• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly toasted. I give the sheet a shake halfway through.
• Allow to cool for a couple minutes, then add the nuts to the bowl of a small food processor. Pulse until the the nuts are finely ground, but still have texture. Set aside.
• Next, brown the butter by placing in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan a few times, until the milk solids start to caramelize and turn brown. This will take a few minutes. Take care to remove the pan from the heat as soon as you start to notice the butter browning, as it can burn quickly.
• Set the butter aside to cool.
• In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and 2/3 cup ground hazelnuts. (Reserve the remaining 1/3 cup for decorating the finished madeleines)
• In a separate, small bowl, whisk together the eggs until smooth. Add the eggs to the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
• Pour the melted butter into the batter, a little at a time. (If you pour it all at once it will be difficult to mix everything together. I did it in about 3 stages.) Fold everything together until just combined, don't over mix. The mixture should be fairly thick and shiny. The batter will continue to thicken as it chills.
• Cover the batter and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 400F. Butter or oil you madeleine pans. This recipe makes 32 madeleines, so you can use two standard madeleine pans, or bake 2 separate batches. (Keep the remaining batter in the fridge while the first batch bakes.)
• Divide the batter into the wells of your madeleine pans. You want about 1 tablespoon of batter in each well - they should look about 2/3-3/4 full.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes until risen and golden. These small cakes can burn quickly, so keep an eye on them and don't over-bake.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool just for a minute or two in the pan. Then, carefully remove them to a baking rack to cool completely.

to dip your madeleines

• Melt your chocolate for a minute on high in the microwave and then stir. If necessary microwave further using short 15 second bursts. I used Ghiradelli chocolate melting wafers. It helps to melt your chocolate in a container that is deeper than it is wide - something like a microwave safe glass measuring cup is ideal.
• Set a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet or a baking rack. Carefully dip each madeleine about halfway into the melted chocolate, at an angle if you'd like. Place the madeleines on the parchment paper, and sprinkle with a little bit of the reserved ground hazelnuts.
• Allow the chocolate to harden and enjoy immediately! Madeleines are best enjoyed the day they are made, but will keep a few days in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.