Honey Cake Biscotti/Mandel Bread with Chocolate Chips


Full disclosure, I spent more time trying to figure out the title for this post than I did baking the actual cookies! In the end, all I know is this Honey Cake Biscotti Mandel Bread with chocolate chips is super delicious!

I first saw this recipe in Paula Shoyer’s cookbook The Holiday Kosher Baker, and knew I had to try it. Paula calls them honey cake biscotti but after I tasted them, I felt the texture was really more like mandel bread. Just a quick mandel vs. biscotti clarification…  While most people are familiar with the more popular and sexy Italian biscotti made in a myriad of flavors which are crisp and dunked in coffee, the mandel is a traditional Jewish cookie and something your bubbe (a Jewish grandmother) enjoys with a glass of tea and bakes enough to share with everyone she knows – and I mean everyone! When you look at them side by side, they resemble each other and taste similar. The main difference is mandel is usually a little softer than, and not as dry as biscotti because it contains more oil. Biscotti are always twice baked whereas mandel can be sliced and served as a softer cookie or twice baked.
With the holidays quickly approaching, I’ve been spending time trying new recipes to share with family and friends (just like the bubbe!). I’m lucky to have a nice support system of taste testers! When I sent some to my son last week he said “I don’t know how you did it, but you somehow managed to make mandel bread taste just like honey cake.” I told him I couldn’t take all of the credit for that but thanked him just the same. I am really glad I tried this one; it’s a winner. They really taste like honey cake, it’s amazing! Thank you Paula Shoyer!

The original recipe calls for shaping them and baking them right away. I found the dough too loose so I put it in the refrigerator for an hour. This is how I prepare my mom’s recipe so I’m sure it’s just second nature for me to do it that way. You can also leave the dough in the bowl and place it in the fridge, then mold it into logs after you take it out. If it seems firm enough for you to skip the refrigerator, go for it and get it in the oven.


When baking with honey, here is a good tip… A trick to help the honey slide out of the measuring cup is to measure the oil first. Then when you put the honey in, it won’t stick to the glass. I love this trick! This is also good when using molasses, corn syrup or any other sticky liquid.

My mother’s mandel recipe has chocolate chips added, so I figured why not try adding chocolate chips in these – it was a good decision! Honey and chocolate are a nice marriage. You could also add white raisins and walnuts which are equally as delicious or leave them plain. This recipe is a great start to a sweet new year! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon*
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I like to grate it fresh)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 extra large eggs (at room temperature)
½ cup extra light extra light olive oil
½ cup honey
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup warm coffee (regular or decaf)
½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top

Optional version: You can also make this with raisins and walnuts by using ½ cup white or black raisins and ½ cup chopped walnuts or make them plain. This recipe is adapted from Paula Shoyer’s Honey Cake Biscotti recipe.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and sift together. In another bowl add the oil, honey, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla, coffee and whisk together well. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix gently to incorporate. If using chips or other addition, add in at this time.

Divide the dough in half and shape it into a rectangular log about 10 to 12 inches long by 4 inches wide. I placed mine in plastic wrap which helped to mold them and put them in the fridge for an hour.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Once the dough is chilled, place on the cookie sheet leaving 2 to 3 inches in between the loaves. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until the loaves are set and a little browned on the bottom. Slide the parchment onto a cooling rack and let sit for 5 minutes. Place back on the cookie sheet and slice to the thickness you like. I like a thinner cookie so I sliced mine ½” but you could easily make them ¾ – 1” if you want them thicker like biscotti. If you want a softer mandel, don’t double bake them. If you want them crunchy, bake them a second time. Lower the temperature of the oven to 300. Place the cookies cut side down. Bake for 8 minutes take them out and turn them and bake them another 5 – 8 minutes until crisp. Let the cookies cool on the pan. Store them in an airtight container for up to five days or freeze for up to three months.

This recipe yields 30 to 40 pieces depending on the size you slice them.

*I first tried Vietnamese cinnamon at my mother-in-law’s house several years ago and have never used another cinnamon since! It is strong, rich and sweet, just the way cinnamon should taste. It has a higher oil content helping it disperse more thoroughly in baked goods. If you love the taste of cinnamon, you must try it! It’s a little more expensive than what you are currently buying, but well worth the money and a little goes a long way. I find it at spice shops, Sur La Table, and  specialty groceries. Here is a link to purchasing it online.  http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/vietnamese-cinnamon-3-oz

Brownie Biscotti

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My oldest son came home from college on Friday and I had anticipated baking for his arrival. I like everything to be fresh baked; I’m not a bake and freeze it kind of girl. Sometimes that doesn’t always work out in my favor. With baseball season still going on, I was very limited in time for baking so I ended up picking up some of his favorite ice cream to say welcome home! He didn’t mind and we planned to bake together over the weekend.

Last night I made a plan before I went to sleep so that this morning I could bake early and so that I would have time to exercise and then get on with the day. I woke up and baked 2 banana breads (check out that recipe on my site) which came out delicious, but then felt like I needed something chocolate. Originally I was going to make my mother’s mandel brodt (Jewish biscotti) recipe which he loves but I wanted to try something new. I came across this recipe a couple of weeks ago in Susie Fishbein’s cookbook Kosher by Design Teens and 20-Somethings. If you haven’t read any of her cookbooks, you must. Whether you keep kosher or not, they are absolutely beautiful and her recipes are easy, and always a crowd pleaser. I just ordered her book entitled Cooking Coach and can’t wait till it arrives! I have a girlfriend that cooks a lot of her recipes and I’m lucky enough to enjoy them when she does! Anyway, her title was chocolate chocolate chip sticks. She said they are a cross between a brownie and biscotti. My son described it by saying the outside was like a biscotti and the inside like a brownie, pretty much a win-win!. Since I changed some ingredients, I also changed the name.

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I renamed it (of course!) with what it tasted like to us and added my own splash to it with vanilla extract, espresso powder and by sprinkling it with coarse sanding sugar to give it a sparkle and crunch! I have to tell you, they are amazing. However, I wish I had used white chips and added walnuts or even almonds to it, I think they would have enhanced the cookie (if that’s even possible!). I needed two hands for this dough and couldn’t photograph the process. However, I will definitely make them again so will plan ahead for that and since my son is home recruit him as photographer.

I will say that shaping the logs was a little difficult but I came up with a good way to do it. In the book it says to use parchment paper but I found that didn’t work for me. When I make my mother’s mandel bread, I use plastic wrap to mold the dough into logs. That worked very well here too. It’s very crumbly, so heads up on that. But very much worth the effort so don’t let that stop you. Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (I used pink Himalayan sea salt)
3/4 cup canola oil (I used light olive oil)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (I used dark brown)
1 extra large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, or semi-sweet (or combination)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

In a medium bowl, mix the first four ingredients with a whisk.

In a larger mixing bowl, mix the oil, sugars, instant coffee and egg very well. Add the vanilla extract and incorporate.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet 1/2 at a time. Add the chocolate chips and or nuts. The dough was very crumbly. Susie Fishbein says to knead the dough at this point but I found it difficult to do. At this point I put on rubber gloves and started mixing it by hand. When I was able to get it to hold somewhat of a shape, I split it into two.

I put out plastic wrap on the counter and transferred half the dough on top. I formed a log about 2 to 3 inches wide by about 8 inches in length. I then transferred it to the cookie sheet by sliding it off the plastic wrap. Some of the pieces crumbled off so I pushed them back together. Leave at least 2 to 3 inches between the loaves as they spread.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut into 3/4″ slices.

Yield about 24 cookies

*What’s the difference between Dutch processed cocoa and regular cocoa powder? I believe David Lebovitz explains it best. Check out his blog:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/02/cocoa-powder-faq-dutch-process-v/

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