Wartime Potato Drop Cookies

composition of a potato, illustration

Mashed potatoes with roast beef. Boiled potatoes with capon and cranberry sauce. Fried potatoes with eggs and sausage gravy. The humble potato compliments most foodstuffs in no uncertain ways. But potato drop cookies with a glass of milk? The author of the 1918 cookbook Everyday Foods in War Time assures readers that these thrifty, potato-based cookies are indeed a treat.

Wartime Potato Drop Cookies

Hot mashed potatoes, 1 1/2 cups
Sugar, 1 1/4 cups
Beef or mutton fat, 1 cup
Flour, 1 3/4 cups
Baking powder, 2 teaspoons
Cinnamon, 1 teaspoon
Cloves, 1/2 teaspoon
Nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon
Raisins, chopped, 1/2 cup
Nuts, chopped, 1/4 cup

Combine the ingredients in the order given and drop the mixture by spoonfuls on a slightly greased tin. Bake the cookies in a moderate oven.

 

Baumgarthuber, Christine. Fermented Foods: The History and Science of a Microbiological Wonder. Reaktion Books, 2021.

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