A financier is a small French tea cake that is a delightful treat perfect for any occasion. Whether you serve these financiers with your morning coffee, afternoon tea, or as a dessert, they will disappear quickly. They are so light, moist, and nutty that everyone will be in love after their first bite. Wonderfully crisp on the outside with a tender, buttery interior, this financier recipe will melt in your mouth.
Despite how fancy they sound, financier batter comes together quickly and easily, so they are perfect for last-minute entertaining. Traditionally made in small, rectangular molds, you do not need a financier pan to make this recipe. All you need for the financier pan is a simple mini muffin pan. Want another treat perfect for an afternoon tea? Try my English tea sandwiches, petit fours recipe, or English scones.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Butter — brown butter is liquid gold! It adds so much deep, nutty flavor to this financiers recipe. You do not want to skip making the brown butter with the butter. I recommend sticking with unsalted butter as you do not want the financiers to be salty.
Almond flour — almond flour adds a delicious nutty flavor and adds a soft, light texture. If you do not have almond flour, you can use a high-powered blender or food processor, and blitz blanched almonds until they are the same texture as flour.
Egg — this recipe only uses egg whites as they add lightness to the financier. Don’t toss the egg yolks, though! Save them for my crème brûlée recipe or lemon curd recipe.
Vanilla extract — I recommend using real vanilla extract and not artificial extract for this financier recipe. If you haven’t already, try my homemade vanilla extract recipe.
How to Make Financiers
1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter is boiling and turns golden brown and smells nutty, for about 8 minutes. Pour into a bowl and cool for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the wells of a mini muffin pan by brushing them lightly with softened butter.
3. Sift together powdered sugar, almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the egg whites, vanilla, and cooled browned butter to the dry ingredients. Whisk together until just combined.
5. Divide the batter among the greased muffin pan cups. I like to place the batter in a piping bag to fill the muffin pans with ease.
6. Place any toppings of your choice and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the financiers comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Want a touch of extract flavor in you financiers? Add ¼ teaspoon of almond, lemon, or orange extract with the vanilla.
- Do not discard the dark bits in your browned butter. That is where the flavor is! Make sure to use all of the browned butter.
- Keep a close eye on the financiers near the end, as overbaking is a common mistake that leads to a dry financier.
- It is easier to separate egg whites from egg yolks when they’re cold because the yolk is firmer and less likely to break. Try to do this in advance so your egg whites can come down to room temperature before using.
- I highly recommend using a scale to measure your almond flour and all-purpose flour as it’s the most accurate method. If you don’t have a scale, fluff your flour with a spoon and then spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife. This method prevents you from overpacking the measuring cup.
- You can mix some lemon or orange zest into the batter for a brighter flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What other toppings can I add?
You can add any nut or fruit to the top of the financier batter before baking! Try hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, figs, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, or citrus zest.
Can I prepare this ahead of time?
You can prepare the financier batter and store it in an airtight container up to a week ahead of time. That way you can make a fresh batch daily if you choose to!
How do I store leftovers?
It’s best to enjoy financiers when freshly baked, but they’ll keep well for up to two days in an airtight container at room temperature before you start losing the crisp exterior. It will still be delicious for up to a week, but the texture will not be the same as a freshly baked financier.
Can I freeze this recipe?
You can freeze financiers for up to 2 months, but the texture becomes softer as they thaw so I don’t recommend it. Freeze them in a freezer-safe bag for up to a month and bring them to room temperature before serving.
Can I make this without almond flour?
If you do not have almond flour, you can swap it for pecan flour, pistachio flour, or hazelnut flour. If you prefer not to use nut flour, you can use all-purpose flour, but you lose some of the classic nutty flavor.
What is the difference between this and madeleines?
Both are classic French tea cakes, but they use different ingredients. A financier recipe uses egg whites with no leavening agent such as baking powder, whereas a madeleines recipe uses the entire egg and baking powder. Madeleines also require a madeleines pan.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Financier recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Financier
Equipment
- Mini-muffin pan
- mixing bowl
- Piping bag (optional)
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter (113g)
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar (150g)
- 1 ¼ cups almond flour (125g)
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour (45g)
- pinch of Salt
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the butter in a small saucepan. Melt over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter is boiling and turns golden brown and smells nutty, about 8 minutes. Pour into a bowl and cool for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the wells of a mini muffin pan by brushing them lightly with softened butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt. Add the egg whites, vanilla, and cooled browned butter. Whisk together until just combined. (The batter will be thick.)
- Divide the batter among the greased muffin pan cups. (I like to place the batter in a piping bag for easy filling!) They will be about three-quarters.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Want a touch of extract flavor? Add ¼ teaspoon of almond, lemon, or orange extract with the vanilla.
- Do not discard the dark bits in your browned butter. That is where the flavor is! Make sure to use all of the browned butter.
- Keep a close eye on the financiers near the end, as overbaking is a common mistake that leads to a dry financier.
- It is easier to separate egg whites from egg yolks when they’re cold because the yolk is firmer and less likely to break. Try to do this in advance so your egg whites can come down to room temperature before using.
- I highly recommend using a scale to measure your almond flour and all-purpose flour as it’s the most accurate method. If you don’t have a scale, fluff your flour with a spoon and then spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife. This method prevents you from overpacking the measuring cup.
- You can mix some lemon or orange zest into the batter for a brighter flavor.
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