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Learn how to make this twice-baked Jewish chocolate almond Mandel bread drizzled with chocolate. This chocolate almond Mandel bread is a must-try!
What is Mandel bread?
Mandel bread is a traditional Jewish Ashkenazi holiday cookie. Mandel means almond and brot means bread in German and Yiddish. You may think that mandel bread is a biscotti at a glance. Well, they look like biscotti. They can be baked until crispy and crunchy like biscotti OR bake them not as long and you get a softer more bread-like texture. I honestly like them either way. Mandel bread tastes richer to me compared to Italian biscotti.
Why you’ll like this recipe
1. Easy
This recipe is very easy to put together. You do need a hand mixer to briefly mix the wet ingredients
2. No need for overnight chilling
The dough can be baked straight away and does not require overnight chilling as most recipes do
3. Intense chocolate flavor
Not only do you get the intense chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder and instant coffee, there are also chunks of chocolate pieces and chunks of almonds in the cookies. So good!
How to make chocolate almond mandel bread
1. Dissolve instant espresso powder in hot water. Set aside to let it cool down a bit
2. Whisk all the dry ingredients together to combine. Combine dark brown sugar, sugar, oil, vanilla extract, egg yolk, egg white, and espresso in a bowl using a hand mixer on high speed until light, about 5 minutes . Add the instant espresso and whisk to combine
3. Sift in the dry ingredient and fold all ingredients together using a sturdy spatula until they are well-combined and you don’t see any pockets or dry bits of flour. Fold in the chopped almond and chopped chocolate
4. The dough is actually going to be a paste-like consistency. Wet and sticky. 
5. Use a spatula and scoop half of the dough onto a baking sheet you have lined up with parchment paper. Use a spatula to help you shape it to about 12-14 inches in length and about 2-2 1/2 inches wide. It’s not going to be a perfect rectangular, but no worries there
6. Place the baking sheets at the position racks and bake for 20 minutes and rotate the pan halfway through baking, top to bottom, front to back if you bake two trays (double recipe). The bread should be firm to touch at the end of baking, if not, bake a bit longer. Remove from the oven and let them cool down for 5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 250 F (120 C) for a conventional oven. For a convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F or 15 C
7. Let the bread cool down for 5 minutes. Slice the bread at a diagonal with a knife into 3/4-inch thick slices. You may roughly get about 9 full pieces on each dough
8. If you prefer a “soft-baked” texture, you can skip the second baking and go straight to “cooling” step. Turn those slices on their sides and bake for another 10-12 minutes. If you like them crispier, bake them a bit longer. Please note that they do crisp up further as they cool down. So you don’t want to bake them too long either
9. Let the bread cool down completely on a cooling rack. Put chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at a 30 seconds interval until you see there are still a few chips that almost melted but not quite. Continue stirring the chocolate will melt. Drizzle the bread with melted chocolate. Let the chocolate set and then store them in an air-tight container for 2 weeks. They were gone in one day at our house LOL!
How to store mandel bread
1. Let them cool down completely on a cooling rack and keep them in an air-tight container for about a week
2. They can be kept frozen too. Simply wrap them up, about 4-5 pieces per batch, in cling wrap and then put them inside a freezer bag, push all the air out and seal the bag. Keep for about one month for the best result
Did you make this chocolate almond mandel bread recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag it to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Jewish Chocolate Almond Mandel Bread (Mandelbrot)
Ingredients
- ¾ tsp instant epresso powder
- 1 tsp hot water
Dry ingredients:
- 80 gr all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 16 gr cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
Wet ingredients:
- ⅓ tsp vanilla extract
- 57 gr dark brown sugar
- 25 gr sugar
- 30 gr oil
- 50 gr egg from one medium-size egg
Add ons:
- 60 gr almond chopped
- 43 gr bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao) chopped
For decorating:
- 57 gr bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao) chopped
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven. If you have a convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F or 15 C. Position one of the oven rack 3rd from the top and the other one 3rd from the bottom if you are going to bake two trays at the same time. Otherwise, just position one rack in the middle of the oven if you only bake one tray
- Line one baking sheet with a parchment paper. If you double the recipe, line two baking sheets or if you have a full-size baking sheet (18 x 26 inches), you only need one
- Dissolve instant espresso powder in hot water. Set aside to let it cool down a bit
- Whisk all the dry ingredients together to combine
- Combine dark brown sugar, sugar, oil, vanilla extract, egg yolk, egg white, and espresso in a bowl using a hand mixer on high speed until light, about 5 minutes . Add the instant espresso and whisk to combine. Sift in the dry ingredient and fold all ingredients together using a sturdy spatula until they are well-combined and you don't see any pockets or dry bits of flour. Fold in the chopped almond and chopped chocolate
- The dough is actually going to be a paste-like consistency. Wet and sticky. Use a spatula and scoop half of the dough onto a baking sheet you have lined up with parchment paper. Use a spatula to help you shape it to about 12-14 inches in length and about 2-2 1/2 inches wide. It's not going to be a perfect rectangular, but no worries there
First baking:
- Place the baking sheets at the position racks and bake for 20 minutes and rotate the pan halfway through baking, top to bottom, front to back if you bake two trays. The bread should be firm to touch at the end of baking, if not, bake a bit longer
- Remove from the oven and let them cool down for 5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 250 F (120 C) for a conventional oven. For a convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F or 15 C
- Slice the bread at a diagonal with a knife into 3/4-inch thick slices. You may roughly get about 9 whole pieces and 2 smaller end pieces
- If you prefer a "soft-baked" texture, you can skip the second baking and go straight to "cooling" step
Second baking:
- Turn those slices on their sides and bake for another 10-12 minutes. Please note that they do crisp up further as they cool down. So you don't want to bake them too long either
Cooling:
- Let the bread cool down completely on a cooling rack and they will crisp up further
Decorate (optional):
- Put chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at a 30 seconds interval until you see there are still few chips that almost melted but not quite. Continue stirring the the chocolate will melt
- Drizzle the bread with melted chocolate. Let the chocolate set and then store them in an air-tight container for 2 weeks. They were gone in one day at our house LOL!