Honey + Orange Madeleines

Sometimes foods can take you to another place. There are the foods that bring you to places you remember from your childhoods, and then there are the foods that bring you to places you have only imagined. For me, these perfect little French cookie/cakes have me dreaming of sitting on the Champs-Élysées while Proust writes on the next bench over. I love that about food, it's ability to take you someplace else. These little madeleines have the perfect citrus-sweet flavor balance, and will hopefully take you away, too :)

Honey and Orange Madeleines
makes 24
adapted from Martha Stewart: Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons finely grated orange peel
orange glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt butter on low heat. Once melted, let sit over heat one minute more. Remove from heat. Remove 1/4 cup of the butter from the pan and use it to brush a 24-mold madeleine pan. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

Whisk eggs until foamy, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the honey and vanilla. Whisk in the remaining 3/4 cup melted butter. Fold mixture into flour mixture. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

Divide batter evenly between prepared madeleine pans, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until the cakes are crisp and golden around the edges, 8-9 minutes.

Allow to cool and remove from the pan. Cover with glaze.

For the glaze, whisk together 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 tablespoon warm honey, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean powder (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract). Brush over madeleines. These madeleines are best eaten the same day they are made.