Gluten-Free Pistachio Madeleines

There’s a bevy of Spring 2017 cookbooks scattered across my dining room table.  Each one more inspiring than the next.  Honestly, are you a cookbook collector?  Have you seen what’s out in the world these last few months? There’s some goodness.  

One of my favorite among them is Tartine All Day from Elisabeth Prueitt of my favorite bakery in the country, Tartine, in San Francisco.  If you’re wondering, San Francisco gets all the good stuff.  Tartine among them.  

What’s interesting about Tartine All Day is that a majority of the recipes are gluten-sensitive because Preuitt is gluten-sensitive herself.  Her baked goods in this book are all made with gluten-free flours and really, they’re approachable and refined for the home, and filled with Cali-vibes.  

It’s great.  Let’s make these nutty, fragrant, cakey cookies, ok?  

Another pistachio thing I really want you to know about:  Baked Brown Butter and Pistachio Doughnuts.  

also a very long time ago I made Homemade Pistachio Pudding that was really just a delight.  

Here’s what you’ll need: 

•  egg whites.  We’ll whip these to lighten and lift the cookies. 

•  a combination of gluten-free flours and sugars:  powdered sugar, finely ground pistachios (making pistachio flour!), oat flour, brown rice flour, and tapioca starch.  As a gluten-full baker, I don’t know the exact science of how all of these flours work, but I do know that the delicately nutty flavor and the tender but sturdy texture is just right! 

If you’re wondering what to do with your newly acquired gluten-free flours, might I suggest this VERY GOOD gluten-free fried chicken.  

•  melted butter for lusciousness.  

•  almond extract, to deepen the flavor and surprise us. 

•  a sweet little madeleine pan, very well greased and chilled 

Start by fluffing together all of the dry ingredients.  

The powdered sugar, brown rice flour, and tapioca starch.  A bit of salt.

The pistachio flour and oat flour I made by supremely pulverizing (separately, of course) pistachios and old-fashioned oats in an old coffee grinder that I’ve now dubbed my spice grinder.  Does the trick like a dream!  

Egg whites are whipped in a stand mixer (or with a pair of electric hand beaters) along with the almond extract and the salt until opaque and just beginning to hold their peaks.  

Now let’s get it all together! 

The flours are folded into the egg whites along with the butter.  The batter will maintain some of it’s fluffiness from the egg whites, but now needs a good chill in the refrigerator for the flours to soften and hydrate.  These cookies get cooked from cold.  

Chill batter in the refrigerator for 1 hours or in the freezer for 15 minutes (if you’re in a super hurry).  Chilled though.  Don’t think you can go rogue on this step.  

One other trick to making these cookies pleasing plums is to chill the madeleine pan (greased and all!) in the freezer for at least 10 minutes before adding the batter.  A cold pan will help the center of the cookies rise to plump.  

The best bakers know.  Dang. 

Rap out of the warm baking pan just as soon as they’re done baking, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar (because that’s how I like everything), and enjoy slightly warm with very dark coffee. 

I find that these cookies are best enjoyed within two days of baking.  They feel fancy. They’re nutty, sweet, and make you think of the forest in summertime. That last sentence is exactly why I’m not a sommelier.  Happy Baking and enjoy! 

Photos by Jon Melendez. 

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