven? It could be other reasons but I’m not sure with limited information. 🙂
I’ve used this recipe multiple times and it is soooo delicious! My only complaint would be that these madelines only taste best right out of the oven. The next day they have a thicker consistency and do not taste as good as the first day. Other than that, they are really yummy! Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Janice! I’m so happy to hear you like this recipe! Maybe the madeleine gets too much moisture? How about toasting/baking before you eat? It’ll be nice and crispy. 🙂
Great idea! I’ll try that next time I make them! 🙂 Thank you!
Hi!
I tried this recipe today and the madeleines turned out not like the nice shape that you have. Mine are not spreading all the way around the mold and the center part is bulged like a ‘pregnant’ madeleine! I also yielded exactly 24 madeleines using the 1 tbsp technique for each mold. I was using a nonstick pan, and I noticed that you have a tinned pan. I baked them right away after taken them out from refrigeration.
Here are my guess for what could be the cause of the problem: –
The mixture was still too cold when it’s inserting into the oven (it’s winter time and my house is on the colder side) .
Have you or your other reader experienced this problem? Could you please share them if there are? Thank you!!
P/S: I am going to return my non-stick pan and buy a tinned pan just like yours and try again!
Hi Vivienne! If you look at my video around 1:50, you see my batter is pretty hard when I take out from the fridge. I “scraped” the batter to place on the madeleine pan. Due to filming set ups between each scene, I didn’t immediately put the pan into the oven. However, it didn’t “fill up” the mold yet when I put the pan in (2:12 in video).
I haven’t heard any feedback regarding the batter didn’t fill up/spread out to mold before. The center should have a nice bump and it’s the key for success for madeleine. I wish I know what went wrong… I’ve received positive feedback on this recipe so far, so it should really work, and I wish I know the answer…
I read the review about the pan and I recommend my madeleine pan. Oh, did you flour and grease with batter even non stick?
I followed this recipe to a tee and it turned out great! Thank you for meticulously writing the steps down, Nami. Nice balance of sweet and the pleasantly ever-so-slight bitterness of the matcha. I am in Italy and I used farina tipo 00 ‘per dolci’, lievito vanigliata (I could not find ordinary baking soda so settled for the commonly-sold one scented with vanilla), and cane demerara sugar as I am trying to get away from processed white sugar. Local sea salt – hey, why not make it special! 🙂 All worked well together, and it was my first time baking with Italian ingredients so was holding my breath!
Hi Theresa! I’m super excited and happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback! I love that you used local Italian ingredients. Making it all special. 🙂 I often wonder if my long instructions discourage my readers… 😀 So thank you for your kind words!
Hi Nami, just wondering can I substitute the AP flour with almond flour? Thank you 🙂
Hi Liz! Hmmm I usually see some portion being almond flour but not 100% almond flour. If you are gluten free, maybe that’s the only way (except for using GF all purpose flour). I am not sure as I have never tried, but if you try, let me know how it works!
Thank you Nami, it’s my friend who asked me if i can make it with Almond Flour. I’ll try it next time, if it works I’ll let you know 🙂
Just attempted to make this whatever came out tasted great but not presentation-wise …was wondering why my battery was sticky even resting it overnight…thanks for awesome recipes…such an inspiration
Hi Michelle! I googled and found that it helps if you add baking powder or add corn starch. It also helps if you can let them cool down quickly, instead of leaving on the counter for a long time. I had never tried it before, but hope this will help!
Nami’s Recipes never disappoint!!! This is another great recipe that I’d keep! One question for Nami, if I left out the matcha powder, will the madeleines still come out good? Thanks again for another great recipe!
Hi Fiona! Aww thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m so happy to hear yours came out well. 🙂 Do you mean non-matcha recipe? You can try this:
I make with lemon zest and lemon juice. 🙂
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (instead of milk)
1 Tbsp. lemon zest (instead of matcha)
1 tsp. vanilla
Hope you enjoy!
I mixed the recipe in double because I wanna share to all my friends at work, I bought the best powder matcha same as yours, I will bake it tomorrow morning and I don’t have a metal mold so I’m baking it with my silpat madeleines mode
Hi Elanore! I’m sorry for my late response. How did it go? I don’t own silpat madeleine mold. Did the madeleines come out well? Hope you and your coworkers enjoyed this recipe!
I still have to nail the your sweet recipes but I have some success in your savory ones 🙂 I love matcha so I tried this recipe using non stick Madeleine pan but it overcooked. I probably have to use the metal pan to get the right shape and will cook it right. The cookies are still delicious despite the burned side. Thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂
Hi Rosemarie! I don’t own a non-stick pan, so I can’t tell surely, but I read a lot of articles saying that metal pan works great and I followed. It could be your REAL oven temperature too, despite what your oven said… sometimes inside oven temp can be too high/low. So it’s worth checking it out using the oven-safe thermometer. 🙂 Good luck!
I’m not Nami but I tried this last night using self-raising flour (omitting the baking powder) and it turned out delicious too.
Thank you for letting us know, Jessica!
I made this yesterday and the matcha madeleines are so moist and delicious the next day! I actually preferred it the next day compared to when they were freshly baked. After my first batch came out slightly burned, I reduced the temperature to 185°C and baked for 11 minutes. This is probably because my pans are dark coloured.
I tried to make vanilla madeleines too by adding 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract to half the recipe (for 12 madeleines) but the batter was runnier. Nevertheless, they still tasted delicious. What do you suggest I change in order to make vanilla madeleines?
Hi Jessica! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed the madeleines. 🙂 I feel like 1 Tbsp vanilla seems a lot?
Here’s my suggestion:
Add/swap:
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (instead of milk)
1 Tbsp. lemon/orange zest (instead of matcha)
1 tsp. vanilla
This is more like a classic madeleine recipe. 🙂
I just made these and they came out great! Nice and fluffy with a bit of a bite to them.
Thank you for all your recipes and the detailed steps, I have tried a few of them and love being able to make some Japanese food that’s hard/impossible to get where I live. Planning to make some mitarashi dango next time 🙂
Hi Lena! I’m so happy to hear this recipe came out well. Thanks so much for your kind feedback. And I’m really happy to know that you cook Japanese food at home using my recipes. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Happy to help! 🙂
The final batter looks too thick. Double, if not triple, the amount of milk as Matcha powder tends to absorb a lot of liquid. Sugar can be reduced too. When I make Matcha madeleines according to Japanese-style recipes, the batter is a lot of thinner in consistency.
Hi Belle! I mentioned in the recipe that this recipe was adapted from Julia Child’s “From Julia Child’s Kitchen”. 🙂
These are excellent, Nami. I appreciate the detailed instructions especially as a baker with limited experience. I used ceremonial grade jo matcha from Kyoto ($$$) purchased from a Japanese coffee shop near me (Neo Coffee in Toronto) and the resultant colour and flavour is phenomenal. The colour is so bright green. I added a little with the dusting of icing sugar to serve and the colour combination is rich.
I found the middles ever so slightly dry as did my family member who I asked to be very critical on my test batch. I wonder what I could tweak to improve this next time. Nami do you have any suggestions?
I cooked only 8-9 minutes until the edges were done (brown) and the tops springy as suggested. I also smelled the browning and didn’t want to overdo them. It was the right call to pull them when I did.
Thank you!!!
Hi Robert! Thank you for your detailed and kind feedback! I’m glad you got to use the high-quality matcha – I can imagine the quality and flavor of your matcha madeleine – very special!
Hmmm madeleines get dry rather fast and are best eaten within a few hours after they came out of the oven. You can increase the moisture by adding a bit more milk. Just a tiny tiny bit? Hope the next batch will come out better! 🙂
I don’t have the pan. Can I make maybe circles balls and put it on a normal straight pan?
Hi Hurl! Hmmm I think I can only think of a mini cupcake/muffin pan… or a cupcake pan but don’t use too much batter.
Heyyy! Love your YouTube channel and didn’t know you had a website so excited to try all the recipes. So, I am currently trying to make this, I made sure to weigh all the ingredients too, but my mixture (dry plus egg and milk) wasn’t as wet as the this mixture in your video but I didn’t want to mix too much so just added the butter and moved on. Will that change the texture of the madeleines?
Hi Henaben! Thank you for finding my site! This is after you rested the batter (step 11) or before (step 8)? How did it turn out?