3 minute read
Polly’s Secret Chocolate Chip Kmish Bread Mandelbrot
from Around Our Table
by Momentum
Shared by Sheri Yarosh
Sheri Yarosh’s late mother Polly grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota to parents who immigrated from Poland and Austria-Hungary. They lived a Jewish lifestyle, and while there was a close-knit community around them, Sheri noted that Minneapolis was quite an antisemitic place at the time—though that only seemed to fuel the family’s desire to connect with their Jewish heritage. “Family was everything to my parents,” Sheri shared. “We grew up with a ton of cousins and we celebrated every occasion and holiday together. When my mom brought something to share, I cannot recall that she brought anything but this kmish bread.”
Also known as kamish bread, mandel bread, and mandelbrot, kmish bread is a twice-baked oblong cookie (this one is packed with chocolate chips) with roots in Eastern-European Jewish cuisine. Similar to Italian biscotti, the dough is first formed into a log and baked whole until it’s cooked through. It’s cooled and sliced into thin, long cookies; then baked again until crisp.
“Every holiday, B'nai Mitzvah, birthday party, or even shiva we ate this kmish bread as part of dessert or it was part of a more elaborate sweet table,” added Sheri. Though the cookies were beloved, Polly never gave out the recipe. Sheri told us that her mother would only say, “it’s my special secret recipe.” There was, however, seemingly one exception. When a beloved cousin of Sheri’s, Judy, passed away from cancer, another cousin was gifted Judy’s recipe box; whereupon she found a recipe card for Aunty Polly’s Kmish Bread. “My mom must have loved Judy so much or knew she was ill, and shared it with her, but no one else.” Now that they have the written recipe, Sheri and her family try to make Polly’s kmish bread as often as they can—and, noting that her kids now make the recipe too, it’s l'dor v'dor, passed from generation to generation. “It makes us think warmly of these two wonderful women who we loved and continue to be remembered through this sweet recipe.”
When God created the first human, God showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him, ‘See my works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. Everything that I created, I created it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy my world- for if you do, there will be nobody (but you) to repair it.’
- Midrash Kohelet
Rabbah 7
20 servings 9 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients
3 large eggs 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup chocolate chips
Preparation
1.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium or a whisk (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment). Beat in the sugar, oil, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough overnight (for at least 8 hours).
2.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and position two oven racks in the upper and lower third of the oven. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
3.
Divide the dough in half. Place one half of the dough on one sheet pan and shape into a flat log about 3 to 4 inches wide. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Bake the logs at the same time, with each tray on its own oven rack, switching their oven rack positions halfway through, until lightly golden, about 25 minutes. 4.
Remove the logs from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 250ºF. When the logs are cool enough to touch (about 15 minutes), place on a cutting board and slice both into 1-inch-thick cookies. Arrange the cookies evenly on their sides on the two sheet pans. Bake both trays of cookies at the same time, with each sheet pan on its own oven rack, switching their oven rack positions halfway through, until golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Let the cookies cool then serve immediately. Store leftovers in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 1 week.
