Ginger Wafers/Marshmallow Sandwiches/Marshmallow Wafers (1917) ★★★★

Hi everyone! I have successfully completed another year of school. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that, as I haven't received my grades yet, but I'm confidant that I passed everything (I always do!).
Here's three recipes in one, to make up for the lack of posts recently. You know, I really love this cookbook, Better Meals for Less Money. Even though it was published in 1917 a lot of these recipes are still great, cheap dishes. Notice, for example, that this cookie recipe uses shortening instead of butter and brown sugar instead of white sugar. And there's no eggs! This could easily be a vegan recipe, with a few substitutions.




Original Recipe:

514.—GINGER WAFERS

½ cup shortening¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar1¼ teaspoons ginger
2¼ cups bread flour½ cup milk
½ teaspoon soda
Cream shortening and sugar; sift soda, salt, and ginger with flour, and add alternately with milk; chill; roll thin on baking sheet; mark in squares, and bake in a moderate oven eight or ten minutes. Remove from pan while warm.

515.—MARSHMALLOW WAFERS

Arrange thin crackers or wafers on a baking sheet, place a marshmallow on each one, and bake in a moderate oven for a few minutes until marshmallows melt; into each one press half a nut meat, raisin, cherry, or a bit of candied fruit.

455.—MARSHMALLOW SANDWICHES

Toast marshmallows and press while hot between ginger snaps, vanilla wafers, or butter thins.


The Verdict:
Firstly, disclosure: I did not add the salt called for, I used all purpose flour, and I ended up not having much ginger (oops, haha), so I added some cinnamon as well, to increase the flavour.
This recipe is super simple to make; it literally took just minutes to whip together the dough, and there aren't many ingredients. The wafers themselves were apparently really good - Mr. Man actually freaked out and demanded to eat three of them while they were still cooling. I thought they were pretty good, but not as great as all that. They are really fluffy and kinda crumbly, so I wonder if it would have been any different with bread flour. I also think I made them way too thick - I just feel like they're supposed to be thin and crisper, rather than like a slice of thin cake. You know, because of the word "wafers" and all...
I felt that the marshmallows really improved these, plus it made them a little but more fun. Overall, I would probably eat this again, but only if I used thin, crispy wafers. It didn't really taste bad, but I feel like this is definitely a wartime treat, as more of a budget recipe than what someone would actually want to make if they had the ingredients.


Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Better Meals for Less Money)


1/2 cup SHORTENING
1 cup BROWN SUGAR
2 1/4 cups FLOUR
1/2 teaspoon BAKING SODA
1 1/4 teaspoons GINGER, ground
1/2 cup MILK
MARSHMALLOWS
NUTS, RAISINS, CHERRIES, CANDIED FRUIT

1. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and ginger. Add the flour mixture and milk to the creamed shortening, alternating. Mix until well-combined and let chill for a little while, until it is easy to work with.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and roll out the cookie dough onto the baking sheet (either roll it out and transfer or do it directly on the baking sheet). Score the dough into squares. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes.
3. When the wafers are baked and cooled, make either marshmallow wafers or marshmallow sandwiches, following the directions above.


Anje graduated with a Honours Bachelors degree in History with a minor in Museum Studies. She currently lives and works in Japan's least populous prefecture as an assistant English teacher.

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