Copycat Almondina Cookies – Mandelbread
We’ve hit on a wonderful Copycat Almondina cookie recipe for you. There are as many names for this type of thin, crispy low-fat cookie as there are varieties of its ingredients. Almondina makes perhaps the most well-known Western version, with its distinctive thin, crispy, almond and raisin studded wafers, with chocolate, or cranberry, sesame, cherry, or pumpkin spice (of course). There is also the popular brand known as Nonni’s ThinAddictives. You’ll also find this type of cookie is known as Mandelbread (in Australia) or Melba Mandelbrodt (in Jewish communities). Whatever the name, everyone seems to enjoy the lower-calorie, low-fat and addictive nature of this nutty and fruit studded treat. Here’s a simple version, ready to be studded with your favorite dried fruits and nuts.
Ingredients
- 2 whole eggs
- 4 egg whites
- 1/4 cup Splenda Sugar Blend (or granulated sugar) or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 dash fine pink salt
- 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (low sodium)
- 1 cup whole almonds blanched (skinless)
- 1/1 cup dried cranberries or dried raisins, blueberries, apricots or other dried fruits and berries
- Olive Oil (or similiar) Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Beat eggs and egg white until light and very frothy. Slowly beat in the sugar, vanilla, and salt, and mix well.
- Mix in flour and baking powder, and when fully combined, stir in whole almonds and dried cranberries.
- Line your narrowest loaf pan (see notes) with heavy-duty aluminum foil, extended over the top edges of the plan (you'll be using it to wrap the loaf after baking).
- Spray the foil on the inside of your pan with cooking spray.
- Spread your cookie dough inside the loaf plan, as evenly from side to side as possible, and smoothing the top (gently packing it as you go).
- Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or an additional few minutes, until it is a golden brown color. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.
- Once rested and slightly cooled, wrap it tightly in foil and refrigerate the whole loaf for 2-3 days. You'll need the loaf quite cold and "set" before slicing.
- After chilling it for several days, unwrap the cold loaf, and now, with your sharpest bland, carefully slice / shave thin, even slices. You'll be cutting through whole almonds and fruit to create the distinctive "layer reveal" in Almondina cookies, so be quick and sure, and be sure your knife is sharp.
- Arrange the cookies flat side down on a foil lined baking sheet, which has been sprayed with additional cooking spray.
- Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until the cookies are dry, crisp, and well-toasted.
Makes me appreciate how much effort goes into the original which are so thin and crisp. This is amazing to eat, not quite as elegant at the store-bought version. They will be great for taking to work!
Excellent, just the crisp cookie recipe I was looking for!
First thing I made from your website. So good! I chilled once batch several days and then sliced thin, but it wasn’t as thin as I wanted. I froze the second loaf and then when it was still almost frozen (a little bit thawed), I put it on a mandolin and then it sliced very thin for me! Smaller almonds sliced better than big ones, naturally.
Fantastic idea to slice thin while partially frozen!
We didn’t have a narrow pan, but, we just used those mini bread pans (several of them) and made quite a few mini loaves, and then cut those. Instead of long, thin “biscotti” type cookies, it made more square and smaller cookies, which is okay, too. These are good with cream cheese in between two slices — sandwich style. We added orange zest to the cream cheese one time, and almond extract another time. A winner each time, even though time-consuming.
What a great idea — the zest and cream cheese sounds delicious.
The original recipe have oil added to dough
Our copycat healthy eating recipes are typically and intentionally designed to decrease fat and sugar while keeping the flavor and comfort quality of the original recipe.
We love these. Our very favorite version uses pistachios and cherries, but also like apricots and walnuts, too. We used the sliced almonds because you were right, it can be hard to cut through a whole almond without pulling it out of the dough, if your knife isn’t sharp enough. You don’t get those “flat exposed layers” you talk about, but it doesn’t matter, it’s still pretty and delicious.