In my memories, there was always a plate of Mandel Bread at the Seder. Clearly not, as I could not find a recipe in the recipe box or online. So I made it up, based on my grandmother’s recipe. These are actually fantastic. If you would like to make these Mandel Bread (biscotti) completely gluten free, substitute an extra 2 cups of almond flour and 1 cup of potato starch for the matza cake meal.
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil, plus more for the pan
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 3 cups matza cake meal
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 cup potato starch
- pinch of kosher salt
- Preheat the oven to 350* and rub a little oil onto 2 baking sheets. Have extra baking sheets ready – no oil necessary.
- With a whisk in a large bowl, or in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix well.
- Slowly mix in the rest of the ingredients. The dough will be thick. Put the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to help set a bit.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and put 2 portions onto each oiled baking sheet. Using wet hands, shape each portion into a loaf, about 3 inches across. They will spread a bit, don’t worry.
- Bake the loaves until lightly golden, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, but leave the oven on. Let the loaves rest on the sheets for 5 minutes, then carefully move one loaf to a cutting board using a metal spatula. Cut the loaf on a bias, into 1/2 inch slices. The bigger the angle, the larger the Mandel bread will be.
- As the loaves are cut, move the slices to the ungreased baking sheets, and lay the slices down flat. You can use the original baking sheets, just wipe them down with a paper towel. Bake the slices for 10 minutes, then flip each slice and bake for 10 more minutes.
- Let the slices cool on the baking sheets. Eat them with some strong coffee, tea, or a shot of Slilovitz!