The Civil War Recipe Box: Hardtack

Last weekend I purchased The Life of Johnny Reb and The Life of Billy Yank by Bell Wiley. It's an interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about the personal side of the Civil War. The book gives insight into the lives of Union and Confederate soldiers off the battlefield, covering everything from favorite games to popular camp songs to mealtime rations. Frequently mentioned is hardtack, a staple of the soldier diet. The biscuit like thing was really a food group in itself, although it didn't always have the consistency (or appearance) of actual food.

I have never actually tried hardtack. Someone in my history class thought about baking some but decided against it at the last minute. I guess his fear was ending up with a lot of leftovers he wasn't about to eat with his coffee. However, if you're one of those brave foodies who love trying new, and maybe even slightly bizarre dishes, or just want to do a little reenacting without leaving home, I present to you, straight from my Civil War Recipe Box, the recipe for hardtack.    

Remember that this hard, repeat, hard cracker like bread must be dipped into milk, tea, hot chocolate, or coffee before eating. Hence the name, you could break your teeth eating it dry.

Ingredients

• Butter for greasing the baking pan
• 5 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 TB of baking powder
• 1 TB of salt
• 1 2/3 cups of water

Steps

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Grease the baking sheet.
• In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and water.
• Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon.
• With freshly washed hands, squeeze the flour mixture with your fingers. This will be a very stiff dough.
• Flatten the dough to about 1/2 inch into a large rectangle.
• Using a knife, lightly trace lines into the dough to divide the pieces into 3X3 square pieces.
• Use a toothpick to poke holes across the entire surface in neat rows 3/4 of an inch apart. Be sure the holes go all the way through the dough to the baking sheet.
• Bake the dough about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Allow to cool 10 minutes.
• Remove from the baking sheet with a metal spatula.

This makes about 9 hard crackers.

If you decide to try hardtack, leave a comment below on what you thought of it. And maybe even a picture of what it looked like :) 

Until next time.

XOXO, Kate