Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest to a mixing bowl and whisk until fully combined.

Melt the butter. Melt the vegan butter over low heat. Once melted, remove it from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Note: the butter should not be hot when you incorporate it into the batter. Otherwise, it will activate the baking powder, and your madeleines won’t rise well during baking.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Pour the plant-based milk, melted vegan butter, and vanilla extract into the mixing bowl.

Mix until combined. Using a wooden spoon, mix until the batter is smooth and no lumps remain.

Let it rest. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Let the batter rest overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Grease a madeleine pan. Start by greasing a madeleine pan using a cube of vegan butter. Greasing with butter is much more effective than greasing with oil in my opinion. Madeleines never stick!

Fill the pan. Next, fill each cavity to ⅘ with the batter. The batter will be quite firm. This is completely normal.

Chill the pan. Once you have filled all of the cavities, transfer the pan to the freezer and freeze for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 400 °F (200°C).

Bake. Finally, transfer the madeleine pan to the oven and bake for 6 minutes. Then, turn down the heat to 350 °F (175°C) and bake for another 6-8 minutes or until the madeleines are golden brown. Let them cool completely before removing them from the pan.

The madeleines can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.