Hardtack Recipe – What is It?

Hardtack was often described as tasting like cardboard. In earlier times, it was considered an essential survival food, especially during the American Civil War. Surprisingly, you can still buy hardtack today, including on Amazon, where some varieties are marketed with a shelf life of up to 30 years.

Every year on the first weekend in November there is a re-enactment at Ft. Branch, a dirt mound Civil War fort near Hamilton, NC. Some of the re-enactors who didn’t want to brave the elements, stayed with me.

I must admit that it doesn’t look very appetizing, but, I guess if you were hungry, it was good to have. I have a piece of Hardtack that one of my guests gave me 15 years ago. He also gave me the recipe.

Unlike Union soldiers, Confederates did not always have access to hardtack because it was made from wheat flour, a crop that was not widely grown across most Confederate states outside of Virginia and Georgia. Instead, Southern troops relied on staple crops such as corn and rice for their bread.

One common substitute was a simple cornmeal bread known as a “corn dodger” or “Johnny cake.” Made from cornmeal, salt, and water, these dense cakes were baked until they became dry and hard, much like traditional hardtack, making them suitable for storage and travel during the war.

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