Mandel bread is a classic Jewish cookie. Similar in form to Italian biscotti, mandel bread (also known as mandelbrot) is the perfect cookie for dunking in tea or coffee. This mandel bread recipe is kosher for Passover; it was shared with me by 104 year-old Mary Goldberg.
Passover is one of the most important Jewish holidays, a seven-day springtime festival commemorating the liberation of the Ancient Israelites from Egyptian enslavement. It also happens to be one of my favorite holidays because of the incredible food and family traditions it inspires.
A few years ago, thanks to my dear friend Jackie (aka The Beeroness), I had the privilege of meeting Holocaust survivor Michael Berkowits in his senior living complex. On that same visit, I was also introduced to another amazing woman– 104 year-old Mary Goldberg. Mary spoke with me about her long life, and also shared a tasty Passover recipe that I know you’ll love. But first, a little more about the woman behind the recipe.
Note: this post was originally written in 2012.
Me and Mary in her Southern California apartment.
About Mary Goldberg and her Passover Mandel Bread recipe
Mary Goldberg was born in England in 1908 with the maiden name is Mary Ziff. Her mother was English, her father Russian. Mary’s parents immigrated to America when she was 9 years old. They lived for a while in Chicago, then made their way west to California, where Mary has lived ever since.
Mary on her wedding day– she was 18 years old. Her husband, a Jewish man from Russia, was 23.
Mary married her husband at 18 years old and had three children. Her first daughter died of leukemia when she was quite young. Her son and daughter are still alive and well– her daughter is 77 years old, her son is 74. They all celebrate the holidays together here in Southern California. She also has a sister in Denver who is turning 98 soon.
Believe it or not, Mary still cooks from time to time– not much, but once in a while she’ll make chicken soup with matzo balls or kugel. “I was a good cook in my day,” she said. “Every Saturday, I used to bake a yellow cake and bring it down to the beauty shop.” She told me how her mom used to roast brisket in the oven– she remembers on the holidays eating gefilte fish and kugel. I asked Mary what her favorite Jewish food is. She said, “I don’t eat pork, or ham, or bacon. I do like herring, very much. My son brings it to me sometimes, I love it. I also like making noodle pudding– lokshen kugel.”
When we began talking about food, Mary pointed to the top of her refrigerator to a floral recipe box. We got it down and started sifting through it. Mary showed me some of her favorite recipes, including the recipe I’m about to share with you– Passover Mandel Bread. As we talked about the recipes, she handed me the box. “Take whichever cards you want,” she said. “I don’t cook much anymore. You enjoy them.” I can’t tell you how much this warmed my heart. I chose four cards from the many that were there, including the Passover Mandel Bread. I asked her if I could share her mandel bread recipe with my readers, and she said “Sure!”
Mary and her recipe card box.
History of Mandel Bread – Mandel Brot Cookies
Mandel bread is an Ashkenazi Jewish sweet cookie that dates back to the early nineteenth century. Mandel bread is closely related to the Italian cookies known as biscotti, which were first made in the Middle Ages. The word mandelbrot means almond (mandel) and bread (brot) in German– in Yiddish, the cookies are known as mandelbroit. In America, these tasty little cookies are known as mandel bread. Typically mandel bread are twice-baked, which makes them crunchy. They’re perfect for dipping in your tea or coffee. Because most of the moisture is baked out of them, they also have a fairly long shelf life.
Before meeting Mary, I had never made mandel bread for Passover. Mary’s recipe inspired me to try, with terrific results. Her mandel bread has a nice, tender texture– it’s on the softer side, even after the second baking cycle. It’s got a lovely hint of citrus flavor (I think it would be great with orange zest/juice too), and the nuts give it a nice crunch. What a great treat to have on hand for the week of Passover!
I asked Mary what her secret for longevity was. She shrugged and said, “Well, I don’t know. I like people. All the things that you see around me– the pictures– they’re all my children and grandchildren. I’m a lucky woman, I had good children. I live a good life.” Throughout our interview, she spoke with pride about her family.
After meeting with Mary for a short time, I think her secret is simple… she appreciates the love in her life, and the love of her family. When she says, “I like people,” she really means it. She’s a genuinely warm, friendly, and positive person, and she was very happy to share her story. Thank you Mary Goldberg!
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Mary Goldberg's Passover Mandel Bread
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup avocado oil
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup matzo cake meal
- 1/4 cup matzo meal
- 2 tablespoons potato starch
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 3/4 cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts)
NOTES
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together oil and 3/4 cup sugar. Beat in the eggs until well mixed.
- Whisk in lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt.
- Use a large spoon to stir in the matzo cake meal, matzo meal, and potato starch until a wet, sticky dough forms (the consistency should be half dough, half batter).
- Stir in the slivered almonds and chopped nuts.
- Cover the batter with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, up to 48 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment paper for easier cleanup.
- Lightly grease your hands with avocado oil or coconut oil. Use the dough to form 2 long, thick rows or rectangles on the baking sheet. Each row should be between 3 ½ - 4 inches wide. Make sure you leave at least 2 inches between the rows, as they will expand during baking.
- Bake mandelbrot for 30 minutes. Take mandelbrot out of the oven.
- Place the rows on a cutting board and let them cool for 10 minutes. Handle the rows carefully, they are delicate and prone to crumbling. Slice the rows into ½ inch wide biscotti-sized slices.
- Pour 1/4 cup of sugar into a shallow dish. Roll each cookie in sugar. Again, handle the slices somewhat carefully to make sure they don't crumble.
- Put the slices cut-side down back onto the cookie sheet, then bake for another 10-20 minutes, until firm with crisp edges. The longer they stay in the oven, the crisper they will become. Keep an eye on the texture and don’t over-bake, or the mandel bread will get overly dry.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a rack.Store in an airtight container. Mandel bread will last several days because most of the moisture is baked out of it. For a longer shelf life, wrap each individual cookie in foil, place in a sealed plastic bag, and freeze for up to three weeks.
- These are especially delicious when dunked in coffee or tea. Yum!
Nutrition
Hi Tori-
I’m making these now. I baked them for 30mins and they have been in the oven for the second round and after 10mins they are still soft. Did I do anything wrong? I am still going to keep them in for 10-15 mins and hopefully they harden more. I have been using so many of your recipes for years now. Thank you and hope you enjoyed your seders :))
Hi Michelle! I hope these eventually crisped up for you. Which kind of oil did you use?
Ordinarily your recipes are excellent, but this one needs adjustments. Using both slivered ( vs sliced) almonds & chopped walnuts was too much. Probably only 3/4 cup sliced almonds or chopped pecans would have been enough. They crumbled when cutting after the 10 minute rest. I also saw too much oil on the parchment when they initially came out of the oven at the 30 minute time. Coconut oil is semi solid and I melted it, assuming that. It might have been my mistake, only because another recipe I have from Martha Stewart uses liquid vegetable oil in her mandel brot recipe in her cookie cookbook. They baked crisp & tasted good.
Hi Sandra, thank you for the feedback. I usually use avocado oil here, which works great. The coconut oil was added as an alternative oil, because typically a 1-to-1 ratio of coconut oil works for almost all baked recipes. However, if you had trouble, I may need to revisit testing this with coconut oil. For now I will remove the coconut oil option. Appreciate the heads up!
Love to read your recipes & how you got them. Thank you xx
I have my grandparents wedding picture from 1926. My grandma wore a flapper dress too!
I made these because I had a sugar craving during Passover and subbed out all the lemon stuff for chocolate chips, and used 1.1/4 cups of matzoh meal (not matzoh cake meal) and they turned out really good! A little crumbly but probaby bc I didn’t have any cake meal on hand. Very easy to make. Seems like a very versatile passover recipe.
Tory, not sure if you know the answer to this, but I was wondering if I were to add dried cherries or crasins if I needed to add anything to make the consistency work, ie; add more matzah meal, matzah cake meal or starch? Or are these too delicate to add dried fruit and cut them successfully?
This is a delicious recipe. I made a few variations but it worked perfectly. I used Yehuda gluten free matzo meal and cake meal one-to-one for the regular matzo meal. I did add the extra egg. I used orange rind instead of lemon rind, and i used chocolate chips in place of the chopped nuts. I omitted the cinnamon sugar because I like things less sweet, but I did sprinkle a little cinnamon on them before the second baking. You would never know that they are gluten free.
Thank you for posting your gluten free variation! I’m sure it will be helpful to others.
Thank-you for posting the gluten free options which I will try this year. Looking forward to this gluten free version!!
Going to make your buttery hamintash tomorrow. The dough turned out well, in fridge. Making prune & apricot filling. Using some Nutella too. Can I bake an assortment on one tray. Any hints on storage or mailing before I start.
Yes you can bake various flavors on the same tray, as long as you use a thickened filling that won’t weep from the cookies. If you used my filling recipes you’ll be fine. I store them in a sealed tupperware container separated by layers of wax or parchment paper, and if I’m storing longer than a few days I refrigerate or freeze.
Only difference to our family’s is one egg and a pinch of nutmeg! Perfection. Thank you for the memory and the practicality. I agree with the many: what else did you get from “THE BOX.”
These are wonderful! I used 4 eggs instead of 3 as another baker recommended. I also rolled the mandel breads in cinnamon sugar instead of plain sugar. I’m not Jewish but wanted to make something special for our friends who are celebrating Passover. I’m sure that will love these wonderful breads!