Lembas

This fabled Elven bread was a staple for long, hopeless journeys into the wild unknown. The making and giving of it was only for the Elven-Queens to do and it demonstrated the Queen's favor. The dwarves had a similar bread but it was not as tasty. Here is my own verson-it is very tasty and very easy.

• 1 Yeast package (or 2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4 cup of luke-warm water
• 1 and 1/4 cups milk (you can use any kind you prefer)
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 6 cups of non-bleached white flour (It realy makes a difference)
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Dissolve the Yeast in the lukewarm water. Mix the sugar and the milk together and stir into the dissolved yeast. To this mixture, add the salt and 3 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Add the oil. Gradually mix in the remaining flour until the dough is stiff enough to handle. Knead it for at least 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides with oil. Cover with a clean cloth and let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk (while this is happening, mix the cinnamon and sugar together). Then take the dough out of the bowl and rollit out on the table into a large rectangle. Spread the melted butter over the dough and sprinkle it with the cinnamon-sugar mix, reserving 1 tablespoon for the top at the end. Roll the dough up like a sleeping bag, length wise and cut it into two parts. Shape and taper ends and place the two loafs into loaf pans (if you don't have these you can use a baking sheet). Cover them and let them double again. Preheat the oven to 375*F. When the loaves have doubled stick them in the oven for 50 minutes (sometimes less depending on the oven). Remove the loaves and let cool.

You can serve this plain(as preferred by my boyfriend), hot and toasted, with peanut butter and/or jelly... It's up to you. Let me know if you have any problems, comments or suggestions.