Story submitted by Janet Shapiro
The Story Behind the Recipe:
Janet received this recipe from her aunt Jackie. Affectionately called, Jackie, Jacqueline Louise White was born in Cleveland in 1925. Her mother died just before she was 2 years old. She was raised in Warren, Ohio in a house where much of her father’s large extended family lived permanently and some passed through between jobs and marriage. Jackie was far more interested in cooking and in baking than were her two sisters. Her skills were honed in the kitchen with her grandmother and head of the household, Fannie White. After high school Jackie became the secretary at First Street School in Warren where she knew Cleveland Brown’s great Paul Warfield - one of her students. Jackie became the Mary Tyler Moore of her day and took off as a single woman back to Cleveland. She took a job at The Cleveland Welfare Federation (a predecessor Center for Community Solutions) and at one point was the assistant to then CEO, Leona Bevis The Cleveland Welfare Federation was housed in the same building as the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and Jackie knew many members of its staff including historian Judah Rubenstein. Jackie’s baking skills were well known to her colleagues as well as the members of her chapter of Cleveland Hadassah. For years, Jackie hosted a tea for Hadassah group. In 1963, Jackie married Dr. Jack J. Chernin, a podiatrist. They were married at Mayfield Hillcrest Temple in Cleveland Heights. To support her husband’s professional group, Jackie became a major volunteer fundraiser for the Women’s Auxiliary of the Ohio Podiatry Association. She set up a boutique at all Association meetings where she sold merchandise containing feet (key chains, towels, nightshirts, etc.) and cookbooks than she compiled, typed and edited. Jackie loved to entertain in her home for family and friends. She hosted most holiday meals for members of the Chernin and White families. When she retired from her job, she became a mainstay in the kitchen of Congregation Shaarey Tikvah (formerly Mayfield Hillcrest). She baked and sold items for the synagogue’s weekly bingo fundraisers and for Kiddush after Shabbat morning services. Her “Chip Mandel Slices” (recipe attached) were a favorite of the weekly worshippers. Most guests at her home left with a package of these slices along with samples of her other delicacies. Jackie also prepared her baked goods to be sold at the Gross Schechter Rib Burn Off. In the mid 1980s, Jackie and Jack would spend winters in Lantana Florida. While she was away, Jackie would send notes, birthday and anniversary cards to her fellow congregants. She would also bake and package hundreds and hundreds of hamantaschen that she would send to family, Shaarey Tikvah college students and congregants. She continued that practice until she was over 90 years old. Jackie passed away on October 30, 2019.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
3 Cups Flour 1 Cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder 4 oz. Chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tsp. vanilla
1 Cup plus 1 Tbsp Oil 5 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Cup Sugar 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
3 eggs
Instructions:
Preheat Oven to 375 degrees. Grease two baking sheets. In medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Beat 1 Cup of Sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla in large bowl. Gradually add 2 Cups of flour mixture beating constantly. Fold in nuts and chips. Add remaining flour and mix well. (If you think dough is too pliable , chill for an hour.)
Lightly flour hands. Divide dough into fourths. Transfer each piece at a time to baking sheets. Shape each into a flat loaf about 3 inches wide and ¾ inch thick. Mix the 5 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon together and sprinkle evenly over each loaf. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cut each loaf into slices about ½ inch wide. Turn the slices cut side up* and continue baking until toasted –- about 10-15 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.
*If you like the flavor of cinnamon, and I think this adds to the flavor of the cookie, then sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture over the cut slices before you place in the oven to toast.
The loaf spreads in baking, therefore, if you don’t want too wide of a slice, then make the loaf narrower.
The trouble with these mandel slices is that you can’t keep them very long as they are so crispy and tasty you keep
“digging” for more. They are easy to pack and freeze, too.
3 Cups Flour 1 Cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder 4 oz. Chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tsp. vanilla
1 Cup plus 1 Tbsp Oil 5 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Cup Sugar 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
3 eggs
Instructions:
Preheat Oven to 375 degrees. Grease two baking sheets. In medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Beat 1 Cup of Sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla in large bowl. Gradually add 2 Cups of flour mixture beating constantly. Fold in nuts and chips. Add remaining flour and mix well. (If you think dough is too pliable , chill for an hour.)
Lightly flour hands. Divide dough into fourths. Transfer each piece at a time to baking sheets. Shape each into a flat loaf about 3 inches wide and ¾ inch thick. Mix the 5 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon together and sprinkle evenly over each loaf. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cut each loaf into slices about ½ inch wide. Turn the slices cut side up* and continue baking until toasted –- about 10-15 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.
*If you like the flavor of cinnamon, and I think this adds to the flavor of the cookie, then sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture over the cut slices before you place in the oven to toast.
The loaf spreads in baking, therefore, if you don’t want too wide of a slice, then make the loaf narrower.
The trouble with these mandel slices is that you can’t keep them very long as they are so crispy and tasty you keep
“digging” for more. They are easy to pack and freeze, too.