Can you believe that Rosh Hashanah is less than two weeks away?! Every year, I promise myself that I’ll start early with planning/cooking/cleaning, so it’s not a last minute nightmare (sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don’t, but it’s always the goal).
Because dessert is a huge part of the holiday meal, I love to bake something yummy. One of our family favorites is mandelbrot. For those who’ve never tried them, mandelbrot is a twice-baked cookie that’s similar to biscotti. They’re tasty, crunchy, and seem to be loved by all who try them. The recipe is somewhat fussy, so I reserve it for special occasions only, but when I have the time/inclination, I’m always impressed with the finished result.
Mandelbrot comes in many varieties, but my two favorites are orange or chocolate. Whichever way you choose to prepare them, start with this basic dough:
- 4 cups white flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 TSP baking powder
- 1 TSP salt
- 1 TSP vanilla
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
Place flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into an electric mixer to combine, then add eggs, oil and vanilla. At this point, you will have a plain dough. You may stop here or it can have additions.
To make orange Mandelbrot:
Use 1/2 cup of orange juice plus 1 TBS of orange zest.
To make chocolate Mandelbrot:
Add 1 cup of chocolate chips, preferably mini.
The dough should now be refrigerated, for at least an hour or up to overnight. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350. Remove the chilled dough from the bowl and separate into thirds. Roll out on a floured surface (each roll will be approximately 12 inches long).
Place the 3 rolls on a nonstick cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut into semi-circle shaped cookies using a serrated knife. Lay each piece flat and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. When done, cool completely on a wire rack.
These can be served fresh, and they also freeze very well, so if you start now, it’s one less thing to worry about.
Are you baking for Rosh Hashanah? I’d love hear about it!
My aunt used to make Mandelbrot dipped in chocolate. I think she used a vanilla dough like yours as the base, but it had nuts inside too? She made Aliyah and we don’t see her anymore, BOO! Either way, it was awesome, but way too much for me to tackle. I work full time, so we buy at the bakery.
Chocolate dipped are wonderful, but it’s just one more step and I try to simplify. I have put chopped nuts in the dough before and that’s another addition that would work. Great ideas!