Madeleine Cookie Recipe (+Giveaway)

Whenever I have time, I prepare breakfast in bed for my husband. And since madeleine cookies are his favorite, I prepared the batter the day before and stored it in the refrigerator to surprise him today. It took me less than 15 minutes to bake them the next morning and I was able to serve hot, straight from the oven vanilla-flavored madeleines to Lulu. If you're planning to serve breakfast, keep these French cookies in mind; they're absolutely delicious and not that difficult to make. Just read my secret to the characteristic bump for an authentic version of madeleine cookies and these cookies are guaranteed to turn out well.

Vanilla is a great flavoring in general, and I think it adds another dimension to madeleines. I can't imagine a home baker's pantry not having a bottle of vanilla extract around the holidays. I used Nielsen Massey vanilla extract in this recipe. In case you’re not familiar, Nielsen Massey vanillas are full flavored and there are distinct differences between the varieties. It may be vanilla, but it's definitely not plain! The folks at Nielsen Massey were kind enough to provide one (two-ounce) bottle of each Tahitian, Mexican & Madagascar vanilla extract and "A Century of Flavor" cookbook as today’s giveaway. Be sure to enter for a chance to win (click on the link).

Make sure you're a fan of PhamFatale Facebook fan page and Nielsen-Massey Vanillas or follow @Phamfatalecom and tweet about this giveaway. To make it easy, you can just copy and paste this tweet if you’d like: "Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extracts #Giveaway from @Phamfatalecom: http://bit.ly/uiJfq9". Good luck everyone!