How to Make Hardtack Recipe: A Survival Bread That Lasts A

Lifetime
skilledsurvival.com/hardtack-recipe-survival-bread

February 27, 2018

2.5 cups flour (+ a little extra)

1 cup of water
1 teaspoon salt

Start by mixing the flour and salt in a large bowl.

Pro tip: This is a great time to remove any rings on your fingers. Hardtack dough is very sticky, and you’ll
have a hard time getting your rings clean later – trust me I know!

After you mix your dry ingredients well, begin adding the water in small amounts. You can mix and knead
the dough by hand or with the bread hook attachment on a stand mixer.

Again, it’ll be extremely sticky at first but will quickly turn into a uniform dough.

If it’s still sticky after several minutes of kneading, add a small amount of additional flour.

Once your dough forms a solid ball, dust a work surface with flour and place the dough on the floured
surface.

Rolling The Dough

Using a rolling pin, heavy pint glass, wine bottle, or even your hands, roll the dough out to roughly
1/4″-1/2” thick.

Cut the dough into serving size portions.

This will be easier if you form the dough into a rough square (rather than a pizza crust circle).

If you’re not very experienced using a rolling pin you can use pencils as guides! Just lay a pencil
on either side of the dough and press down until the rolling pin is resting on the pencils.

Now, rolling back and forth will give you a nice flat piece of dough.

Cutting The Dough

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When you’re happy with your dough shape, place it on a cookie sheet.

Now using a knife or dough cutting blade, cut it into manageable “cracker” size pieces. Ideally, you want
them roughly the size of a saltine or graham cracker.

This cracker size is best for long-term storage and it makes a good serving size for later.

I recommend a size that will still fit in a mug if you choose to soak with soup or coffee!

Now, with your “sheet of crackers” cut to size, poke small holes spaced evenly across each piece.

These holes help the biscuit bake consistently. Ideally, you want both the edges and the middle of
the hardtack biscuit to have a consistent bake.

The holes allow more moisture to escape and keeps the dough from rising in the oven.

Also, the holes make it easier to break the tough biscuits into smaller chunks later for eating.

Now, bake the dough for 25-35 minutes in a 375deg oven, until it just begins to brown on the surface.

You’re looking for a very light tan, more than an actual brown. It’s very easy to scorch the flour, so pay
close attention.

When you have a light tan color, take the survival biscuits out of the oven and allow it to cool
COMPLETELY. You want it to be 100% cool before putting it into any package to remove as much
moisture from the biscuits as possible.

Any trace of excess moisture will cause your hardtack biscuits to spoil prematurely.

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So if you live in a relatively dry climate, feel free to leave it out for several days to dry some more before
storing it.

Storing Your Hardtack Biscuits

You can store dry hardtack for many months or even several years – if it remains dry.

Using a vacuum sealer, mylar bags and desiccants will help remove moisture during storage and a solid
(metal) container keeps rodents out.

Keep the individual packages small, so you only open what you need while keeping the rest safe and dry.

Here’s an excellent video showing just how easy it is to make survival biscuits at home.

BONUS – ANZAC BISCUITS RECIPE

ANZAC Biscuit Ingredients:

1 cup each of rolled oats, sugar, and coconut

1 tablespoon golden corn syrup
3/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon baking soda (dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water)

ANZAC Biscuit Instructions

1. Melt butter.
2. Add corn syrup to dissolved soda and water. Combine with melted butter.
3. Mix dry ingredients and stir in the liquid.
4. Place small balls on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 300deg for 20min or until golden
brown.

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