Do you Mandel?

I believe we've established that I like baked goods.. cookies, muffins, cakes... anything with chocolate. Today, I'm sharing Mandel Bread (Mandel Brot) with you. It's a traditional Jewish cookie that looks like biscotti but softer. Some recipes call for the cookie to be baked again after sliced but I like mine soft so no second bake for me. My recipe comes from our dear family friend, Nana Millie.


Mandel Bread
Recipe from Nana Millie

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup almonds, ground up or chopped into small pieces
1 6oz pkg chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and baking powder. In a small bowl, add the oil, egg and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredienets and stir by hand until incorporated. Fold in the almonds and chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 325°. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (or nonstick cookie sheet). Divide the batter into three or four pieces depending on how large you want the cookies to be. With well oiled hands, form each piece into a log pressing down so that the dough is about an inch in height. The logs should be placed along the width of the sheet, about 2-3 inches apart.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Let logs cool and then slice crosswise 1/2 to 1 inch slices.
Keep in airtight container at room temperature for up to a week-- ours never last the day though!