Lembas Bread (Elvish Waybread)
Lembas is the elvish waybread from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings — a single piece said to fill the stomach of a grown man. This version is a buttery, slightly sweet shortbread biscuit with warm spice, honey, and cream. It bakes in under 15 minutes and keeps for days in a tin. The X scored into each piece is traditional.
Ingredients
- 320 gflour, all-purpose
- 113 gbutter, unsalted
- 70 gbrown sugar
- 160 mlheavy cream
- 2 tbsphoney
- 1 tbspbaking powder
- 1 tspcinnamon
- ½ tspsalt
- ½ tspvanilla extract
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Work quickly — you want visible pieces of butter, not a smooth paste.
- In a small bowl, stir together the cream, honey, and vanilla. Pour over the flour mixture and stir with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out and press together — do not knead.
- On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll the dough to about 1.5 cm thick.
- Cut into rectangles roughly 8×5 cm. Score a shallow X into the top of each piece with a knife.
- Bake for 10–14 minutes, until the edges are just golden. The centers will look slightly underdone — that is correct. They firm up as they cool.
- Cool completely on the pan before storing. Keep in an airtight tin for up to 5 days.
FAQ
Most likely the dough was overworked or rolled out more than once. Lembas is essentially a quick shortcrust — like scones — and overworking develops gluten, which makes the result tough. Bring the dough together in about 30 seconds, form it into a rough mass, and roll it once. If it still seems hard after baking, you probably overbaked: at 220°C, 10–11 minutes is usually enough.
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Comments (1)
I rotate the pan 180° halfway through baking this lembas bread. Most ovens have hot spots, and the flour colors unevenly without the rotation. It takes 3 seconds and prevents a burnt side.