Buckwheat honey is the tall, dark and handsome mystery man of the honey world. Where most honey is light and mild, buckwheat honey is a heavyweight, the honey with all of the knockout power.  Its flavor profile is deeply earthy and malty, reminiscent of molasses, and not overly sweet (for honey, that is).

Madeleines are one of my favorite cookies, and with buckwheat honey baked in they were very good with the cup of tea. I was drinking tea this afternoon in vain hope it would soothe my sore throat and though it wasn’t overly successful, it was nice to have a treat while I sipped.

On madeleines, they are stubborn, and will stick to the pan unless you grease it very thoroughly. My madeleine pan is silicone (and therefore presumably non-stick) and I still run into some problems with them sticking, even with a fair amount of butter used to grease it. Metal madeleine pans have even higher chances for recalcitrant cookies that will not leave the pan, but from what I’ve seen they also brown more evenly. A metal madeleine pan is definitely on my wish list.

Buckwheat Honey Madeleines

Ingredients

1/4 Cup butter

1 Tbsp buckwheat honey (or honey of your choice, but buckwheat is so good)

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/3 Cup sugar

3/4 Cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Directions
  • Heat the oven to 425° F.
  • Brown your butter, and then mix in the buckwheat honey and vanilla. Remove from heat once the mixture is uniform.
  • In a bowl, beat the eggs until frothy, and then add in the sugar.
  • Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, and then add them to the egg mixture.
  • Slowly whisk in the butter-honey mixture.
  • Grease your madeleine pan generously. If you don’t have one, you could use a muffin pan, but then you won’t get the lovely seashell shapes.
  • Drop the batter by the spoonful into the shell shaped indentations, filling about 3/4 full. Any fuller, and there will likely be overflow between the madeleines.
  • Place the madeleines in the preheated oven, and immediately turn it down to 375° F. Bake until puffed up and golden brown (~10 minutes, a toothpick inserted into the middle should come out clean).