Betty Crocker Gingerbread Madeleines

What happens when you combine sweet and spicy gingerbread with a classic French cookie-like cake? You get a gingerbread madeleine! We’re not sure why it took us so long to create this scrumptious cookie, but now we are so glad we did.

But is it really a cookie? Or is it a cake? Interestingly, the traditional madeleine is a sponge-based cake baked into the traditional madeleine shell mold. They are tender and light with a slightly crispy exterior.

Gingerbread shares the same fate as the madeleine by identifying itself in dense cakes to crisp cookies. What ties gingerbread desserts together is the flavor combination of ginger, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Sometimes allspice is an added spice, and honey, brown sugar, and even maple syrup serves as the sweetener in gingerbread.

When we baked our version of gingerbread into madeleine molds we got the perfect blend of gingerbread cake with a bit of the soft cookie texture we crave in gingerbread cookies. To finish these off, we dipped the rounded tops in melted white baking chips and tossed a few holiday sprinkles on each one to dress them up.

By starting with Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ Vanilla Cake Mix and using pumpkin pie spice, we’ve streamlined the recipe. Grab the molasses jar to get the rich flavor that gingerbread is known for. Just as in traditional madeleines, real butter is one of the keys to these tender and flavorful little cakes.