Challenge 14: Fandom Food
I wanted to do something quick & easy so I went with Lembas bread from Lord of the Rings. It wasn't easy. There are a lot of recipes and they're all different, so I ended up going with one of the simpler ones. I later read that Tolkien drew inspiration from hardtack biscuits, if I was smart I would've followed a hardtack recipe and added some honey for sweetness but I didn't.
This is the recipe I used:
Ingredients
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
Instructions
• Preheat oven to 325℃.
• Cream together the butter and sugar or honey. Add the flour and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Kneed until smooth, about 5 minutes, adding a bit of flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking.
• Roll out to about ¼ inch thickness and cut into 4" squares, score with a knife halfway through each square with a butter knife. Place on buttered cookie sheet and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
The recipe is simple and straight forward, but I still managed to fudge it up. I don't know if it was the recipe or me, but the dough would not hold. It says to knead for 5 minutes but I ended up kneading for a solid 20 minutes while adding a bit of water every now and then. The dough was still cracking so I start pouring water into the dough, in all I added about half a cup of water to the recipe. Finally, the dough held and I was able to roll it out. I was only able to fit 6 squares onto my baking sheet so I froze the rest of the dough. I'd say the recipe will give you 10-11 squares. As for taste, it tastes like a doughy shortbread cookie. I imagine it would taste good warm with a little bit of jam.