Growing up Jewish meant my family loved to cook and bake, passing recipes down from generation to generation. My grandma and mom make some of the best food, and I will argue you on that, but the fan favorite was always my grandma's mandel bread.
(peep me and my grandma making a batch together)
So What is Mandel Bread Anyways?
The best way to describe this sweet treat would be that it's similar to a biscotti. The ones that my grandma made were baked with cinnamon and chocolate chips: the ultimate sweet treat. It starts out similar to a chocolate chip cookie, but the process of making the dough is different, so that the texture is harder and crunchier than a soft and chewy basic chocolate chip cookie.
Recipe (Adapted from My Grandma's Recipe)
My grandma has been making a batch a day every day for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even read off a recipe anymore. It's more of a pinch here and a dash there, but somehow she manages to make it taste the same every time. This is a loose interpretation of her basic mandel bread.
INGREDIENTS
2 eggs
3/4 to 1 cup of oil
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
one 12 ounce package chocolate chips
cinnamon and sugar (to garnish)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°
Mix eggs and oil together with a whisk, add sugar and mix again with a whisk.
Put the rest of the ingredients into a bowl. Spray hands with Pam and knead.
Cover and put in refrigerator for one hour. Using two cookie sheets, make 2 long loaves (flat and thin) on each sheet (do not grease cookie sheets). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on your oven.
As soon as you take the Mandel bread out of the oven, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Leave out of the oven for 5 minutes, then slice and turn each piece on its side and put back in the oven for 6 more minutes.
Wait for it to cool and enjoy. Either eat fresh or put it in the freezer and defrost right before you want to enjoy.
Either eat it plain, or try something new like dipping it in chocolate or coating it with rainbow sprinkles, or my personal favorite: eating a cookie with ice cream.