What do you make when you want something a little different than a regular cookie, but still sweet and chocolatey? You make Mandel bread. This is basically a twice-baked cookie that results in something crunchy and sweet in a perfect cookie size.
Mandel bread is a traditional Jewish cookie that you can vary by adding different nuts, more or less chocolate, making it cocoa, dipping in chocolate, or drizzling with chocolate.
For this variation, I used dried cranberries and chocolate chips.
I had never made Mandel bread (also called biscotti) before, and the instructions are very simple with a short ingredient list too. It’s a little fun-messy when you roll and knead by hand too.
Cran-Chocolate Mandel Bread
Ingredients:
(makes 30 cookies)
- 2.5 C all-purpose flour
- 1 C sugar
- 1/2 C chocolate chips
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 C dried cranberries
- 2 T water (add as needed)
- 1 egg beaten with a little warm water for egg wash
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325*.
- Combine dry ingredients and mix well with wooden spoon.
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix with hands to create a soft dough. I added about 2 T water because the dough was very dry and sticky still.
- Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth.
- Divide dough in half and form each half into a long log, about 10 by 2 inches.
- Flatten log and place on lined baking sheet (I lined with a Silpat)
- Brush with egg wash.
If you want a longer biscotti, when you roll it on the baking sheet, make it a little more spread out through the body when flattening the log.
This was a nice crunchy treat for dessert, but could also be a nice tea-time cookie, if you do tea-time, also known as “good for a snack or breakfast.”
I’ll vouch for the mandel bread, since I sampled more than one over the weekend while visiting Marci, Jeffrey, and Lily. Too bad Lay’s Potato Chips took the slogan “Bet you can eat just one” years ago because Marci’s Mandel Bread is irresistible.