Hard Tack
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Hard tack is a plain flour and water cracker that sailors and soldiers relied on long before canned food existed. It takes only three pantry ingredients, and the dough is pressed flat, baked, cut, pricked with a fork and baked again on the other side. Kept dry, it will last for months. It is meant to be dunked in coffee or broth, which makes it a good project for history-minded cooks.
Instructions
Mix the flour, water and salt into a stiff dough. Press it onto a greased cookie sheet in an even slab about ½ inch thick.
Bake in an oven preheated to 400°F (205°C) for half an hour. Leave the slab whole at this stage and do not cut it yet.
Take the sheet out of the oven and cut the slab into 3-inch squares. Punch four rows of holes into each square, with four holes per row. A fork works well for this.
Turn the squares over and return them to the oven for another half hour. The crackers should come out pale, dry and very hard.
If you want to dry them out further, some cooks give them a second baking at 250°F (120°C). Keep the finished crackers dry, and soak them in water, coffee or another liquid before eating.
Make it personal.
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