The original recipie was different - didn’t have any butter or baking soda or coconut in it. Yes, they were iron rations - and about as hard as iron too. Had to last through a long sea voyage through tropical waters with no refrigeration without spoiling. And could be eaten by both men and horses for a quick energy boost. Cheap ingredients that could be made by anyone with a woodstove and a husband/son at the frontline. One of the most outstandingly successful examples of getting the home front involved in a war without putting them at risk.
Modern recipie is different - and is inherently much softer. And burns a lot more easily (the coconut) so is baked for a crispy outside and a chewy inside so the bikkies don’t burn. If baked until juuuuust a little bit burned at the edges, they’re the absolute best bikkies to use for a cheesecake crust.
The original recipie was different - didn’t have any butter or baking soda or coconut in it. Yes, they were iron rations - and about as hard as iron too. Had to last through a long sea voyage through tropical waters with no refrigeration without spoiling. And could be eaten by both men and horses for a quick energy boost. Cheap ingredients that could be made by anyone with a woodstove and a husband/son at the frontline. One of the most outstandingly successful examples of getting the home front involved in a war without putting them at risk.
Modern recipie is different - and is inherently much softer. And burns a lot more easily (the coconut) so is baked for a crispy outside and a chewy inside so the bikkies don’t burn. If baked until juuuuust a little bit burned at the edges, they’re the absolute best bikkies to use for a cheesecake crust.