Chocolate Chip Mandel Bread a.k.a. The Jewish Biscotti

When I had the desire to conquer a baked good I had always wanted to try but could never find the perfect recipe for, my friend Sharon came to the rescue. The recipe was for mandel bread, a Jewish cookie similar to an Italian biscotti. Unlike a biscotti, mandel bread has a texture similar to a regular cookie, while still maintaining the crunch of a biscotti.

Sharon passed along her mom's recipe for chocolate chip mandel bread and I was excited to take on the new baking challenge. The recipe itself is very simple, requiring the most basic of baking ingredients. The real work comes with molding the dough into logs and cutting them into perfect slices. These delicious cookies were a hit at the office and I couldn't resist the huge chunks of chocolate chips! Feel free to add your own variation to the mandel bread with different types of chips, toffee pieces or even dip the ends in melted chocolate. Enjoy the step-by-step photos and recipe below!

Mandel Bread ingredients

Add eggs, oil, sugar and oil to bowl

Beat mixture until light in color

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt

Slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture stirring until incorporated

Add your chocolate chips and mix into dough

Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 3 hours

Take out one piece of dough and form into 2 logs on a cookie sheet. Bake 25 mins. at 350

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reduce heat to 300 degrees and slice logs into 3/4 inch diagonal pieces

Place cookies upright on cookie sheet, sprinkle with sugar and/or cinnamon and bake 20 mins

Remove cookies and allow to cool

Enjoy with coffee or a giant glass of milk!

Look at that chocolatey goodness!

Chocolate Chip Mandel Bread

Ingredients:

 

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

 

 

 

Place eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat for several minutes until light in color.

 

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt together with a fork. Add this dry mixture to the egg mixture and stir together just until incorporated.  

 

Stir in your chocolate chips.  Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Take one piece of the dough from the refrigerator and divide in half.  On a lightly greased cookie sheet form each piece of dough  into an 8 by 3 inch log. If you have trouble molding the dough, wet your hands slightly to form the logs. Place both logs onto one cookie sheet.  Repeat with the other piece of dough from the refrigerator and place on another cookie sheet. Bake all four logs for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. 

 

Reduce oven to 300 degrees.  Remove cookie logs from baking sheets and cut diagonally into about 3/4 inch slices. Feel free to sprinkle cookies with sugar, cinnamon, or a mixture of both. Place sliced cookies upright on baking sheets and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Watch carefully so cookies do not get too brown. Enjoy!

 

Makes about 3 dozen 3/4 inch cookies.