Honey Spiced Madeleines with Dark Chocolate Chunks for French Fridays with Dorie

Last year for a dinner party I served Dorie's honey spiced madeleines with poached pears and loved them.  This time I wanted to try something a little different and decided to add Scharffen Berger bittersweet baking chunks to my cookies.  I have to admit that after I topped the madeleine dough with the chocolate I wondered if the cookies would rise under the weight of the chunks.

Success!  After spending the night in the fridge the oven heated dough pushed up forming a golden cookie dome under the chocolate chunks.  Don't you love it when cookie experiments, especially the ones that involve bittersweet chocolate turn out?

Madeleines are more like little cakes than cookies and I love that one recipe makes 12 servings which fit nicely in a large madeleine mold.  One of these cookies with a cup of tea in the afternoon or with fruit or ice cream after dinner is just the right amount to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Cookies or a delicious science experiment?

I baked these in a convection oven that sits above my counter where it's easy to see the madeleines rising out of the pan, this is the oven I use for baking during the Summer when it's hot outside, it's small but works exceptionally well for a small batch of cookies.  I also have a large gas fueled oven that can heat the entire house in the Winter if the heater goes out so I don't like to turn it on when it's hot to make 12 cookies even if they are like little cakes.

Last week I decided to give away a cookbook to one of my followers who left comments on both my smoked trout salad and apple spelt pound cake.  I assigned everyone a number and let my husband Scott select the winner.  As luck would have it Aimee from Clever Muffin won La Calabria, a lovely cookbook featuring rustic southern Italian cooking.  Thanks to everybody who left comments and I plan on giving away another cookbook or two in the coming months.

 The recipe for these honey spiced madeleines is in Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan  and as we have been asked not to share the recipe I would encourage everyone to pick up a copy of the cookbook and cook along with the group.  Please check out all the participants in this online cooking group here on French Fridays with Dorie.  Please let me know if you like the idea of the chocolate chunks baked into the madeleines?  I can tell you the chocolate tasted wonderful with the honey, orange and spice flavors in these cookies.

Scharffen Berger Bittersweet Fine Artisan Dark Chocolate Baking Chunks