Ahh Passover baking. When you think of Passover desserts, you probably think of tasteless sponge cake or dense gluey flourless chocolate cakes. I actually found my way to a tasty, non-gluey Passover dessert a few years ago, chronicled on this very blog in fact: Walnut Tweed Cake. But it wasn't until I picked up Pearl's Passover at the library for my toddler that I tried making Passover-kosher cookies. He and I loved the book, which is chock-full of Passover crafts, recipes, songs, and stories, with sweet illustrations and a funny plot about Pearl and her annoying cousins. (Although I can't say I recommend the homemade matzoh recipe - I think the 2 POUNDS of flour it called for must have been a typo. Next year I'm going back to this recipe for our homemade matzoh.)
However, the mandelbrot recipe was a total hit. Since I only had 2/3 cup of matzoh cake meal left after making the aforementioned walnut cake for our seder with my in-laws, and not much chance of finding any here in WASPy small town Vermont, I had to divide the recipe, which was just as well since I only have one loaf pan anyway. Mandelbrot is Yiddish for almond bread, although a better translation would be biscotti, because that is what they resemble much more closely than bread. A little sweet, a little crumbly, a little crunchy, and a little tart (thanks to the cranberries), these little cookies are perfect with a cup of tea and milk on a cool spring day.
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
pinch of ground cinnamon
1/4 cup grapeseed or vegetable oil plus more for greasing pan
pinch of salt
2/3 cup Passover matzoh cake meal
1/4 teaspoon potato starch
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350, grease a loaf pan with a little bit of oil.
In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar together, then add vanilla and almond extracts, cinnamon, and oil and stir until well blended.
In a small bowl, whisk together matzo cake meal, potato starch, salt, and lemon zest.
Add dry ingredients to the egg-oil mixture, fold in almonds and cranberries.
Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Bake 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, turn heat up to 375. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove to rack to cool 15 minutes.
Cut loaf into 1/2" slices, place on cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes.
Makes 1 dozen kosher for Passover cookies - great with tea or coffee!
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