HONEY MADELEINES a sweet treat

     SIMPLE... simple is what I need right now.  Birthday parties, Thanksgiving, applying to colleges for my daughter, visiting relatives out-of-state, decorating for the holidays.  As one of the busiest months of the year is beginning, I want to slow down and do nothing.  But "doing nothing" doesn't mean not being in my kitchen baking.  With Thanksgiving's pumpkin pie long gone, I need something alongside my cappuccino.  These freshly-made honey madeleines satisfy all my cravings, and they're easy.  Tender, crisp around the edges, slightly sweet, cakey;  just what I needed today!

                      I hope there are several left for breakfast tomorrow morning!

                                        +   Honey Madeleines  +
              …from Once Upon a Tart | Frank Mentensana and Jerome Audureau…

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter; plus more, melted, for brushing in madeleine molds
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon packed light-brown sugar
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• Confectioners' sugar for dusting madeleines

1.  Melt the 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over low heat, being careful not to burn or brown the butter.  Remove pan from the stove.  Stir in the honey and the extract, and let cool to room temperature.
2.  Beat the eggs and sugars together in a big bowl, using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer on high speed (or a wire whisk), until the eggs are foamy and light in color.
3.  In a separate, small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.  Slowly fold these dry ingredients into the wet, using the paddle attachment of your mixer on low speed (or stirring with a wooden spoon), stopping as soon as no flour is visible.  Pour in the cooled butter-honey mixture, and continue mixing until all the ingredients are combined.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until the batter is chilled.
4.   Before removing the dough from the refrigerator, position your oven racks so that one is in the center and preheat the oven to 425˚F.  Brush your madeleine molds with melted butter.
5.  Take a spoonful of batter and fill each mold three-quarters full.  Madeleines rise a lot, so don't overfill the molds.  The goal is to have the cookies retain their perfect little scallop shape.
6.  Place the mold on the center rack in the oven, and bake the madeleines for 8-10 minutes, or until they are puffed up above the edge of the mold and each madeleine has a bump on it.  Don't overbake.  Take them out when the edges have turned golden brown. 
7.  Remove the mold from the oven, and set it on a wire rack for a few minutes.  Don't let them cool too long.  You want the madeleines to still be warm when you eat them. Turn the mold over onto a dish towel and shake the madeleines out onto the towel.  They should fall out easily.
8.  Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before eating.

•  Best eaten the day they are baked, warm from the oven. 

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