Marvelous Mandelbread

Before everybody in America was selling biscotti out of big glass jars, Jewish bakeries were selling mandel bread (or, in Yiddish, mandelbrot)—biscotti’s Eastern European cousin. Mandel means “almonds” in Yiddish, and these are loaded, not laced, but literally loaded with toasted almonds. They’re made with sweet butter, fresh eggs, lots of fresh orange and lemon zest, and scented with real vanilla. Just the aroma alone is enough to get us excited about the arrival of these traditional Jewish cookies.