Mandelbrot Musings

By Bonnie Fishman / San Francisco Bay Area

Bonnie and her sisters Marcia and Nancy having a mandelbrot bake off

If there ever were a classic nosh in the Jewish home, it would have to be mandelbrot (mandel bread).  Not quite a cookie, it resembles the Italian biscotti–an elongated shape, not too sweet, twice-baked, and studded with nuts, dried fruit or chocolate chips. What could be bad? In my home and my sisters’ homes here at the Fishman Family Compound, we are never “mandelbrot-less.” A cookie jar, a domed cake plate, or the freezer are usually stocked with this delicacy. If someone stops by for a coffee, we are prepared.

The literal translation of mandelbrot is almond bread, though nowadays, different nuts are considered interchangeable with almonds. It all comes down to personal preference or baking with varying family recipes passed down through the generations.

Passing down the recipe to the grandchildren: Emet, Bonnie’s grandson, and Emma, Nancy's granddaughter

In our family home when I was growing up, my mom always had a cookie jar stocked with various flavors of mandelbrot. Her standard was walnuts. Sometimes she would add raisins or chocolate chips. Many bakers choose almonds or pecans as their nut of choice. But there is one technique that I’ve never seen since my childhood, that is a two-toned cookie with vanilla on the bottom and chocolate dough on top. Gee, I might have to try that sometime!

A sweet memory of mine was when I was about six years old. I shared my bedroom with my little sister, Cindy, who was three at the time. After lights out, I would encourage Cindy to raid the cookie jar for mandelbrot. In her snuggly yellow-footed pajamas, she’d crawl down the hall to the kitchen, carefully lift up the cookie jar lid, snatch a couple of treats, and run back to bed, sharing her bounty with me.  Our dad could hear the ceramic lid hitting the jar.  “Who’s that in the kitchen?!” Soon we’d hear big strides down the hall; while Cindy and I pretended to be asleep. Dad must of gotten a laugh out of these escapades.

Mandelbrot became popular in Eastern Europe among Ashkenazi Jews in the 19th century. It is an adaption of Italian biscotti, developed in the Middle Ages. What these both have in common is that they are baked twice–once to thoroughly bake the cookie. Then they are sliced and put back in the oven, usually at a lower temperature, to dry out and become crisp. The drying out has its purpose: cookies keep for a longer period of time with less moisture.

One other difference between mandelbrot and biscotti is that biscotti are usually made without fat. The recipes I use do not add butter or oil. Mandelbrot has a considerable amount of oil. Using oil instead of butter makes the cookie “parve,” meaning it can be eaten with either dairy or meat by those who keep a kosher diet. However, I’ve known a couple of people who always used butter. One of them was my mother-in-law, Blanche Ketai. I have to say, the addition of butter did make for a richer taste!

The other person is my longtime high school friend, Andi Sklar, who lives in West Bloomfield Mich. Her mandelbrot is unlike most that I’ve seen or eaten. I’ve been known to sit by a plate of Andi’s mandelbrot, and down more than a few in one sitting!

Andi Sklar of West Bloomfield, Mich. with a basket of her mandelbrot

Not only does Andi use butter, but her technique for baking sets it apart from the one-inch thick traditional pieces. Andi puts her dough in a loaf pan to bake. After it cools and is refrigerated, she slices it very thin, almost like a melba toast square. She bakes them until they are crisp. I asked Andi if her recipe was passed down through her grandmother and then her mother. Actually, she got her “secret” recipe from her friend’s mother. It’s a generational thing if nothing else.

My sisters, Nancy and Marcia, and I decided to have a mandelbrot bake off. Why? We all use our mom’s recipe, but we end up with three different outcomes. We wanted to get to the bottom of why this was happening.

So, one day this fall, we gathered around Marcia’s kitchen island with our ingredients and equipment in hand. We discussed the process among ourselves while we were going through the steps to see who was doing what and how it might differ from the others. We learned that even though we have the same recipe, there has been a bit of deviation. I double the amount of vanilla, Marcia adds a teaspoon of cinnamon to the dough, and Nancy sticks with the original.

When mixing the ingredients, Marcia used her hands, while and Nancy and I used a wooden spoon. When it was time to shape the dough, both Nancy and Marcia shaped the logs into a narrower and thicker form. Mine were broader and flatter. The end result was that theirs were doughier in the middle while mine were drier. I liked theirs better!

At the end of the process, I sprinkled the finished logs with cinnamon and sugar before the mandelbrot went into the oven. My sisters sprinkled them after it was out of the oven  and before it was baked the second time. They have now adopted my technique.

After the baking was done, we invited the husbands to be our taste testers, to see which was the best batch. They were useless because they loved them all!

Mandelbrot is an easy gift to give. Here it is presented in gift baskets

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Mandelbrot    

  Yield:  2 logs (@ 32-36 pieces)

A mountain of mandelbrot 

4 eggs

1/2 c. vegetable oil

3/4 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

3 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2-2/3 c. ground walnuts

1/2-2/3 c. mini chocolate chips

cinnamon sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a large bowl, blend eggs and sugar together.  Whisk in the oil and vanilla.  Using a wooden spoon or your hands coated with oilblend in the flour and baking powder. Gather dough together. Divide the mixture into 2 bowls.  Fold the nuts into one bowl and the chocolate chips into the other.

Form each dough into a 16” x 2” wide log.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Flatten slightly to a 3” width.  Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar.  Bake until set, about 25 minutes.  Slice each log into 12-16 pieces. Separate the pieces a bit so air can circulate.  Reduce oven temperature to 300°.  Bake more until dried out a little, about 10-15 minutes.

Whisk eggs and sugar together in a large bowl.

Measure the flour carefully using a knife for leveling.

Mix the dough with your hands.

Form the logs.

Flatten the logs for a drier mandelbrot.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar before baking.

Slice into 3/4” to 1” pieces.

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Bonnie Fishman attended the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London. Later, she owned and operated Bonnie’s Patisserie in Southfield, Mich. and Bonnie’s Kitchen and Catering in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. She has taught cooking for over 35 years and created hundreds of recipes. She is now living in Northern California.