A gluten free communion wafer recipe is a regular request I get. And in the spirit of living gluten free with no compromise, I thought it would be helpful to share some more information about the sacrament of the Eucharist, or Communion, from a gluten free point of view.
Tradition has held that the bread used for this holy rite, whether leavened or unleavened, be made from wheat. This tradition was confirmed in mid-2017 from a letter to the Diocesan Bishops, written by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments at the request of Pope Francis. The letter outlined that gluten must be present in the bread used to celebrate the Eucharist during Roman Catholic Mass.
The Catholic Church’s Canon Law actually already spelled out this requirement in the 1990s and 2000s. It was further enumerated in 2012 when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed to this statement: “it is impossible to consecrate a host made of something other than wheat and water.”
Thus, celiacs and the gluten intolerant have historically been left without a place at the communion table, unless they partook of only the wine (it is recommended that communicants receive both the Body and the Blood, but not required in the Catholic faith). Early in this millennium, that changed, after The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration developed a “low gluten” host made from wheat starch. (To learn more about the Sisters and the development of their wheat starch host, see this PBS video.)
This host contains .01% gluten, which is approximately 100ppm gluten; however, equating that amount of gluten (37 micrograms of gluten contained in one wafer) to scientifically established tolerable daily exposure levels (6 milligrams of gluten per day), one wafer would be well within the daily amount of gluten (0.04%) considered safe to those with celiac disease. GlutenFreeHosts also offers a low-gluten wafer (<20ppm) made from wheat starch.
Whether this low-gluten wafer is acceptable to you and to your doctor is completely up to you, and is a matter of considerable debate. Other brands contain no gluten and are available for purchase but are not generally approved by the Catholic Church.
There is another option for Protestants, however: make your own.
Growing up in the church, I learned that part of being involved as a member of a church community meant volunteering and helping where you could.
One way I have been giving of myself to my church is to periodically bake the loaves for Communion – of course this means that everyone is partaking of gluten-free bread when I’m the bread baker.
If you are in need of a great gluten-free bread recipe to bake for Communion at your church (or otherwise), have a look at this beautiful gluten free artisan bread recipe.
These unleavened gluten free pita breads are also a great option, and have been a great way to have gluten free, top-8 allergen-free and yeast-free bread for intinction or otherwise as the communion table. I’ve been making them for my church this Lenten season for each service so that intinction can be inclusive and safe for all.
Recently though, my church asked me to start baking gluten-free Communion wafers for every service. I knew this would require creating a large enough recipe that would produce lots of wafers at one time and have a good shelf life. When I developed the right combination, I felt I should share it with you, too! Having the Host available to everyone, in every church, should be a mission we can all unite behind.
Whether purchased or homemade, whether low-gluten or gluten-free, all Communion wafers for those avoiding gluten should be handled separately to prevent cross-contamination. The most common way of doing this is to place the special Hosts apart from the wheat Host, usually inside of a “pyx” — a metal, ceremonial box. These wafers are also blessed or consecrated by the priest or officiant.
Ask your church about providing gluten free communion wafers for you and other parishioners, or make your own and offer them to your church for the benefit of all. Every willing person should be welcomed at the table.
Another reader has also shared her method of making this recipe without using a cookie cutter and I think it’s just brilliant! She simply uses a pizza cutter and cuts the dough into strips. The wafers are squares, not round, but that’s unimportant — just make sure they fit inside the pyx or other serving tray.
She also didn’t poke holes in hers or cover with a cookie sheet, so they puffed up. That’s an important step if you’re trying to save space, but not necessary if you don’t need to fit a lot of wafers into a small pyx.
Gluten Free Communion Wafers Recipe
Gluten Free Communion Wafers Recipe
Gluten Free Communion Wafers are a privilege everyone should be entitled to who would like them. This easy one-bowl recipe makes them even easier to offer!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (202gr) gfJules™ All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
- 4 Tbs. light olive oil
- 6 Tbs. water
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450° F (static) 425° F (convection).
Use a food processor or mix by hand in a large bowl: gfJules™ All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour and salt. Slowly add in the liquid while pulsing or stirring with a fork. If the dough is too dry, add additional water by the 1/2 teaspoonful in order to get dough wet enough to hold together in a ball but not be sticky.
Form a ball with the dough and pat out onto a pastry mat or clean counter well-dusted with gfJules™ All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour. Pat with your fingers to flatten the dough, then roll gently in each direction until the dough is so thin you can almost see through it.
Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut and lift with a bench scraper or spatula, and place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick each circle twice with a fork (I prick in both directions to make a cross shape). Roll out remnant dough to make more wafers.
Arrange all wafers on a parchment-lined baking sheet. They will not spread, so they may be placed quite close to each other on the sheets. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and lay another baking sheet on top to prevent the wafers from curling during the bake. Put an oven-safe heavy skillet on top of the second baking sheet to keep weight on top of the wafers as they bake.
Bake for 8-9 minutes then remove the second baking sheet. Continue to bake for 4-5 more minutes, until the wafers will are crisp but not browned.
Remove to cool on a wire rack.
What is the shelf life of these wafers?
Hi Pat – great question! To keep them nice and crispy, I’d recommend freezing them and only taking out the ones you need each week. They should last for several months that way.
I just found this and made the wafers, which by the way are easy. I asked our Pastor if the church would supply gluten free wafers for the 3 of us in our small church and they said they would not. He had no problem with us bringing in our own though. I am so happy to have found this and will keep a supply at our church. This is so important that I will be able to receive communion again. Thank you.
Fantastic, Connie! So glad you and the other parishioners at your church can now participate in communion again!!
I bake for communion at my seminary and I have a GF all purpose flour already. It does not contain xantham gum, so I add it. I see that the all-purpose blend you recommend has xantham gum. Should I add it for this recipe? I will be looking into changing our GF flour, but I need to use what I have!
Hi Abby, if you are baking with a blend that does not have xanthan gum in it already, you will need to add it for this recipe. That’s great that you bake for your seminary!
Thanks so much! I’m excited to try the recipe tonight for worship tomorrow!
Another huge THANK YOU for this! Communion is such a meaningful celebration for me, and I have literally wept at being unable to participate since my diagnosis.
(And to Matt, although she only addresses wafers in the post (which is, after all, a wafer recipe), there is plenty of good discussion about the wine in the comments)
So glad this recipe is helpful to you, Tiffany! I’m so thankful each week to have a gluten-free host. It means so much to be able to participate again!
Receiving wine from a common chalice is not the correct answer. In all of this discussion, the major issue of cross contamination from wheat in the common chalice of wine is not addressed. Each person who receives the host made from wheat leaves traces of wheat in the chalice. This could trigger an allergic reaction in the gluten sensitive person. Therefore, an individual uncontaminated container of wine should be provided if the low gluten host cannot be tolerated.
A friend of mine speaks with the priest, sits in the front, and receives the consecrated wine before the rest of the congregation, solving this problem.
Thank you for the recipe. I’ll definitely try it these days.
Really nice post. My Catholic church actually gives me the Gluten Free Hosts! LOL. I was actually unaware that this was not really allowed. I have a new found respect for our pastor now.
Often times, they are called “Gluten free”, but they’re really low gluten as Jules described. I would look into it (unless you can have a little gluten in your diet, then I wouldn’t worry much.) The only completely gluten free option for Catholics is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist in one substance only, and if that’s what you need to do, I encourage you to. God bless!
I got the go-ahead from my church that I can make these for the congregants who are gf (I am one of them). Can these safely be frozen? If so for how long? I am thinking of baking a few large batches 3-4 times a year instead of just before every Sunday communion is served. Thoughts? Thank you for sharing this!!!
Fantastic, Jennifer! I bake them for my church and keep them in a labeled, sealed tupperware container in the refrigerator or freezer there. They last for a long time because there is no dairy or egg. Congrats!
Great! Thank you!!! Now to find the tiny little cookie cutter you used.
I have a set of cookie cutters (3) from Bed Bath and Beyond. The smallest is 1 inch.
Thanks so much for the recipe. I also wondered about long term storage. Refrig or freezer, check. .. Now for reserved sacraments!
Hi Kris, so glad you’ll be able to use the recipe! I prefer to keep these sealed in the freezer, but my church keeps them in a refrigerator, sometimes for months. They are fine, but they tend to get very hard after a long time in the fridge. Hope that helps!
My husband is Celiac and our Anglican church purchased rice wafers especially for him. They are placed on a small server and deposited directly into his hands without the priest touching it.
Could I substitute corn oil for the light olive oil? My granddaughter who has severe food allergies can only have corn oil.
Yes, Julie – you can make that substitution.
I cannot make that substitution because some of the people in my church are allergic to corn.
I can’t believe how timely this is! I was just trying to find some options last week. My pastor has allowed me to bring my own bread and keep it with me as communion is served. It would be great to actually have a communion wafer again. And I do love everything that I make with your flour! I have now doubt that these will be perfect.
That’s great, Suzanne! So glad this recipe will be helpful to you!
I had no Idea that they were so expensive… My church just provides them. We only have a few people that need them. Unfortunately I do not have an option to make them, we are Catholic. That is awesome that you are able to and are sharing the recipe!
Yes, Brenda, I was pretty surprised myself at the cost! Luckily you are already at a church that provides them!
Hi Brenda and Jules,
Gluten free Communion wafers are really not as expensive as you may think and far from being $1.00 each. We offer a sealed canister of 110 gluten free wafers for only $19.95. This breaks down to about $0.18 per wafer. We’ve actually seen entire churches switch over to these wafers for two main reasons: 1. They taste better than the traditional unleavened hosts and 2. They can provide the same wafer to everyone.
Thank you Dana for sharing this. Though I have no problem with Jules flour and use myself, one gluten free young girl at church has allergies to corn and xantham gum so even this is not an option, but these wafers are free of almost all allergens. I will look into buying these.
Jules, we currently use the Benedictine Sisters’ communion wafers for those who are gluten intolerant, but am looking at other options. What grains are in your flour? I’m having a hard time finding a list of the ingredients.
Lora – you can find all the ingredients in my flour listed on the homepage of our store: JulesGlutenFree.com. Scroll down to the bottom. Email us at Support@JulesGlutenFree.com if you have any specific questions!
This is such a need!!!! When I go up for communion at church I just take the wafer back to my seat and give to my daughter. It would be nice to know they were allergy free.
Eleanor, hopefully with this information and my recipe, you will be able to partake at your church soon, too!!!
Just to make sure – may I use print your recipe for GF wafers in a newsletter that I write for the Fox Valley Celiacs Support group? I will credit your blog along with a note that the recipe cannot be used for commercial use.
Thank you.
Helen
Helen, yes, feel free to print my recipe and share it, as you’ve described. I want as many folks to have access to a safe host as possible!
Thank you!
Thanks for the recipe! My husband was just commenting that gluten free wafers are very expensive for communion and that our church was looking for cheaper alternative for the GF parishioners, as there are only a few of us at this time. I’ll let you know once I try to make them!
Christine, please do let me know! So glad this recipe is timely for you!
Can this dough be rolled out to make one big wafer. My belief is that all the saints should break form the same piece. Can you e-mail me the answer, please?
Joyce – yes, you can roll this out into one large wafer to be broken into pieces. I’d suggest rolling the dough onto a silpat or parchment that can be lifted and placed directly onto the baking sheet so that the large wafer won’t break when you try to lift it before baking.
How are the gluten-free wafers served in your church? Are you concerned about contamination via the hands of the communion servers? Some people are so sensitive that they could not receive a wafer by the hand that has also served a wheat wafer. We are trying to figure out how to handle this issue in our congregation, where more and more people are being diagnosed as gluten intolerant or celiac.
Mari that is a definite concern. The best situation is to have a separate station for those who wish to receive a gluten-free host. The next best is to have the servers use the right hand for one kind of host and the left for the other. Please always also make sure that no one dips wafers into a common cup (intinction) or that those who need the GF wafers are drinking from a common cup. In our church, for example, everyone gets their own little cup, into which the wine is poured.
I’m extremely sensitive, so although my church (Catholic) offers the low gluten hosts for those who need them, they get a separate chalice for me for the wine and I receive that way. Liked this blog by Bishop Coyne that a friend forwarded to me last year: http://thoughtsofacatholicbishop.blogspot.com/2011/05/food-allergies-and-eucharist-with.html
Thank you thank you thank you. I cannot wait to make these and receive communion again. Thank you so much for making me feel “whole” again<3
Kristi – I’m so happy that this recipe will help you feel not to feel left out anymore. Having felt that so many times myself, I totally understand! Welcome back to the table!