Claire Saffitz's Four Generation Mondel Bread

Shared by Claire Saffitz
Recipe Roots: Ukraine > Baltimore > St. Louis > Boston > New York City 

In June of 2019, baker and writer Claire Saffitz was writing her cookbook Dessert Person. “I was feeling really behind on everything, so I took a month away from New York…. I called it my sabbatical,” she explains. “But that was really just a euphemism for moving in with my parents,” she jokingly clarifies. For that month, Claire and her mother Sharon, who goes by Sauci, baked together and Claire wrote recipes. 

When Claire reached the cookie chapter, she knew she wanted to include the mondel bread (also spelled mandel bread, and mandelbrot in Yiddish) she grew up with, a recipe that’s loaded with toasted almonds and finished with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. Claire and her family have made the recipe for generations. It’s the recipe Sauci brings when she goes to a friend’s home. It’s made for holidays, for kiddush gatherings after bar and bat mitzvahs (including Claire’s), and for parties. It’s also sent in the mail to loved ones far off. Before Sauci, her mother Anne made the recipe — a fact Claire confirms during our interview by conferencing in her mother. 

In the family, the recipe is credited to Sauci’s late aunt Rose, but it likely came from Rose’s father, Claire’s great-grandfather Jacob. As Claire and her mother baked one day during her sabbatical, Sauci “said super offhandedly, ‘Oh, well, your great-grandfather was a baker,’” Claire recalls. “I sort of did a double take.” Jacob was a baker in a now-forgotten small village in what Claire believes was then Russia (present-day Ukraine) before he immigrated to the United States. He came through Ellis Island in 1902 or 1903, likely bringing recipes with him like the mondel bread and another for apple cake. 

“The family history on my mom’s side beyond a generation is very fuzzy,” Claire admits. But the history and recipes seem to fall into place. “It does explain why A) we have these recipes and B) why they are all pareve,” says Claire, referring to a dish that’s free of dairy or meat, meaning it can be served at any kosher meal. 

Generations later, the mondel bread’s popularity has spread. “My parents have been married for so long... that it became a recipe on my dad’s side as well,” Claire explains. Still, she admits that mondel bread, for those unfamiliar with it, can be a tough sell. “It’s really crumbly, and hard, and dry. It doesn’t sound good at all, but it’s so delicious,” says Claire. “You’re eating it and you just sort of can’t figure out why it’s so good, but it is.”

Aunt Rose's Mondel Bread

Chef’s Note: I learned recently that before emigrating to the United States, my great-grandfather worked as a baker. That explains the handful of recipes passed down on my mother’s side. One of my favorites is this mondel bread, named for my mother’s Aunt Rose. Mondel bread is a kind of almond cookie that I describe as Jewish biscotti, although it’s only baked once. Like a lot of Jewish baked goods, it uses oil instead of butter to keep it pareve (compatible with both milk and meat, according to kosher rules.) The cookie is not very sweet, save for the generous coating of cinnamon sugar on the outside, and very nutty from well-toasted almonds, with a dry, crumbly texture. Maybe I’m not selling it, but the cookie is delicious and very worth savoring with a cup of tea or coffee. I resisted any urge to tweak the recipe and except for the addition of a little salt, have faithfully reproduced Aunt Rose’s version here. If four generations of baking are any indication, this one’s a keeper.

Makes: 36 cookies
Total Time: 45 minutes active + 4 hours inactive

Ingredients
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ (300g)  cups granulated sugar
2 cups (227 grams) slivered almonds
1 tablespoon plus 1 cup (238g) neutral oil, such as vegetable or grapeseed
1 tablespoon plus 4 cups (528g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
3 large eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
1. Make the cinnamon sugar: Toss the cinnamon and ½ cup (100g) of the sugar in a small bowl until the mixture is uniform. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven and toast the almonds: Arrange an oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the almonds on a small rimmed baking sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil to coat. Bake until the almonds are deep golden brown and fragrant, shaking half way through, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool, then toss with 1 tablespoon of the flour to coat. (Turn off the oven.)

3. Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, and remaining 4 cups flour (520g) to combine.

4. Mix the cookie dough: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the eggs, remaining 1 cup sugar (200g) and remaining 1 cup oil on a medium high speed until smooth and homogenous, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla and cooled toasted almonds, followed by the flour mixture. Continue to mix on low speed just until you have a smooth dough, about 45 seconds.

5. Chill the dough: Use a flexible spatula to scrape any dough from the paddle back into the bowl, then fold the dough several times to ensure it’s well mixed. Refrigerate the bowl uncovered for 4 hours. (My mom says it has to be exactly 4 hours but an hour less or more is fine.)

6. Preheat oven: Arrange an oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

7. Form the dough into loaves: Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and divide it into 3 equal portions (if you have a scale, each portion should be about 1 lb / 454g). Space out the 3 mounds of dough in an unlined, ungreased baking sheet. Pat each portion of dough into a smooth loaf measuring about 8x3 inches and 1 ½ inches tall. The exact dimensions aren’t important, but the loaves should all be about the same size. The dough will spread in the oven, so make sure you space them several inches apart.

8. Scor and sugar the loaves: USe a serrated knife to make ½-inch-deep score marks crosswise along each loaf at ¾-inch intervals. (These marks completely disappear when you bake the loaves but, according to Aunt Rose and my mom, they help you slice the cookies more easily after baking.) Using one-third of the cinnamon sugar, sprinkle it over the tops of all the loaves. 

9. Bake the loaves: Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the loaves are set  and the tops are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and, using a fish spatula, very carefully turn each loaf over so the sugared side is down. The loaves are only partially baked and fragile at this point - try to be gentle so they don’t break. Sprinkle half of the remaining cinnamon sugar over the loaves and return to the oven. Bake for another 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and turn the loaves again. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar and bake for a final 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Let the loaves cool slightly on the baking sheet, 10 to 15 minutes.

10. Slice the cookies: When the loaves are cool enough to handle but still very warm, slide the metal spatula beneath the loaves and transfer them, one at a time, to a cutting board. Use a serrated knife in a sawing motion to slice the loaves into ¾ inch thick cookies. The score marks will have disappeared during baking, so you are making fresh cuts. Let the cookies cool completely.

Reprinted with permission from Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence by Claire Saffitz copyright © 2020. Photographs by Alex Lau copyright ©2020. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House.