We recently received a large collection of books from my Uncle Scott. Most of those books were agriculture yearbooks. There were books from the earliy 1900s all the way up to the 1990s. Now those books are actually for my husband, but I found 1 book that was calling my name. It was a copy of the 1918 Department of Agriculture Yearbook that someone turned into a book of recipes.

There are lots of pages of the book which haven’t been touched.

But, it’s also full of old WWI era recipes.  I think a lot of them would be fun to make, just to see how they taste. I’ve never had war cookies before.

War Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon soda
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (ground in food grinder)
• 3/4 cup peanuts (ground)
• 3/4 cup raisins (ground)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup rye flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients well.
2. Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet.
3. Bake in a hot oven. (My guess is 350F)
4. When done cut into squares.

War Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1 cup barley flour
• 3/4 cup white flour
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1 teaspoon soda, dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 cup seedless raisins
• 1/2 cup nut meats, cut fine

Instructions:

1. Mix in order given
2. Bake in gem-tins (you could use cake pans).

Victory Gingerbread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup clear syrup
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 1/2 cups barley flour
• 3/4 cup sour milk

Instructions:

1. Mix sugar and syrup and place on stove.
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. As the syrup mixture warms add oil and dry ingredients, add milk last.
4. Beat well.
5. Bake in a moderate oven.