Communion Bread Recipes

This morning, I'm taking the communion bread for the 9:45 service.  I had planned to make Milk and Honey Whole Wheat bread, the first homemade bread I ever tasted and the first recipe I ever used.  It's from Recipes for a Small Planet by Ellen Buchman Ewald, that 70's classic of vegetarian cooking--think lots of beans, lots of dry milk, lots of grains.  It's a bread that could truly sustain life for many days, if one needed it to do so. 

But it's a yeasted bread, and I ran out of time.  Happily, the Internet has come to my rescue.  I made the communion bread posted at the Luther Seminary site and pasted below. 

And of course, I had to try some.  So, for my breakfast, I had a small round of bread and 2 hardboiled eggs:  a breakfast full of Christian symbolism!

The bread didn't rise much--perhaps it's not supposed to.  But it tastes delicious, so I will take it for the service.

Luther Seminary Communion Bread

2 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
1 & 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 & 1/4 tsp salt
Stir in 4 tsp oil. Set aside.
Mix wet ingredients together until dissolved:

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp very hot water (minimum of 180 degrees F)
3 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp molasses

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well. Dough should be slightly sticky. Do not knead.
Divide into four balls and flatten each into a 1/4 inch thick disk.

With a knife, score the top of each loaf into eight pie-shaped sections, so that the sections can be more easily broken off while serving. Alternatively, you could score a cross onto the loaf.
Lay the loaves on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and brush the tops of the loaves with oil. Bake an additional 5-8 minutes. Let cool.
Yield: four 8 oz. loaves. Each loaf serves 60-70 people, depending upon the size of the piece given. The loaves freeze well.