Looking for a way to use up surplus flour, or make a cheap trail food or durable survival ration? One answer may be hardtack, a baked, unleavened wheat cracker. As a survival food, hardtack has a proven track record.

Three Confederate soldiers captured after the battle of Gettysburg. Hardtack was a standard ration for both armies.

Vicksburg, MS: My gray-clad brothers-in-arms and I  hunkered down for dinner. In the morning, we would do battle with those “heathen Yankee horde” Civil War re-enactors at Champions Hill, between Jackson and Vicksburg , Mississippi.

I was “under cover” on assignment for the Vicksburg Post to photograph the battle, one of the biggest re-enactments of the year. Except for the Nikon safely hidden  in my haversack, my gear, weapons and accouterments were authentic in every way.

Since I was working for the post, I had to represent the home team and be a Confederate. (This probably caused a minor earth tremor in Iowa as my great-great-grandfather, James Hallowell,  97th Illinois Infantry, rolled in his grave!) My excuse was that I was drafted,  like most Confederate soldiers, and had no choice!

I ‘d learned a lot about being a Civil War infantryman in one short, sweltering afternoon: the wool uniforms were too hot, and felt like you were wearing a sweatsuit: the wool Kepi-style caps provided no sun protection and the canteens were too small. The Sargent, sensing my disillusionment with the Confederate cause (and knowing he had an embedded journalist in the unit), picked on me, said I was a slacker, and called me a baboon when I dropped my canteen during drill. As darkness fell, we would sleep under wool blankets, not to stay warm, but to fight off mosquitoes all night.

But the food was the worst. Dinner was a piece of hardtack, a fatty piece of bacon toasted on a bayonet over a campfire;  horrible boiled coffee brewed in my tin cup and a wormy-looking apple. After eating my meager meal, I was ready to either desert or form a raiding party to attack  the Yankees and get some real food!

Hardtack is easy to make, has a long shelf life, and all the flavor and texture of a fired brick!

Hardtack is one of the original trail and emergency foods, and it is worth considering if you are a prepper or are interested in wilderness or urban survival. The advantage is that hardtack is easy to make, transports easily and will last a reasonably long time if stored in plastic bags or containers. The disadvantage is the bland taste, and traditional toughness.

Even after yeast was discovered by the Egyptians, there was a purpose for unleavened breads. It was easy to carry and

durable, so it was standard fare for hunters and warriors.  Centuries later, Christopher Columbus took unleavened bread on his journeys.

Hardtack remained a staple in the New World. During the early settlement of North America, the exploration of the continent, the American Revolution, and on through the American

Hardtack was a durable, if bland-tasting, field ration.

Civil War, armies were kept alive with hardtack.  A basic concept in war is that the side that keeps its soldiers from going hungry will probably win.

Hardtack is also reasonably nutritious. Wheat flour is more than 10% protein and includes Vitamin B. During emergencies, people can live for quite a while on just bread and water.  Although raw flour is hard to digest, in the form of hard bread, it is edible.

No one has determined just when, or how, during the American Civil War, hard bread began to be referred to as hardtack. Apparently,  it was first called hardtack by the Union Army of the Potomac; although the name spread to other units, it was generally referred to as hard bread by the armies of the West.

Regardless of the time frame, if you’re a history buff, prepper or hard core survivalist, you should consider including hardtack in your emergency food supplies or survival kit. A guaranteed conversation starter at any campfire, campout or outdoor event, hardtack can have a useful place  in today’s survival kit.

(It only takes a few additional ingredients to turbocharge  the nutritional value of hardtack. To each cup of flour in the recipe, add one tablespoon of soy flour, one teaspoon of wheat germ and one teaspoon of powdered milk. There is no difference in the taste, and these ingredients combine to make the bread a complete protein.)

There are many versions and varities of hardtack recipes: Try some of these to start out.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour (preferably whole wheat)
• 4 teaspoons salt
• Water (about 2 cups)
• Pre-heat oven to 375° F
• Makes about 10 pieces

Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add just enough water (less than two cups) so that the mixture will stick together, producing a dough that won’t stick to hands, rolling pin or pan.  Mix the dough by hand. Roll the dough out, shaping it roughly into a rectangle. Cut into the dough into squares about 3 x 3 inches and ½ inch thick.

After cutting the squares, press a pattern of four rows of four holes into each square, using a nail or other such object. Do not punch through the dough.  The appearance you want is similar to that of a modern saltine cracker.  Turn each square over and do the same thing to the other side.

Place the squares on an ungreased cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Turn each piece over and bake for another 30 minutes. The crackers should be slightly brown on both sides.

The fresh crackers are easily broken, but as they dry, they harden and assume the consistency of fired brick.

Swedish Hardtack

• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 3 cups rye flour (or 1 1/2 cups rye & 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour)
• 1  1/2 tbsp. brewer’s yeast (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Mix liquids together.  In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.  Combine the mixtures, stirring to moisten throughout.  Form a ball.  On a floured surface, flatten the dough, and roll out thinly. Cut into squares and prick each cracker with the tines of a fork a couple of times.  Transfer to lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 425° F for around 8 minutes, checking to be sure not to over-brown.  It is best served warm.

Mix: two cups of all-purpose flour and a half teaspoon of salt.  Use more salt for authenticity. Mix by hand. Add a teaspoon of shortening and a half cup of water, stirred in a little at a time to form a very stiff dough.  Beat the dough to a half inch thickness with a clean top mallet or rifle butt.  Fold the sheet of dough into six layers. Continue to beat and to fold the dough a half dozen times until it is elastic. Roll the dough out to a half-inch thickness before cutting it with a floured biscuit cutter or bayonet. Bake for about a half hour in a 325° F oven.

The basic ingredients are flour, salt and water. General directions are also similar: Dissolve the salt in water and work it into flour using your hands.  The dough should be firm and pliable but not sticky or dry. Flatten the dough onto a cookie sheet to about 1/4 inch thick, and cut into squares 3 inches by 3 inches.  Pierce each square with 16 holes about ½ inch apart.  Bake in oven until edges are brown or dough is hard.

Preheat the oven to 400° F For each cup of flour add 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix salt and flour with just enough water to bind. Bake 20-25 minutes.  The longer you bake the hardtack, the more authentic it will appear.

A Sailor’s Diet

• 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned or quick oats.
• 3 cups unbleached flour.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.
• 1 teaspoon baking soda.

In a separate container, mix:

• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk.
• 3 tablespoons honey.
• 1/2 cup melted bacon drippings or shortening.

Combine the two sets of ingredients. When the dough is thoroughly mixed, roll it out on a floured board to a thickness of about a quarter inch.  Cut out circles of dough with a large drinking glass dipped in flour and put them on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 5 1/2 minutes at 450° F. 

Let the hardtack cool on a wire rack before serving with jam or jelly.

The only item on the lunch menu the first day was a three-inch square of Hudson Bay Bread gobbed with about two tablespoons of peanut butter. I’d worked up quite an appetite paddling and portaging that morning, and privately wondered where I’d get the energy to last the rest of the day.

My oldest son, Dan, and I, along with seven other members of Boy Scout Troop 18 of Bend, Oregon, had just started on a nine-day canoe trip through the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. We left from the Boy Scouts Northern Tier High Adventure base at Ely, Minn., and all the food, cooking gear and a guide were supplied.

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To my surprise, the Hudson Bay bread was so rich, filling and full of calories
that I could barely finish it. I had ample energy to paddle, portage and hike until that evening. There’s no question that the folks at the High Adventure base know how to fuel hungry paddlers!

Since that canoe journey in 2004, Hudson Bay bread has been put on my short list for high-energy, low-weight outdoor activity fuel. But being a freelance food writer, as well as somewhat of a health nut, I tweaked the recipe to make it a healthier food item.

Regardless of the recipe, one way to use the bread is to cut it into three-inch squares and put it into individual sandwich bags. For convenience, get peanut butter in one-ounce packets or fruit jam, and use that as a topping.

I assume the bread would last for several months, but don’t really know since it gets eaten too soon to find out!

Here’s the recipe for the bread given out by the High Adventure base at Ely. My suggestions for substitutions may change the flavor somewhat, but you’ll still get the nutritional punch needed for hiking, biking or any activity that burns a lot of calories.

HUDSON BAY BREAD

1-1/2 lbs. margarine or butter (Butter, always!)

4 cups of sugar (substitute raw, unrefined evaporated cane sugar)

2/3 cup Karo syrup (use maple syrup or blackstrap molasses. Get rid of the empty calorie refined corn syrup and add extra iron with molasses.)

2/3 cup honey

2 tsp. maple flavoring (If you use pure maple syrup, you don’t need this artifical additive.)

Cream together the above ingredients.

Add while mixing:

1-1/2 cups of ground nuts (Almonds can supply additional potassium)

19 cups of oatmeal (use steel cut or the kind you have to cook. The less refined the grain, the more nutrition).

Spread in a large sheet pan. Press it down into the pan. Bake at 325 degrees in a wind (or convection) oven for 15-18 minutes. As soon as the bread has been taken from the oven, use a spatula to press it down again. This presses the bread together to keep it from crumbling.

Cut it while still warm. For home-size preparation, cut this recipe at least in half. A conventional oven requires a longer baking time.