The short version: mandel bread was traditionally built for the kosher kitchen, but that does not make any particular mandel bread certified kosher. Those are two different questions. Here is both answers, including the honest one about ours.
Why mandel bread fits kosher tradition
Traditional mandel bread is made with oil instead of butter, and that is likely not an accident. Kosher law prohibits dairy at a meal with meat. A cookie made with butter cannot end a meat meal. A cookie made with oil can end any meal.
So mandel bread, in its traditional form, is pareve: neither meat nor dairy. That is a big part of why it became the cookie in the tin in so many Ashkenazi homes. It worked after every dinner, every time.
Ingredients versus certification
Here is the distinction that matters if you are buying for someone who keeps kosher.
A recipe can be built entirely from kosher-friendly ingredients and still not be certified kosher. Certification means a rabbinical authority supervises the kitchen, the ingredients, and the equipment, and puts its mark on the package. For someone who keeps strictly kosher, the certification is the answer. The ingredient list alone is not.
Is our mandel bread kosher?
Our mandel bread is not certified kosher. We bake in a Denver commercial kitchen without rabbinical supervision, and we say so plainly on every product page. We believe in honest food, honestly labeled.
Some of our flavors also include dairy. Our chocolate chips contain milkfat, so those flavors are not pareve even by ingredients.
Certification is something we hope to pursue as we grow. It is a real process with real costs, and we would rather do it properly someday than claim it loosely now. Until then, our answer stays simple: if your host or recipient keeps kosher, our mandel bread is not the right gift, and we would rather tell you that here than have you find out at their door.
What to do with this if you're gift shopping
Ask. One text: does the household keep kosher? If yes, look for a certification mark on whatever you buy, not just familiar ingredients. If no, buy what tastes best.
For everyone else, our mandel bread is what it says it is: a four-generation family recipe, baked by hand in South Denver, from Grandma Jeanne, who baked well into her nineties and lived to 102. The gift boxes are here. Denver locals can order right on our site, and we ship locally. Everywhere else ships through Goldbelly.
Frequently asked questions
Is mandel bread kosher?
Traditional mandel bread is made with oil rather than butter, making it pareve and well suited to kosher kitchens. Whether a specific brand is certified kosher depends on the maker. Certification requires rabbinical supervision, not just kosher-friendly ingredients.
Is Lazar Family Bakehouse mandel bread certified kosher?
No. We bake in a Denver commercial kitchen without rabbinical supervision, and some flavors contain dairy. We state this on every product page.
What does pareve mean?
Pareve means a food contains neither meat nor dairy, so under kosher law it can be eaten with any meal. Traditional oil-based mandel bread is pareve.
Why is mandel bread made with oil instead of butter?
Likely so it could be served after meat meals in kosher homes. The oil is also why mandel bread is softer than biscotti.
Will Lazar Family Bakehouse become kosher certified?
We hope to pursue certification as we grow. Until we do it properly, we will keep labeling our products honestly as not certified.
Read more
New here? Start with what mandel bread is, or see how it compares to biscotti.