Magdalenas are Spanish lemon and olive oil muffins that you'll find in bakeries across the country. They're easy to make at home, too, with only a few common ingredients. They have a lovely delicate flavor, and are perfect still warm out the oven with coffee.
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When I lived in Madrid it was my second time living in Spain so some things were easier to settle into. I already knew many Spanish dishes and some of the customs that were different for me (like a heartier lunch and lighter, late dinner). But I still learnt more all the time I was there.
One of the things I particularly got into enjoying while in Madrid was magdalenas. There was a small bakery near my apartment and if I saw them freshly baked in the window, it was hard to resist.
Are Spanish magdalenas the same as French madeleines?
Some people say magdalenas are simply the Spanish version of madeleines in muffin-shaped form, and they certainly have some similarities in the ingredients. The name, though, simply translates as "muffin" or "cupcake", much as it sounds similar.
They also have a couple key differences, and I don't just mean the shape. First, they are usually made with olive oil rather than butter, and secondly, they are more leavened. The combination of a relatively high proportion of eggs and raising agent gives these little bites a wonderful lift.
Making these easy Spanish muffins
As I mentioned, these muffins are incredibly simple and need only a few household ingredients. They also follow a relatively common method of mixing the dry ingredients then separately blending the eggs and sugar. You then combine the two along with the lemon zest and olive oil.
After that, though, is where these differ from most other muffins as you then let the mixture rest in the fridge for a little while before baking. This is more similar to the technique for madeleines but it is for a reason.
That rest time helps allows the gluten to relax and also the chilling gives a greater temperature difference when the mixture bakes. This all leads to one thing: more rise. OK two, as it also helps them be really tender.
After the mixture has chilled, scoop the mixture into your tin prepared with muffin liners (either paper or, as I have here, silicone). Don't mix the batter before spooning, as you don't want to knock out any air in there.
Only fill your muffin liners about ¾ of the way as you want to allow some space for these to rise. As I mention and as you can see in the photos, you get a beautiful bump in the middle when these bake.
You don't have to, but I highly recommend you add an extra little sprinkling of sugar on top of the batter before baking. This gives them a lovely little crisp crust on the outside.
These Spanish muffins are particularly good enjoyed warm out of the oven. They will keep a day or two, stored at room temperature in an airtight container, but like most muffins and cupcakes they are definitely best fresh.
Magdalenas are such a wonderfully tasty treat that's easy to make as well. They are as light and delicately lemon-flavored as they are delightfully humped in the middle. I find them the perfect mid-morning snack with a cup of coffee, but as my kids and friends can attest, they are just as good on their own whenever. I hope you'll enjoy them soon, too.
Try these other tasty baked goods from around the world:
- French pear cake (also wonderfully light and easy!)
- Australian Lemon slice (a no-bake lemon-coconut cookie bar)
- Persian love cake cupcakes (with a lovely hint of saffron and cardamom)
- Plus get more snack recipes and Spanish recipes in the archives.
Magdalenas - Spanish muffins
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour plain flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoon milk
- 1 lemon zest ie zest from 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon sugar to top - optional (but recommended)
Instructions
- Beat together the eggs and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture becomes paler and with little bubbles in it.
- Separately, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this mixture to the egg-sugar mixture along with the oil, milk and lemon zest. Mix until smooth and well combined. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes.
- Towards the end of the chilling time, preheat the oven to 450F/230C. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.
- Take the mixture out of the fridge and spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin liners - don't mix the batter, just scoop it out and just fill the liners to around ¾ full.
- If you like (recommended), sprinkle a little sugar over the top of each of the muffins then place them in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 400F/200C.
- Bake the muffins for approximately 15 minutes, turning once after around 10-12 minutes, if needed, to help the 'humps' be even in the middle (but don't open the oven before at least 10 minutes to make sure they rise properly).
- Allow to cool a minute or two before removing from tin onto a cooling rack.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Wendy Anderson says
Having just returned from our holiday in Spain,made these for my husband as he was missing his daily fix.He absolutely loved them.Recipe was so easy to follow.Thank you
Caroline says
I'm so glad to here that! I can understand - I missed them too after having them frequently when I lived in Madrid 🙂
Isabel Velasco says
My Magdalenas turned out PERFECT ! So tastey with very few Ingredients & so quick & easy to make , I hadn’t made them in many years
Caroline says
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed them and they worked out well! I also love how easy they are, and so tasty.
Rita Camacho says
Made these muffins and they are so good, I added vanilla bean paste and it really took it up a notch.
Caroline says
I'm glad you enjoyed them, and love using vanilla paste - I can see it being good, though in moderation so you still get plenty of the lemon and olive oil flavor coming through.
Isabel Velasco says
I also added Vanilla bean gives Magdalena’s an Extra Special taste Deliciouuuusss !
Jennifer Piche says
Hi Caroline, so having lived in Galicia in the 1970s, I absolutely loved the magdalenas. A daily stop for me in the morning on my way to school, El Colegio de Cristo Rey, in El Ferrol del Caudillo. However, I remember that they were always in the shape of tradtional French madeleines. When I returned to Galicia in 2018, I was shocked to see that they had evolved/transitioned to a cupcake (fairy cake) shape! I'm wondering when and why that happened. Do you have any insights? I'm going to try your recipe in my madeleine pan tomorrow! Muchas Gracias desde Denver, Colorado . . .
Caroline says
Indeed, they did used to be more typically made in the shell-shaped pan. I can't really find much to say quite when the shift happened but I certainly only remember them as muffin-shaped in the early 2000s. I believe it was as much out of ease to save buying a different shaped pan especially for them, but not entirely sure. I hope you enjoy these either way!
Fateme says
Hi⚘️
Thanks for the recipe🙏.
I baked these delicious muffins.
They were excellent😋.
Caroline says
So glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Rebecca says
Hi! These sound wonderful! Have you ever tried using a mini muffin tin? I know I’d have to reduce the bake time, but would I also need to adjust the oven temp in any way?
Caroline's Cooking says
Hi, so I haven't made them as mini muffins but they should work - I would suggest probably same temperature, maybe do the reduce to 400/200 right before putting them in rather than after since you will be cooking less time. It will be a little trial and error exactly how long to cook them, but could easily be half or even less.
Natasha says
Just about to try make these as my son is obsessed with limon mufffins when we are in Spain! Probably a stupid question but do you use extra virgin olive oil or light olive oil?? Thanks 🙂
Caroline's Cooking says
Not at all! So it's a bit up to you how strong of an olive oil flavor you want in there - I personally like them with a bit of the olive oil flavor coming through so tend to use extra virgin (plus it's what I generally have around) but if you are wary of the flavor then I'd go with a lighter one. Enjoy!
Mike says
Hi Caroline, I made these and have to say they're fantastic. The recipe is very well put together. Mat I ask if we wanted to add in some fruit could we add it to the batter mix? Thanks, Mike
Caroline's Cooking says
Glad to hear you enjoyed them! So I haven't tried with fruit in there, so not sure how well it will do - it will probably mean they won't rise quite as much but that's probably not too big a problem. The only concern I would have is that the fruit may sink or cause small areas not to cook as well next to the fruit. I'd suggest keeping the pieces of fruit on the smaller side to try to help.
Nikky says
Damn it in my rush to get kids at gate I didn’t see where it said to turn down to 200 🙁 they came out very dry almost burnt. Oh well I think I’ll have to put some butter or jam inside or squeeze some lemon in before eating to moisten up a bit.
Caroline's Cooking says
Oh dear! Indeed, they will be a bit dry cooked that high but yes, some jam and/or butter should help.
Alma Pretorius says
I'm busy reading a series of 8 books (The Seven Sisters - Lucinda Riley) At the moment, I’m reading The Moon Sister (Tiggy is the 5th sister) and her heritage is from Sacromonte, Spain. In this book, they talked about Magdalena cakes – reading is part of my everyday life and I get totally inspired from what I read … am I'm a very curious person. When I read Magdalena cakes – I immediately Googled it to see what it looks like! I found your recipe …. And knew I had to bake them.
This morning I first had to check if my eggs were still ‘okay’ – picked 2 lemons from our lemon tree (‘cause I love the taste of lemon) and instead of flour and baking powder, I just used self-rising flour.
I’ve tasted them, they are sooooooooooooo fluffy and flavorsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks a million for this recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Caroline's Cooking says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Yes, self-rising flour is always an option, I mainly didn't suggest this as the mix can vary from country to country and is not that common in some places in general, so flour and baking powder is more consistent. And more lemon is always good too 🙂
Mimi says
Wow! I'm reading "The Moon Sister" and just now looked up Magdalenas, which brought me to your post. Looking forward to trying this recipe. Great Minds Cook and read alike!
Caroline says
Hope you enjoy them!
Shelley says
I am just making these now - just wondering if anyone has ever tried freezing them?
Caroline's Cooking says
I haven't, and it's hard to say how they'd turn out - they are a little like muffins, which generally freeze well, but they are also a little drier and I do wonder if the texture might not be quite as good. If you did freeze them, then I'd suggest warming gently before eating.
Sona says
Can the batter be made night before?
Beth says
Hi Caroline-
Other recipes I’ve seen call for the juice from the lemon as well. Would it affect muffins too much if I added the juice for extra lemon “kick”?
Caroline's Cooking says
You certainly could add a little lemon juice, but the main thing is you want to keep the overall liquid about the same, so I would, for example, swap out 1tbsp of the milk and add in lemon juice instead. One reason for not doing so is the juice can make the milk curdle but it should sort itself out as it all mixes.
Amy says
Any tips on if the muffins don't get that rise??
Caroline's Cooking says
So there are a couple possibilities of what may be the issue, the most likely being either the baking powder or mixing. Is the baking powder old, have you used it recently for something else and if so, did it rise properly? Just while it might seem like one of those things that lasts forever, it doe sin fact become less effective the older it is. The other thing is you may have over-mixed the batter, particularly after it rested in the fridge. You want the batter to come together and be smooth, but don't keep mixing. And after the rest, simply scoop rather than mix so you don't break up too many air pockets that may be starting to form. Hope that helps!
Fran says
Dear Caroline, I just made the magdalenas and they’re delicious!!!!
I was born in Spain and this recipe is as close as it gets to the real McCoy. Thank you.
Caroline's Cooking says
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed and they matched up! They were always a favorite when I lived in Spain so I was determined to make some to remember them.
Trace says
As I am in Australia our measures are different cups/ tea & tablespoons. Thankyou for including the weights for the flour, sugar & oil but what are the spoons? US, UK, NZ or AUS? I must be sure because if I get them wrong the muffin will not be great, thanks. I assume the eggs are 55g?
Caroline's Cooking says
So teaspoons are the same in all - around 5ml. I use US/UK measurements for tablespoons so 15ml (I know Aus is more). This uses large eggs which yes are around 55g or very slightly more. Enjoy!
Denay DeGuzman says
These gorgeous lemon and olive oil muffins are so delicious! Tender with the perfect texture. I only wish I had doubled the recipe. I'll be making more next week!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed - they are a favorite here too!