Bear Claws (Madeleines)

MAKES 1 SHEET OF MADELEINES

For the dough: ½ cup + 1 tbsp (125 g) butter, 1 cup (125 g) flour, ½ cup + 2 tbsp (125 g) sugar, 3 eggs, 1 pinch salt, ½ cup + 2 tbsp (60 g) ground almonds (blanched), 1 tbsp orange blossom water (drug store or pharmacy), ½ tsp vanilla extract

Additional: pastry spatula, butter for the baking sheet, powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

Melt the butter, without browning it, and let it cool again. Sift the flour onto a countertop and add in the sugar. Make a hole in the mixture. Add the eggs into the hole and incorporate them into the mixture with a pastry spatula (not with your hands!). Then, little by little, add in the cooled butter, salt, ground almonds, orange blossom water, and vanilla extract. Quickly form the dough into a ball using your hands, wrap in plastic wrap, and let sit for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 480°F (250°C), unless you have a convection oven, in which case preheat to 445°F (230°C), or a gas oven, in which case preheat to level 7-8. Grease a bear claw (aka madeleine) pan. Distribute the dough evenly, being sure to press it down into the molds. Place the pan into the preheated oven (on the middle rack) and bake for about 15 minutes, until the cookies are light brown. Take them out of the oven, remove them from the molds, and let cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

 

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