Green Tea Madeleines

[mad-LEHN] The madeleine is a small, buttery sponge cake that's eaten as a cookie, often dipped in coffee or tea. These feather-light cakes are baked in a special madeleine pan with indentations that resemble an elongated scallop shell. Madeleines are best eaten fresh from the oven, while the inside is moist and warm and the exterior exquisitely crisp! (Food Lover's Companion Fourth Edition)

The recipe below is adapted from Martha Stewart Living Number 214 September 2011.
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield: 80 mini madeleines

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ground green tea*
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon packed light-brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

* Grind 1/4 cup of high quality jasmine green tea in a spice grinder until powdery. I don't have a spice grinder so I cut open a few tea bags and figured they were close enough....HOWEVER, the taste of the tea was hardly noticeable. If I were you, or if I were to try this again, I might invest in a spice grinder OR cut open a lot more tea bags.

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Sift flour mixture over top in 2 additions, folding in after each addition. Fold in melted butter in 2 additions, then honey and vanilla. BE PATIENT! FOLD GENTLY! The key to airy madeleines is to keep the fluffiness of the batter. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Let batter stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Generously butter  mini nonstick madeleine pans using a pastry brush. I saved the bowl that had melted butter stuck to its sides to butter my pan.
4. Transfer batter to a pastry bag (or Ziploc/sandwich bag with a small hole cut in a corner), and snip tip to create a 1/4-inch opening. Pipe some batter into molds, filling each about 3/4 full. OR use a small spoon and small spatula and carefully nudge a little batter into each mold. Bake on middle rack until pale gold, 6-8 minutes. I left mine in for too long (10 minutes?), it didn't look done but the other side was definitely browner. If you're using non-stick pan, I recommend sticking closer to the 6-8 minutes. Immediately shake madeleines out. Wash and re-butter molds. Repeat with remaining batter. 
5. Dust with confectioners' sugar prior to serving for extra credit. Best to be enjoyed the same day but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days (but I doubt you'll have them sitting around that long!). If you don't use all the batter, it can be refrigerated for up to 2 days (I only did one batch for a test run - now I have lots of batter for lots of cookies for the next couple days!).