Lembas (Coimas)

Tolkien's Elvish languages aren't particularly rich in food vocabulary; we know words for "bread" and "meat" and not much else. The Etymologies of The Lost Road yield at least one more interesting entry, though: ferna, the Quenya word for "beechnuts". This struck me as a pretty low-probability food word to have in one's lexicon, so I naturally began to speculate as to the possible significance of the beechnut in Middle-earth lore.

In LOTR lembas is described as being crisp, wafer-like, and unexpectedly delicious. I imagine something akin to macarons, which are made from almond flour. I wondered—could the Etymologies' reference to beechnuts point to a lembas recipe that included tree nuts? Beechnuts might well be a staple of a forest-dwelling people, and lembas could plausibly be made of beechnuts, eggs, honey, and little else.

However, given the rarity of beechnuts in American grocery stores, I've had to stick to almonds for this recipe. The result is a delicious cookie-like confection, crispy on the outside and light and crumbly on the inside.

Hardware

• a food processor
• a coffee grinder with a blade, like this one.

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw almonds (145 g)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar

Preparation

1. Blanch the almonds by dropping them into boiling water for 60 seconds. When time's up, drain them immediately and run cold water over them. If the almonds boil too long they'll start to soften. Squeeze the skins off and let the almonds dry completely before proceeding. You can speed up the drying by putting them in the oven at 120°F.
2. Grind the oats into flour. I use a coffee grinder for this.
3. Grind the almonds into coarse meal in a food processor. Blend in the oat flour.
4. Beat the eggs with a mixer on high for 5 minutes or more, until enough air is incorporated that they form a thick foam.
5. Beat the sugar into the eggs.
6. Fold the flour mixture into the eggs, taking care not to let out too much air.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
8. Bake dollops of the batter, a quarter cup or so each, on parchment paper for 15 minutes. Leave a couple inches between them since they'll flatten out and expand as they bake.

Serves 10.

Notes

Jan 30, 2020: I tried adding more flour (wheat) to the above recipe to make a dough that I could roll out into wafers. It worked, but I wouldn't use wheat flour again. The wheat flavor was distractingly prominent even with only a quarter cup added. They were also slightly too sweet. I might cut the sugar back to 1/3 or 1/4 cup next time.

One thing I'd like to try is baking these in a shortbread pan like the one pictured here, although the recipe would probably have to be tweaked to make the dough properly flattenable.