Stella's mandel bread - Jen Hewett

By Jen / Thursday, January 21, 2010 / miscellaneousI had a rough day yesterday and all I could think on the bus ride home was, “The only remedy for today is mandel bread.”Now, this may sound strange coming from someone who is black and Filipina. Mandel bread (or mandelbrot) is a traditional, Ashkenazi Jewish cookie made with almonds (mandel), oil, sugar and eggs. Twice baked and not too sweet, it’s very similar to Italian biscotti. But my mom (who, incidentally, makes a delicious matzo ball soup) got the recipe from Sister Philippa, a nun at the neighborhood convent, tweaked the recipe a little bit, and made it all the time when I was a kid.I’ve only really appreciated mandel bread as an adult. My mom makes it with walnuts (which, I suppose, makes her version nussbrot rather than mandelbrot) – and since I was (and still am) deathly allergic to walnuts, I had to steer clear of the cookies.But now that I’m a grown-up, I can make it with almonds. There’s something incredibly satisfying an...