I made these madeleines half because I wanted to test out a few hojicha recipes, and half because I also made red bean paste using a pressure cooker, and I had to use it somehow! What I love about madeleines are that they are super customizable – since they are these cute, seashell-like cookie-cakes, they can be flavored so many different ways, and you can add in all sort of cool or fun things to the batter prior or even after baking it to make a madeleine a truly unique experience! For these specific madeleines, I went with hojicha(toasted green tea), red bean paste, and homemade mochi bits, just to all pay homage to ingredients you would commonly find with Japanese wagashi! The hojicha adds a toasty flavor, while the azuki adds creaminess and sweetness, while the mochi adds a fun stretchy chewiness to the madeleines that is reminiscent of a cheese pull, giving them a fun, interactive element when eating them!

A really cool thing about this recipe is that everything, even the red bean paste, is 100% made from scratch! I would not be against using premade red bean paste, however, if you do not own a pressure cooker – typically red bean paste is made by soaking the red beans overnight, then boiling them for about an hour, then finishing them with sugar. My method simply involves pressure cooking them until soft, then adding in the sugar at the end so that the sugar does not burn in the pressure cooker(and my process takes less than an hour!). Because of this, you’ll probably be seeing a lot more red bean/azuki recipes that feature homemade red bean paste from now on! I also use two kinds of rice flour to create my mochi. Shiratamako is a dehydrated mochi that creates super soft mochi and dango, while mochiko is the standard mochi flour, and you can sub out the shiratamako with just mochiko if you do not want to use shiratamako in this recipe!

For the anko(sweet red bean paste):
1/4 cup dried red beans
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
a pinch of salt

In a pressure cooker, cook the red beans with the water first for 25 minutes. Slowly release the pressure and cook the sugar and salt into the red beans. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until completely cold.

For the mochi:
1/4 cup shiratamako
2 tbsp mochiko
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
cornstarch or potato starch

Mix the shiratamako, mochiko, and water together. Pour into a nonstick pan and stir on medium-high heat until elastic in texture. Take off heat and stir in the sugar and salt. Once everything is fully dissolved into the mochi, pour onto a nonstick surface that is lined with cornstarch or potato starch. Divide into 24 pieces.

For the madeleines:
4 eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp hojicha powder
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, browned

In a bowl, whip the eggs with granulated sugar, hojicha, salt, and vanilla until pale in color and tripled in volume. Fold into that the flour, baking powder, and butter. Transfer the batter into a piping bag and pipe into 2 madeleine trays. Press in 5g or 2 tsp sized bits of the red bean paste and the mochi balls. Refrigerate the batter for at least 1 hour. Then bake at 375 degrees F for 8 minutes. Allow them to cool before unmolding.