Fasting Bread for Lent
Many years ago, I spent several months living in monastic life. It was a beautiful and beneficial time. During the Lenten season we observed The Great Fast. In the Ukrainian Rite, this was a very austere season of life. One of the basics of the meals during this time was a very hearty bread, that included fruits and nuts and various grains. It was meant to help you make it through the fast with as much nutrition as you could from a healthy hearty bread.
This recipe is loosely based on what I can remember from that time 20+ years ago. I also added in some things for nutritional value. I added in Ground Flax and some Hemp seeds. Recipes that I’ve found for similar breads called for whole wheat, but I substituted Spelt.
After cooked, it is a very heavy and dense bread, but also very filling and satisfying.
I have added various different dried fruits, but you could choose one of these that I’ve listed, or a couple. You could also emit all but the raisins, and add double the cinnamon for a very delicious cinnamon raisin bread.
Fasting Bread
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Spelt Flour
- 5 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Cup Ground Flax
- 1/4 Cup Hemp Seeds
- 4 Tsp Quick Acting Yeast
- 2 Cups Warm Water
- 2 Tsp Salt
- 1 Cup Oats, soaked in 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Cup Chopped and Toasted Walnuts or Pecans
- 1/2 Cups Raisins, soaked in warm water and drained
- 1/2 Cup Dried Apricots, chopped
- 1/4 Cup Chopped Dates
- 1/4 Cup Goji Berries
- 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
- 1 Tblsp Sugar
Directions
- Line two 9 inch loaf pans with parchment and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together your flours, salt, flax & hemp seeds. In separate vessel, add the warm water, sugar, and Yeast. Let sit to activate for 5 minutes.
- Add the Yeast mixture, Maple syrup and all fruits to your bowl.
- With a wooden spoon or spatula, start to mix the ingredients. When it becomes too difficult, use your hands to mix until a nice dough forms. You may need to add more all purpose flour, half a cup at a time, until it become easy to form into a smooth ball. It will be slightly sticky from all the fruits.
- Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap, place in a warm area, and let rise to double in size. Roughly two hours.
- Once dough has doubled, split it in half and form each half into a loaf and place into prepared loaf pans.
- Let the dough rise for another half hour to 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake the loaves for 45 minutes to an hour. Check internal temp with an Instant Read Thermometer. It should read around 180 when it is done baking.
- Let cool slightly, then remove from pans and let cool on a rack.
