Gluten-Free Cornbread Madeleines with Bacon, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Basil
Servings: 18 madeleines
Calories: 92kcal
These easy cornbread madeleines are gluten free and they bake in just 8 minutes! If you don’t have a madeleine pan, you can use a mini-muffin tin instead.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 6 slices bacon chopped
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoon finely diced oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a large skillet cook the bacon until crisp, then set aside on a paper towel to drain. Keep the bacon fat in the skillet and let it cool down. Once cooled chop the bacon, but not too finely.
- Once the bacon fat in the skillet has cooled, brush each madeleine mold with the bacon grease. If you don’t have a brush, just dip a paper towel in the grease and spread into the mold.
- Drain the oil from the sun dried tomatoes and pat dry, then finely chop. Finely chop the basil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, smoked paprika, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, olive oil, and honey. Then make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the buttermilk mixture.
- Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together, but do not fully combine. Add the bacon, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil and stir gently until all ingredients are fully incorporated into the batter.
- Fill the molds in a non-stick madeleine pan about ¾ full with batter. Spread out the batter a bit into the molds, then gently tap the pan on the counter a few times to get the batter into the grooves of the pan.
- Bake for 7 – 8 minutes or until the madeleine springs back a bit when you push down on it. Allow to cool for 1 minute, then use a small offset spatula or other small tool to gently remove the madeleines from the pan. Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Serve them the same day for best flavor, or store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Notes
- Chop the bacon, but don't dice it too finely. When I was working on this recipe, I found that when the bacon pieces were too tiny, you couldn’t taste it. You want those salty chunks.
- To make these vegetarian, omit the bacon and replace with more sun dried tomato. Brush the pan with butter before baking.
- This recipe is adapted from Drinking French by David Lebovitz.
- I used a non-stick madeleine pan, and I still coated the molds with bacon fat (or butter if making these vegetarian). It gives the madeleines a nice crisp texture.
- I took David Lebovitz’s advice and used a small, spring-loaded ice cream/cookie scoop to transfer the batter into the molds. But you can just use a regular ole spoon from your drawer, too.
Nutrition
Calories: 92kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 211mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 83IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg