Middle Earth Ranger Forum

So here's something interesting:

http://www.pabular.com/recipe/79012/lem ... h-waybread

I will have to give that a try - though I think beech nuts might be a better substitution than the seeds he used. Or maybe even almonds (or chia).

Here's a recipe for lembas I had my sister make for my engagement party, and it turned out really well. The party wasnt LotR themed, but my wife and I met at a LotR movie marathon, and I proposed on a date to a screening of Fellowship of the Ring with live choir and orchestra at a local outdoor performing arts center. This stuff kept for weeks in a container and was both super dense and filling.

Lembas
2 Cups Bread Flower
1 Cup of fresh honey
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
12oz Crushed almonds
1/4 Teaspoon Extract of Orange
2 Eggs
1/2 Grated orange rind

Knead dough vigorously and add flower as needed. This will create a Very heavy bread that does not puff up. Cook at 325 until slightly golden

Sometimes being allergic to wheat and flour really is a hard thing when you see these great ideas..

Just something for someone to try but the closest thing to a Mallorn is beech so what I was thinking is using beech nuts and possible beech flour if that exists.

I see that it's been just over a year since the OP put out the first recipe, from wastedlandsfantasy. So I tried it tonight, pretty much as described, except with walnuts instead of almonds. Couldn't find the almonds. Pretty happy with the result, but not sure how long they'll keep. Frankly, I don't know how long they'll last, as the batch smells wonderful, and tastes pretty good, too.

So, now I'm thinking about possible variants on the flavor, including some of the ideas mentioned in the source blog. Orange juice, instead of apple juice, maybe. Possibly cardomom. And I'm curious about coffee, possibly, as a caffeine source. I mean, there are options.

But for now, yum.

Thanks for the post. I'll experiment with some of this soon. Making Lembas bread is an interest of mine too since it seems it would be sought after by Rangers out in the wild who could use it to travel more lightly. I'll let you know what I come up with.

wulfgar wrote:I have found another recipe that I am going to try in "Simple Foods For The Pack", put out by The Sierra Club. It's for ANZAC biscuits, said to have been fresh when delivered to troops in WW1 after an 8 week boat ride.

1C whole wheat flour
1C unsweetened coconut
1C brown sugar
1C rolled oats
1/2C butter
2TBSP water
1/2 TSP baking soda
1TBSP golden syrup, molasses or honey

Combine dry ingredients, except baking soda, in large bowl.
In saucepan melt butter with water, soda, and syrup. Add to dry ingredients and mix well with hands.
Shape into cookies and bake on greased sheet at 350 for about 20 minutes. Cool on rack.

Thread necromancy!

So during an unexpected second quarantine, I got the itch to do some baking and with the recent discussion on need wallets and the contents within, I figured I'd try experimenting with a Dunedain derivative of that Lord of the Rings classic, Lembas bread.

The recipe from Wulfgar above required purchasing the least amount of ingredients so I thought I'd try it out.

I tried to stick as close to the recipe as possible but as with every time I'm in the kitchen, I tend to veer off track. My variations are listed below.
1.) Baker's Ammonia instead of Baking Powder to give a bit more of an old world taste. This stuff reeks so chefs beware.
2.) Used a processor to finely chop the coconut as I am not a huge fan of coconut and thought it would help mask it.
3.) Added a smidge of vanilla for taste.
4.) Halved the amount of brown sugar. 1 cup is a lot, geez.
5.) Couldn't make a cookie shape without it falling apart so just squished it into balls.
Result? Not bad tastewise. As a Dunedain inspired Lembas? Utter failure. It was a very crumbly ball of lembas. Wouldn't make it a mile in your pack before falling apart. I think it was due to the low moisture content in the "dough" and the large piece of rolled oats breaking it apart. Still tasty in the end.

Since we still had more ingredients and still more time on our hands, I figured we should try 'er again with some adjustments.

1.) Used the processor to finely chop the oats before mixing.
2.) Increased portions of Baker's Ammonia, honey, and water. Not by much though.
2.) Added some fine ground coffee to give it a bit of a caffeine kick.
4.) Instead of trying to roll into balls, used a Pyrex to make one large sheet.
A cross section of the flat version. Not quite golden brown on the outside and creamy on the inside is it?

Second result? Still tasty, still a failure. Ending up overcooking it a bit and while marginally less crumbly it still falls apart very easily and I wouldn't want to take it on the trail. Wife didn't like the coffee addition but she's not much of a fan of coffee anyway. I'll definitely eat it though. The only thing I didn't do it calculate the calories per servings. That would also help determine if this were a filling trail ration.
Many thanks to the wife for the assistance and thanks to Wulfgar for the inspiration!

great try if you ever work out a calorie count I'd be fascinated to know, and adding coffee interesting idea

If you feel like trying it again add two egg yolks, increase you honey and decrease the amount of amount of brown sugar. You should find it more cohesive.

Ah, that’s a great idea with the eggs. Shame I didn’t think about that even though I eat like 5 eggs a day haha. I wonder how that would affect the longevity of the biscuits. I did halve the sugar to a 1/2 cup but you’re right and I would probably halve it again to a 1/4. I’d also remove the coconut as that’s not very M.e. appropriate anyway.

Thanks!

Always happy to see this thread revived! Particularly since waybread of various forms is such a staple of Tolkien’s world!

Being a baker by trade I tend to think of the lembas and it's magical properties as something more akin to a modern protein bar.

I have recently been experimenting with Beorning honey cakes though and am planning on documenting my next one as I think I have the recipe down.

Hoooongry.

Oats and honey always sounds tasty, even if it is crumbly.


Eofur - Quite curious to hear how the honeycakes come out!

Cimrandir wrote:

wulfgar wrote:I have found another recipe that I am going to try in "Simple Foods For The Pack", put out by The Sierra Club. It's for ANZAC biscuits, said to have been fresh when delivered to troops in WW1 after an 8 week boat ride.

1C whole wheat flour
1C unsweetened coconut
1C brown sugar
1C rolled oats
1/2C butter
2TBSP water
1/2 TSP baking soda
1TBSP golden syrup, molasses or honey

Combine dry ingredients, except baking soda, in large bowl.
In saucepan melt butter with water, soda, and syrup. Add to dry ingredients and mix well with hands.
Shape into cookies and bake on greased sheet at 350 for about 20 minutes. Cool on rack.

The recipe from Wulfgar above required purchasing the least amount of ingredients so I thought I'd try it out.

Oh Snap Cimrandir! I read through your post but I didn't notice the first time that you were trying to make ANZAC biscuits. Your recipe is quite a bit off.

The biscuits do last a really long time, mostly due to the omission of egg in the recipe and should be hard but not crumbly. The coconut is a modern addition to the classic recipe and in my opinion can easily be substituted without impacting the end result.

I'd suggest sticking to the recipe for this one as it's kind of a tried and tested staple. I know it seems a lot of sugar but you have to look at the original intention of the bikkies - high calorie treats for guys who were otherwise living off rations in the trenches at Gallipoli. They would serve a similar role on a hard trail helping to restore burnt energy and despite the sugar they are not an overly sweet biscuit - the golden syrup and oats are the flavours which dominate.
Definitely stick with biscuits over a slice as it doesn't lend itself well to cutting. Oh and honey does not replace golden syrup in these, that is heresy.

Here is a much better recipe if you are keen to revisit the famous ANZAC biscuit!

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour (sifted)
1 cup white sugar (Or half a cup of white and half cup brown will make the bikkie a bit crunchier)
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
125 g butter (melted)
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon boiling water

- Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees celcius and line trays with baking paper.
- In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients - rolled oats, flour, sugar and coconut.
- Into a saucepan, place the butter, golden syrup, bicarb soda and water. Stir and heat to boiling point.
- Add the melted ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Roll tablespoon sized balls (32g if you want to be specific) in your hands and place on lined baking trays.
- Cook for 15-20 minutes until light golden. Allow to cool on tray.


They should look more like this

Elleth wrote:Eofur - Quite curious to hear how the honeycakes come out!

They come out delicious! I'm quite happy with the outcome but I need to actually take some photos of the process this weekend.

Thanks Eofor! Very happy to hear from somebody Down Under about the attempt on an Australian biscuit. It's curious to me that the larger amount of sugar doesn't attract moisture and degrade the biscuit faster. I don't know if I'll try these again anytime soon but when I do, I'll make sure to be more authentic!

Looking forward to the honeycakes recipe!