# Ammonia cookies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069 "2010-11-01T07:48:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/1 "2010-11-01T07:48:54Z")
[Grandma’s ammonia cookies](http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1710,152179-243198,00.html), from back when people cooked with love and baker’s ammonia. [Photographic evidence.](http://pioneerrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/06/ammonia-cookies.html) Note to the squeamish: Contains lard. And baker’s ammonia. [Even more recipes.](http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,ammonia_cookies,FF.html) The lemon ammonia cookies look good. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/2 "2010-11-01T08:09:51Z")
I kinda want to run out and find some baking ammonia and try these. I don’t think I’ve had cookies leavened with baking ammonia before, but I’m not 100% sure. How do they compare to other leavening agents? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/3 "2010-11-01T09:00:53Z")
Just don’t eat them with a tall frosty glass of Clorox. Actually, the first four words will suffice, although I’ve heard nice things about Windex scones. Just to clarify, this is NH4 we’re talking about and not something just callesd"ammonia" due to it’s similarity to NH4, because I’ve always heard that ammonia is poisonous. ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/4 "2010-11-01T09:16:26Z")
Baking with ammonium carbonate is still fairly common in Sweden. It works pretty much like baking soda. It gives cookies a very distinct aftertaste that’s difficult to describe, but it’s delicious. At least I think so. 🙂 The distinct taste means that it’s usually used in recipes where the taste adds to the overall flavour. It’s usually interchangeable with baking soda. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/5 "2010-11-01T09:27:13Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Just don’t eat them with a tall frosty glass of Clorox. Actually, the first four words will suffice, although I’ve heard nice things about Windex scones. > > Just to clarify, this is NH4 we’re talking about and not something just callesd"ammonia" due to it’s similarity to NH4, because I’ve always heard that ammonia is poisonous. [ammonium bicarbonate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_bicarbonate) You do realize that stuff with chemically names can be perfectly safe in small amounts to eat in their food safe version? Sodium goes boom, chlorine is a toxic gas, but combine them and you have table salt … There is sodium bicarbonate, and ammonium bicarbonate, and they are very similar chemically, and both are used in cooking. They both leaven chemically [add an acid and they bubble off gas that fluffs the dough] ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/6 "2010-11-01T20:13:40Z")
Okay, someone made cookies leavened with ammonia in my kitchen last year. They were reputed to be delicious if you didn’t breathe. _They smell like ammonia for the first month_. The whole house reeked of cat’s piss for two or three weeks. If you enjoy that, go ahead and use baking ammonia. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/7 "2010-11-01T20:23:19Z")
Aren’t “ammonia cookies” just what we now call “soda cookies?” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/8 "2010-11-01T20:25:30Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Aren’t “ammonia cookies” just what we now call “soda cookies?” I assume “soda cookies” are made with baking soda, not baking ammonia. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/9 "2010-11-02T01:20:45Z")
I have a little jar of baking ammonia, and I’ve made a few batches of ammonia cookies. It doesn’t affect the flavor, but if you put them in a closed container, you get a little whiff of ammonia when you open it. It makes really nice, chewy coconut cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/10 "2010-11-02T01:48:34Z")
> [@Walpurgis](#): > > Baking with ammonium carbonate is still fairly common in Sweden. It works pretty much like baking soda. _It’s a floor wax — **and** a dessert topping!_ ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/11 "2010-11-02T12:41:15Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > _It’s a floor wax — **and** a dessert topping!_ 😃 Perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/12 "2010-11-02T13:04:41Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > _It’s a floor wax — **and** a dessert topping!_ Oddly enough, “It works pretty much like baking soda” is what the person said when I called up General Mills to ask why trisodium phosphate was listed as an ingredient in Kix cereal. It’s better known as a powerful cleaning agent. I’m not sure exactly what it brings, flavor-wise. I’m wondering if these ammonia cookies taste anything like Scandinavian salty licorice, which is made with ammonium chloride instead of sodium chloride. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/13 "2010-11-02T13:13:22Z")
> [@Number](#): > > I’m wondering if these ammonia cookies taste anything like Scandinavian salty licorice, which is made with ammonium chloride instead of sodium chloride. The ammonia shouldn’t be left behind in the baked goods, per my sources. I enjoy my salmiak drop like any good american of hollander descent, but I don’t want mij cookies tasting like dubbel zout! ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/14 "2010-11-02T13:43:46Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > _It’s a floor wax — **and** a dessert topping!_ And a window cleaner! 😃 **Number** : There’s salty licorice both with and without ammonium chloride in Scandinavia. I think though that the salmiak (ammonium chloride) stuff does have that same sharp tang that ammonium cookies have. Mind you, it’s not the licorice taste. More like that “frzzt!” in the back of your nose. And like **Qadgop** says, the actual ammonia in the cookies dissipates (into your furniture) during baking. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/15 "2010-11-02T14:53:40Z")
Little House in the Big Woods mentions “Swedish cookies,” and the “Little House Cookbook” gives a recipe using ammonium bicarbonate. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/16 "2010-11-02T15:43:32Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The ammonia shouldn’t be left behind in the baked goods, per my sources. Considering it boils at -30 celcius, it would be hard for it to stick around unless it gets trapped. Maybe if you tried leavening a cake with it. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/17 "2010-11-02T16:50:12Z")
Last night I bumped into a blog which explained that the dumbing down of America could be directly attributed to the Illuminati corporations putting toxic additives into our food. Yikes, it’s true! ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammonia-cookies/559069/18 "2010-11-02T18:55:24Z")
It may be mostly evaporated, but the damn things still smell like ammonia after baking.