Mandel Bread Cookies Gift Box

Sara is the director at Zingerman's Creative Services.

Maybe I'm a sucker for underdogs (if it's possible for a cookie to be an underdog—they're all winners in my book!). But for reasons I can't understand, in my years of baking and selling food for Zingerman's Bakehouse mandel bread (AKA mandelbread) has never been that popular. It's at the top of my go-to list for a snack or a gift.

Mandel bread is our citrus almond cookie. You might recognize them as biscotti. It is not too sweet, not overly brittle, but certainly full of great flavor and crunch. The perfect partner to your morning or afternoon caffeine of choice. The key is the fresh lemon and orange zest coupled with the almonds that are blanched (so they're skinless) and toasted (so they have more flavor), all in a toasty twice baked cookie. All that extra attention pays off in each bite.

And when you're done gobbling them up, check the bottom of your package to see if you're lucky enough to have a few crumbles and almonds that have broken loose. Pour those on yogurt or a bowl of fresh fruit. It's the best!

The ingredients for these handmade mandel bread are organic wheat flour (organic wheat, malted barley), toasted almonds, sugar, butter, fresh eggs, orange zest, lemon zest, Madagascar vanilla extract, and sea salt.