Jordan Halle’s Chocolate Toffee Matzah Crack 

Ingredients:

4-5 lightly salted matzos (enough to fill baking sheet) 
1 cup butter 
1 cup dark brown sugar 
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips*  
1 cup chopped pecan (toast for flavor)  
½ tsp. sea salt or kosher salt 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet, up the edges, with heavy duty aluminum foil. Top with sheet of parchment paper. 
 Cover baking sheet with matzos, cutting and piecing together to cover pan.  
Combine butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan. 
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until boiling. Once boiling, continue cooking and stirring for another three minutes until foamy and thickened. Immediately pour toffee over matzos and spread into an even layer.   
Put the pan into the oven and bake 10 minutes, until toffee is cracked and bubbling. Remove pan and place on wire rack, immediately scatter chocolate chips over top.*   
Wait 3-5 minutes for the chips to soften and spread into even layer.* 
Sprinkle with pecans and sea salt, press pecans into chocolate. 
Refrigerate only about 45 minutes. Remove and lift matzo by foil and move to cutting board. Cut into 2” squares and store. 

*For a swirl design, use ½ semi-sweet and ½ white chocolate chips and sprinkle in stripes across the matzos. Once softened, neatly smooth the stripes as best you can and drag a butter knife perpendicularly across the stripes to swirl the semi-sweet and white chocolate together. 

Kosher for Passover Almond Cookies 

By Maian Rahvalschi, Baltimore’s Israeli Shaliach (Israeli emissary) 

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites 
4 cups of brown sugar 
3 cups of almond flour or finely ground almonds 
Pinch of salt 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
In a mixer, whip the egg whites with the sugar until the mixture is white and fluffy. Add almond flour and salt. Mix until a sticky dough is formed. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 20 min. 
Put parchment paper on a baking sheet. 
From the cooled dough, create small balls and place on the baking sheet. Leave room between them. 
Cook 15-20 minutes, the cookies are ready once they are evenly golden. 
Take them out of the oven and cool down for about 20 minutes. 

Joan Cohen’s* Passover Apple Cake  

Ingredients:

Topping: 

6 apples, sliced 
½ cup sugar 
1 tsp. cinnamon  

Cake 

6 eggs 
1 ½ cups sugar 
½ tsp. salt 
¾ cup potato starch 
1 ½ cups cake meal 
¾ cup oil 
¼ cup orange juice 

Instructions:

Mix topping ingredients together and set aside. 
Beat eggs with sugar and salt. Add potato startch and cake meal alternately with oil and juice. 
In greased 9×13 cake pan, layer ½ batter, ½ topping. Can top with ½ cupchopped nuts and ¼ cup cinnamon sugar. 
Bake at 350 F. for 1 hour. 

*Joan Cohen is Executive Director of The Associated’s Jewish Community Services. 

Apple Matzo Cake 

(Submitted by a Pearlstone staff member)

Ingredients

Nonstick spray
3 large eggs, separated, plus 3 large yolks
⅔ cup sugar
½ tsp. coarse salt
3 cups grated Granny Smith apples (from 6 peeled apples), squeezed dry
1 cup matzo meal
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp. Kosher for Passover brandy
2 Tbsp. honey
¼ cup finely chopped pecans

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat an 8-inch spring form pan with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 6 egg yolks, sugar and salt until thick and pale, about 3 minutes.
Fold in apples, matzo meal, lemon zest and brandy.
In another medium bowl, with clean beaters, beat 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes.
With a rubber spatula, gently fold egg whites into apple mixture and transfer batter to pan.
Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with pecans.
Bake until golden brown and set in center, 45 to 50 minutes.
Let cake cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
To serve, run a small knife around edge of pan, remove cake and slice.

Raspberry Macaroons in Chocolate Shells

(Submitted by a Pearlstone staff member)

Ingredients

2 cups dried sweetened flaked coconut
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 large egg white
Pinch of coarse salt
½ cup fresh raspberries
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tsp. coconut oil (or corn syrup, if not keeping kosher for Passover)
Edible gold leaf, toasted coconut, and sanding sugar, for garnish (optional)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine coconut, granulated sugar, egg white and salt in food processor. Pulse until combined.
Add raspberries and pulse until just incorporated. (Do not overprocess.)
Scoop mounds of coconut mixture 1 inch apart onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, using a ½-oz (1¼ inch) ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to form small mounds.
Bake until lightly golden, 28 to 30 minutes.
Rotate baking sheet halfway through.
Transfer macaroons to a wire rack. Cool.
Place chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
Stir until melted.
Add coconut oil, stirring until combined.
Remove from heat.
Dip bottoms of macaroons in chocolate or completely cover with chocolate, transferring to a wax-paper-lined rimmed baking sheet.
Garnish as desired while warm.
Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to one day.
Serve chilled. 

Apricot squares 

(Submitted by a JCC staff member)

Ingredients

½ lb. (2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
2 egg yolks
2 cups cake meal
1 lb. jar apricot preserves (or any flavor)
¼ cup lemon juice
Nuts

Directions: 

Cream butter and sugar.
Add lemon rind, egg yolks and cake meal.
Form dough. Pat 3/4 of this into baking dish.
Freeze remaining dough.
Bake 20 minutes at 325.
Mix preserves with lemon juice and spoon over hot crust.
Sprinkle with nuts. Sprinkle remaining dough on top.
Bake again for 30 to 35 minutes.
Cool and cut. It freezes well.

Flourless Chocolate Cake 

(Submitted by a JCC staff member)

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter
8 oz. bittersweet chcoclate, chopped
8 large egg yolks
5 large egg whites
1 cup plus ⅓ cup sugar
Fresh raspberries

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom of a 9-inch spring-form pan with parchment paper.
In a medium sauce pan, heat butter over medium heat until just melted.
Add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool until lukewarm.
Using electric mixer, beat yolks and ¾ cup sugar in large bowl until pale and very thick.
Add chocolate mixture in 2 additions and beat until well blended.
Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until foamy.
Gradually add ¼ cup sugar and beat until whites are stiff but not dry.
Fold ⅓ of whites into chocolate mixture.
Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions.
Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake torte until crust forms on top and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist batter and some moist crumbs still attached, about 55 minutes (top may crack).
Run small sharp knife around torte to loosen.
Cool in pan on rack (torte will fall and crack).
Remove pan sides. Invert torte onto platter.
Serve with fresh raspberries.

Aunt Eleanor’s Mock Oatmeal Cookies 

(Submitted by a JCC staff member)

Ingredients

1 cup matzoh meal 
1 cup matzoh farfel 
½ cup + 1 Tbsp. white sugar 
¼ cup brown sugar 
½ tsp. cinnamon 
2 beaten eggs 
½ cup oil 
1 cup raisins 
½ cup chopped walnuts 

Directions: 

Mix together the first 5 ingredients in one bowl.
In another bowl beat 2 eggs, and oil together, adding raisins and nuts by hand.
Blend both bowls of ingredients together.
Drop on a greased cookie sheet drop by teaspoonful and flatten dough.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.