A little bit Texas, a little bit France – Honey Butter Cornbread Madeleines take the traditional French cookie and pair it with the savory flavors of honey-butter cornbread. Easy, delicious, and flavorful, this savory cookie recipe is a must-try for anyone who loves cookies or cornbread!
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Sweet and savory Honey Butter Cornbread Madeleines are just about the best thing on the planet. They’re not too sweet, buttery (but not too buttery), and are enough like cornbread that you’re wondering if they’re a cookie or a quick bread, but after one bite, you just won’t care because they’re that gosh darn good.
Cornbread is notorious for cooking slowly, but these madeleine cookies are ready in about 12 minutes, making them the perfect pick for classing up that pot of chili or serving with soup. You can also munch on them with a cup of coffee or grab one (or two) for a quick snack.
What you’ll love about Honey butter Cornbread Madeleines
- They’re the perfect mix of sweet and savory.
- These cornbread cookies are so easy to make!
- They cook quickly and freeze like a dream!
Easy to make and lighter than a traditional cornbread recipe, these Honey Butter Cornbread Madeleines are pretty nearly perfect. Oh, and they freeze like a dream! I often have some of these in my freezer, ready to grab whenever the craving strikes.
Ready to blend the best of a cookie with Southern cornbread? Here’s how to make Honey Butter Cornbread Madeleines.
What Are Madeleines?
Madeleines are light, spongy, buttery French cookies with a distinctive shape. They are baked in pans filled with shallow impressions that give the cookies a shell-like appearance. Madeleine pans are readily available online, or you can find them in specialty bake shops.
Ingredients
- Cornmeal – Not to be confused with cornflour (also known as cornstarch). Yellow or white cornmeal will work.
- All-purpose flour
- Honey
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Egg – Just 1 large egg.
- Butter – I use salted butter.
- Buttermilk – No buttermilk? See my tips below.
How To Make This Honey Butter Cornbread Madeleines Recipe
For a complete list of ingredients and instructions, please scroll down to the full recipe at the bottom of this page.
- Preheat your oven to 400-F and prepare the madeleine pan by spraying it with non-stick baking spray. Set the madeleine pan on top of a baking sheet.
- Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk the eggs, butter, and buttermilk in a smaller bowl until well-mixed.
- Combine the egg-buttermilk mixture with the flour mixture and stir until combined.
- Transfer the batter to a measuring cup or something with a pourable spout.
- Fill the madeleine molds almost all the way to the rim.
- Bake at 400-F for about 12 minutes or until the madeleines are set and lightly brown around the edges.
- Cool the cornbread cookies on a cooling rack and enjoy with honey butter or just on their own.
Recommended
How Do You Know When Madeleines Cookies Are Cooked?
Because they’re so shallow, madeleine cookies cook pretty quickly. You can either insert a toothpick to tell if they’re cooked – the toothpick should come out mostly clean (a few clinging crumbs are fine), or you can look to see if the cookie is set in the middle and golden brown around the edges.
No Buttermilk? Never fear!
Can you make cornbread without buttermilk? You sure can! You can get close to the same thickness and tanginess as buttermilk by combining milk and sour cream. Replace 3/4 of the buttermilk with regular milk, then top it up to the full measurement with sour cream. Mix well, and voila, you’ve got a quick buttermilk replacement.
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- The madeleine cookie batter doesn’t need fancy mixing tools or stand mixers. A spatula will do the job.
- Don’t overmix the batter – mix it until it’s all combined.
- Madeleines will puff up some, so don’t overfill the madeleine pan with batter.
Step By Step Process
Honey Butter Cornbread Madeleines
Equipment
- baking sheets
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cornmeal yellow or white cornmeal
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400-F and prepare the madeleine pan by spraying it with non-stick baking spray. Set the madeleine pan on top of a baking sheet.
- Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk the eggs, butter, and buttermilk in a smaller bowl until well-mixed.
- Combine the egg-buttermilk mixture with the flour mixture and stir until combined.
- Transfer the batter to a measuring cup or something with a pourable spout.
- Fill the madeleine molds almost all the way to the rim.
- Bake at 400-F for about 12 minutes or until the madeleines are set and lightly brown around the edges.
- Cool the cornbread cookies on a cooling rack and enjoy with honey butter or just on their own.
Notes
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- The madeleine cookie batter doesn’t need any fancy mixing tools or stand mixers. A spatula will do the job.
- Don’t overmix the batter – just mix it until it’s all combined.
- Madeleines will puff up some, so don’t overfill the madeleine pan with batter.
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.
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