Ammonia Cookies

The Master of the House (also known as my husband, Eric) has an unfortunate propensity for using ammonia to clean the house.  I'm torn;  while I'm grateful he cleans it, I'm not thrilled that the house smells like urine.  Ammonia therefore seems an unlikely component of food given its stench.


But in my forays through Leta's notes I found a recipe for ammonia cookies.

Ammonia cookies (Leta)

Transcribed:

4 eggs
4 c of sugar
2 C of lard
2 C of sweet milk
5 cents worth of bakers (sic) ammonia
5 cents worth of lemon oil

Let stand [for] 24 hours before eating.

OK, so first of all the ammonia.

According to Wikipedia, baker's ammonia, or ammonium bicarbonate is used in the food industry as a raising agent for flat baked goods, such as cookies and crackers, and in China in steamed buns and Chinese almond cookies. It was commonly used in the home before modern day baking powder was made available. In China it is called edible or food-grade "smelly powder". Many baking cookbooks (especially from Scandinavian countries) may still refer to it as hartshorn or hornsalt (e.g., NO: “hjortetakksalt”, “salt of hart’s horn”) In many cases it may be substituted with baking soda or baking powder or a combination of both, depending on the recipe composition and leavening requirements.

Well, ok.  So ammonia is a legitimate baking ingredient--baker's ammonia anyway.  A quick google search reveals multiple recipes for ammonia based cookies.

But these?  Tell me,  how much is 5 cents work of baker's ammonia?  How about 5 cents worth of lemon oil?  And it is likely that these figures are from the 1930s or 40s.

So, dear reader, I will not be making this recipe soon.  But for you, I will try another version that seems close from Cooks.com:

2 1/2 C sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 C shortening
3 T baker's Ammonia
2 C sweet milk
2 t oil of lemon
1 t salt
5 1/2 C flour

 

Dissolve ammonia in milk. Cream shortening and sugar, add eggs, and remaining ingredients using additional flour if necessary to make it stiff enough to roll. Roll out, cut out and bake 12 minutes. Note: I bought oil of lemon and baker's ammonia at the drug store. They keep well and the flavour improves with the keeping. I also add a little sugar on top of each before baking.

 

It still doesn't sound very good to me.  Thoughts?

Dave, Lloyd, Anita and Ron (my dad) Steininger c. 1950