Kichel

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Synthesised from Google · Yelp · Reddit · 3 food blogs · Updated August 2026

The story the reviews tell

Kichel are slight-sweet crackers that belong to the quiet corners of Jewish tables—bow-tie pastries so dry and delicate they've earned the nickname "nothings." Born in nineteenth-century Ashkenazi communities across central and eastern Europe, they traveled the diaspora and became synagogue staples, traditionally dunked in tea or schnapps at kiddush after Shabbat services. The dough is simple: eggs, flour, sugar, rolled flat and cut into those distinctive shapes. Commercial versions arrive sugar-sprinkled and airy, though home cooks have long paired them with herring, hot beverages, or matzah-meal variations for Passover.

What makes this version distinct

Kichel (Yiddish: קיכל, plural kichlach קיכלעך, the diminutive of קוכן kukhn "cake") is a slightly sweet cracker or cookie in Jewish cuisine. Made from eggs, flour, and sugar, the dough is rolled out flat and cut into bow-tie shapes. Commercially prepared kichel are dry, bow-tie shaped pastries sprinkled with sugar. They are traditionally served at the kiddush in synagogues after Shabbat services and are also a popular dessert at Rosh Hashanah. Kichlach seem to have developed in central or eastern Europe in Ashkenazi Jewish communities by the nineteenth century and subsequently gained popularity around the world with the diaspora and migrations in the twentieth century. Kiddush in early twentieth-century Ashkenazi synagogues centered around kichlach, pickled herring, and schnapps. Jews in South Africa still serve kichel with chopped herring, also a common practice in American synagogues until the 1950s. Kichlach are sometimes eaten with another kind of savoury dip or topping. Due to th

Signature elements