Well, the holidays are just around the corner and we all need to think about gifts, cookies giveaway circles, parties, and just general having something on hand for those drop in guests; I will be posting Christmas Cookie Recipes in the weeks leading up to December.  Mostly because when I started saving recipes for a single post on holiday cookies; I didn’t realize there were Sooooooo Many!  So many more than I can do in just one post, I thought it would be a good ongoing category in this blog. 

Some of the cookies get even better with age, like the springerle, they actually taste better with them sitting for a while. 

Starting off, this is a recipe from one of the oldest cookbooks in America;

One of the first cook books published in America is “American Cookery by Amelia Simmons” 1796 

Pearlash – (pearl ash, pearlashe, also salts of tarter) Dates to the 1780’s or so. It is a refined, purified potassium carbonate, the primary component of potash.  It was the subject of the first patent in the U.S. issued July 31st, 1790, and signed by George Washington.  The preparation is time consuming, but could be accomplished by any cook with a cast-iron pot; which involved soaking fireplace ashes in water which creates lye, then boiling it to remove the water and result in “salts”.   The salts could be further refined, but when used with acidic ingredients like lemon juice or sour milk, created a chemical reaction of carbon dioxide which in turn gives you the raised light airy texture of baked goods, without yeast and shortened the length of time involved in making baked goods.  

(Just as a side note, lye is also a primary ingredient in making soap and gunpowder)

A U.S. patent was granted in 1790 for an improved method of making potash and pearl ash as an ingredient for fertilizer, not as a baking ingredient.   It is traditionally used in German Gingerbread recipes in combination with Hartshorn.  (Be sure you follow recipes and directions for its use, it can be very harmful if used in the wrong quantities)

American Cookery (1792) the first American cookbook by Amelia Simmons, she gives three leavening products to use; baker’s yeast, brewer’s yeast and pearlash.  It is the first book to call for its use and with its introduction became a preferred way to make baked goods and opened up the creation of whole new types of cakes, cookies and biscuits; that were faster and easier to make.

In 1828 a Dutchman first developed a processed cocoa powder, called “Dutching”, as the resulting product is called Dutch-processed chocolate.  Adding potash reduces the acidity of cocoa beans by balancing the pH, and it improves the aroma. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_carbonate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder

Ammonia Cookies

I have not tried these types of cookies, but to all accounts that I have heard they are wonderful!  They are similar to springerle in the use of hartshorn/baking ammonia and that the are better with ageing.  Many of them are lemon cookies, but the flavoring could be just about anything. 

Hartshorn – Ammonium carbonate is made by dry distillation of oil of hartshorn, which is made by the destructive distillation of male red deer horns.  (Can be used as smelling salts) Also known as Baker’s ammonia, it is still used in baking some old-world cookies such as Springerle, a favorite Holiday treat that can be kept for long periods of time without hardening and retains the intricate molded designs.  It can be used for thin, dry cookies and crackers as it releases ammonia and carbon dioxide, but not water.     

It was mainly used in the 17th and 18th centuries, before baking powder.  It can be very pungent with the smell of ammonia when baking, and thinner cookies will allow the smell to dissipate.  

As a safety concern; use with care!  The amino acids in some fruits, nuts and whole grains (asparagine) react with the ammonia released while baking to form acrylamide, which is a carcinogen.   Do Not breathe in the fumes of the baked goods using baker’s ammonia when removing from the oven!   

Substitute 1 teaspoon of baking powder for ½ teaspoon of hartshorn. 

A small ledger handwritten cookbook from Wabash Indiana 1918 through the 1920’s.

Sauris North Dakota 1920’s – 30’s

Two Handwritten Cookbooks from Morgantown West Virginia 1960’s through 1997.

A notebook of newspaper clippings and some handwritten recipes from Red Lodge Montana in the 1950’s and 60’s. 

Winfield Kansas between the 1950’s through 2011.

This is a good reference for cooking information.

https://kitchenrecipetreasures.com/2021/07/23/instructions-guides-for-measurements-times-temperatures-1950s/

And for further information on baking temperatures, ingredients and measurement equlivents take a look at this listing. 

https://kitchenrecipetreasures.com/2021/11/02/holiday-cookies-1-springerle-german-christmas-cookie/