Tasty Cuneiform Tablets

COURTESY JENNIFER DRUMMOND, BAS

BAR’s Recipe

3/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
2 sticks butter
1 cup almonds, ground
3 1/3–4 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 good pinch each of ground cloves, cardamom, mace, and allspice or 2 tsp Lebkuchengewürz
1 tbsp cocoa powder
grated peel of half a lemon
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp rum or water

Instructions:

1. Melt honey, sugar, and butter on stove until sugar dissolves. Take off the stove and allow to cool slightly, then pour into a mixing bowl.
2. Add almonds, 3 1/3 cups flour, spices, lemon, cocoa powder, and egg to the honey mixture. Mix well.
3. Stir baking soda into rum (or water) until dissolved; knead into the dough.
4. Mix dough at the highest speed until it is no longer sticky and soft. Add extra flour as necessary and mix until dough is smooth and solid.
5. Leave dough in a bowl, cover, and let sit overnight (or at least 4 hours) in the refrigerator.
6. Once dough has set, roll out to desired thickness (a slightly thicker dough works better for making the cuneiform).
7. Cut tablet to preferred size and shape, and begin making the cuneiform characters (see photo; a drawing is available in the online tutorial). Repeat for as many tablet cookies as desired.
8. Once tablets are “written,” bake at 350 degrees for 10–15 minutes, then allow to cool.
9. Once cooled, cookies will be very hard. Place into an airtight container with apple slices until they soften, at least seven days depending on local conditions.

For step-by-step directions, visit biblicalarchaeology.org/tastytablets