Happy New Year, everyone! That 2018 may bring you a lot of great food.

I am not really a new year’s resolution kind of guy myself, as I believe you don’t have to wait until January 1 to make a change. But if you did resolve to eat less sugar or more fiber, then this may just be the recipe for you. These madeleines are sugar free and are baked using wholemeal spelt flour (regular wholemeal wheat flour would also work). To replace the sugar I used pure stevia powder. If you get good quality stevia, with 95% or more “Rebaudioside A”, there is no bitter aftertaste, but it does taste different from sugar. However the flavor of speculaas spices mixes very well with the stevia, so together it is really nice. I made these with butter, but you could replace the butter with canola oil or sunflower oil if you believe that is better than butter (I don’t). You could also make muffins instead of madeleines.

What is most important: these speculaas madeleines are delicious! Especially when they just come out of the oven and are still crispy on the outside. And they are very simple to make. Here’s how.

Ingredients

For 10 madeleines

90 grams (2/3 cup) wholemeal spelt flour

90 grams (6 Tbsp) butter, melted

2 eggs

1 tsp pure stevia powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp speculaas spice mix, or make your own by mixing 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp white pepper, 1/8 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp cardamom

(I did not use the almonds included in the photo, and decided to use only 2 eggs)

butter and flour for the madeleine tin

Instructions

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, spices, baking powder, stevia) in a bowl…

…and whisk to mix.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl.

Melt the butter in the microwave.

Make sure the butter is not hotter than lukewarm before adding it to the eggs. Whisk to incorporate.

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the eggs and butter.

Stir until the batter is homogeneous and there are no more lumps.

Butter and flour a madeleine tin and fill it with the batter.

Bake for 10 minutes at 200C/400F.

(For muffins, bake 20 minutes at 180C/350F.)

If you greased the tin correctly, the madeleines should fall right out. Serve warm.

Flashback

If you keep eating sugar, then this sticky date pudding with caramel sauce is just the recipe for you. If you have a sweet tooth, you will love this.