Chocolate Hazelnut Madeleines

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly toasted. I give the sheet a shake halfway through.
3. Allow to cool for a couple minutes, then add the nuts to the bowl of a small food processor. Pulse until the the nuts are finely ground, but still have texture. Set aside.
4. Next, brown the butter by placing in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan a few times, until the milk solids start to caramelize and turn brown. This will take a few minutes. Take care to remove the pan from the heat as soon as you start to notice the butter browning, as it can burn quickly.
5. Set the butter aside to cool.
6. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and 2/3 cup ground hazelnuts. (Reserve the remaining 1/3 cup for decorating the finished madeleines)
7. In a separate, small bowl, whisk together the eggs until smooth. Add the eggs to the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
8. Pour the melted butter into the batter, a little at a time. (If you pour it all at once it will be difficult to mix everything together. I did it in about 3 stages.) Fold everything together until just combined, don't over mix. The mixture should be fairly thick and shiny. The batter will continue to thicken as it chills.
9. Cover the batter and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
10. Preheat oven to 400F. Butter or oil you madeleine pans. This recipe makes 32 madeleines, so you can use two standard madeleine pans, or bake 2 separate batches. (Keep the remaining batter in the fridge while the first batch bakes.)
11. Divide the batter into the wells of your madeleine pans. You want about 1 tablespoon of batter in each well - they should look about 2/3-3/4 full.
12. Bake for 8-10 minutes until risen and golden. These small cakes can burn quickly, so keep an eye on them and don't over-bake.
13. Remove from the oven and allow to cool just for a minute or two in the pan. Then, carefully remove them to a baking rack to cool completely.

to dip your madeleines

1. Melt your chocolate for a minute on high in the microwave and then stir. If necessary microwave further using short 15 second bursts. I used Ghiradelli chocolate melting wafers. It helps to melt your chocolate in a container that is deeper than it is wide - something like a microwave safe glass measuring cup is ideal.
2. Set a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet or a baking rack. Carefully dip each madeleine about halfway into the melted chocolate, at an angle if you'd like. Place the madeleines on the parchment paper, and sprinkle with a little bit of the reserved ground hazelnuts.
3. Allow the chocolate to harden and enjoy immediately! Madeleines are best enjoyed the day they are made, but will keep a few days in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.