Magdalenas Recipe: Spanish Muffins

Magdalenas or Spanish muffins are delicious lemon cakes perfect for pairing with morning coffee. The authentic magdalenas recipe is easy to make with or without an electric mixer. They are perfect for all ages, and even children have fun making them.

Madeleines are traditional French cakes, but there are other famous ones in Spain that you may have heard of - Spanish muffins.

These delicious treats are also called Spanish cupcakes, magdalenas muffins, magdalenas cupcakes, or Spanish madeleines (madeleines espagnoles in French).

In the Aragon region of Spain, magdalenas also have different names, for example, "malenas," "polkas," and "cajicas."

In both countries, France and Spain, people enjoy eating the sweet treats called "madeleines."

However, unlike what most would expect based on its name (based on French origins), these delightful little delicacies - magdalenas - differ from the French madeleines.

In Spain, magdalena sponge cakes are a typical breakfast treat with a cup of coffee.

In the past, they were mainly baked for holidays and birthdays, whereas today you can find them throughout Spain, in supermarkets and bakeries.

Jump to:

• What are magdalenas?
• Why you should try this recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make magdalenas
• Recipe variations
• Storing and freezing
• Expert tips
• Frequently asked questions
• Love small cakes? Try these next!
• Recipe card
• Comments

What are magdalenas?

Magdalenas are Spanish breakfast lemon-scented cakes with a light and fluffy texture.

According to Google, here is the meaning for magdalena.

Round and convex bun made with sponge cake that is usually presented inside a curled paper mold.

In Spanish, magdalenas simply translates as "muffins," and magdalenas caseras as "homemade cupcakes."

In the past, they were traditionally made in the shape of a shell using a special magdalena oven tray, quite identical to a French madeleine pan. Yet, it is more typical today to bake them in a basic cupcake form.

But both magdalenas and madeleines get a wonderful lift while baking. Do you remember that famous madeleine hump?

Spanish muffins have their unique copete on top, which means "topknot" or "pompadour" in English.

Interestingly, mantecadas as a magdalenas'cousin were initially introduced to Spain by the French, but it is now consumed all over Latin America.

The pastries are full of connections and influences...

Why you should try this recipe

Magdalenas recipe (magdalenas receta in Spanish) is incredibly easy to make and requires a few basic ingredients.

It is all about how to upgrade a simple regular muffins recipe into a bakery-style muffin recipe.

Making these delicate and gourmet treats with kids is one of the best baking projects.

They love the rise of muffin tops and often nickname the cakes "volcano muffins." They make a great addition to the kids' lunch box.

What's else? Magdalenas cupcakes are a must for you if you want to enjoy breakfast, afternoon tea time with friends and family, or a light snack.

And don't forget about their special place in Sunday champagne brunch!

The lovely little crisp crust on top of muffins mixed with the tangy flavor creates a wonderful tasting experience.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Make sure that the ingredients are at room temperature before beginning.

Also, read How To Make A Cake Moist.

Eggs: the recipe calls for three medium eggs at room temperature.

Sugar: use granulated sugar to make the recipe.

Oil: use high-quality extra virgin olive oil since these Spanish cupcakes are about oil taste. You can replace it with mild or light olive oil, or sunflower oil if preferred.

While the authentic recipe calls for olive oil, you can substitute it for melted butter if desired.

Milk: the recipe calls for whole milk, but you can replace it with low-fat milk.

If you want to make Spanish cupcakes more interesting, try using evaporated milk with a 6.6% fat content.

This will give a firmer structure to your magdalenas, making them the best for dipping in hot coffee or tea. 

Flour: the recipe calls for all-purpose flour (aka plain flour) but you can replace it with cake flour or half of the flour for whole wheat flour.

Baking powder: use fresh aluminum-free baking powder (not baking soda).

Lemon zest: classic magdalenas use lemon zest, but you can substitute it with orange, lime, or even grapefruit zest. If desired, add the freshly made zest from a whole lemon.

How to make magdalenas

To make the muffin batter, combine flour with baking powder and a pinch of salt and sift into a medium bowl.

In a separate large mixing bowl, place eggs and sugar and beat with an electric mixer for about 3 to 4 minutes, until fluffy and whitish.

Add milk, oil, and lemon zest to the egg mixture and beat again. Next, add dry ingredients to the preparation, mixing at a low speed just to combine.

Cover batter with plastic in contact (the film has to touch the batter) and refrigerate for one hour or overnight if desired.

Preheat the oven to 480 degrees F/250 degrees C. Line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners (aka paper cases) and divide batter between the cups.

Fill each with butter up to ⅔ full and sprinkle a bit of sugar on the tops of each cake.

Place muffin pan to the middle shelf of the preheated oven and immediately lower the temperature to 420 degrees F/210 degrees C.

Bake muffins for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.

Check with a toothpick to make sure the cakes are done. Cool them in the pan for no longer than 5 minutes and transfer them to a wire rack.

Recipe variations

Follow this basic Spanish magdalenas recipe to make authentic little cakes at home, or give it your own twist by adding different extras.

Well, who doesn't love some bright flavors in their morning snack?

To add a burst of lemon taste and flavor, add lemon extract or glaze your muffins with sweet lemon glaze (a mixture of 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice with 1 cup or 125 g of powdered sugar).

Everything depends on your taste: you can replace the lemon zest with orange zest, add orange blossom water, vanilla extract, or sprinkle with a few pine nuts on top before baking.

You can spice up your cakes with ground cinnamon, add semi-sweet chocolate chips, poppy seeds, chopped dried fruit, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or diced apple or pear.

Just imagine how delicious your magdalenas would be if you replaced 1 oz. or 30 g of flour with cocoa powder. They will taste like chocolate!

You can make your cupcakes more exciting by adding fresh fruit, for example, blueberries to make lemon blueberry muffins, and cover cakes with an apple glaze.

You can even put a chocolate hazelnut spread Nutella inside the muffin. Just fill each baking cup with half the batter, a tablespoon of Nutella, and then the rest of the batter.

Or you could make your own version of ColaCao magdalenas by replacing half the flour with ColaCao chocolate drink mix.

Finally, if you want your cakes to have an interesting shape, use elongated paper cups instead.

This will give them a tongue-like appearance that is perfect for dipping in tea or coffee.

These are called Valencian magdalenas, but you will have to place them close together on the baking tray, so they don't open up too much during baking.

As you can see, the basic magdalenas recipe can be enriched to infinity and beyond. So let your imagination run wild!

Storing and freezing

Once cooled, store magdalenas in an airtight container at room temperature for three days.

Freezing your magdalena muffins will give you an additional 2 months of delicious breakfast options.

To freeze them, just let them cool before wrapping each one tightly with plastic wrap.

Place in freezer-safe containers or bags and label accordingly, not mixing up with other foods in the freezer.

To defrost, bring the cakes to the fridge overnight or the counter for a couple of hours.

You can also reheat them in the microwave for about a minute. They will taste as fresh as the day you made them.

Can you freeze the magdalenas batter? Yes, you absolutely can. Place the batter in a freezing bag and freeze.

Once ready to bake, take the batter out of the freezer and leave it at room temperature for a few hours to defrost.

Then cut a tip of the bag so that it will work as an "improvised pastry bag." Next, pour the batter into each mold and bake as directed.

Expert tips

1. Whisk the ingredients well (with a hand whisk or electric mixer) to trap the air that will expand during baking and result in fluffy muffins.
2. Never skip the chilling of the batter. This step relaxes the gluten and prepares your batter for the maximum rise during baking. The temperature difference (aka thermal shock) works similarly for French madeleines.
3. Line the muffin tins with paper liners instead of using the silicone ones. In the latter case, place sturdy silicone liners on the preheated baking sheet.
4. If you don't have a muffin pan, you can create improvised cups with the paper liners themselves. Then, just stack 3 layers to provide the necessary firmness to contain the batter while baking.
5. Preheat your oven well. Bringing cold batter into the hot oven is the key to obtaining beautifully humped magdalenas.
6. Don't open the oven door while baking: the drop in the oven temperature might result in flat muffins.

Frequently asked questions

Love small cakes? Try these next!

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The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.