I made these cookies about 15 years ago, my mom copied down the recipe from a Martha Stewart show highlighting things about Australia. According to Wikipedia Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand,a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name. When war broke out in 1914, Australia and New Zealand had been dominions of the British Empire for thirteen and seven years respectively.
We were immediately drawn to the cookies simplicity (no beating, slapping, pinching etc, just mixing) and once they were shaped and baked, the taste and texture was what kept us making it over and over again. You can Christmas this up by adding candied green and red cherry bits, but I like them as is.
Although the recipe has a lot of sugar in it, the cookie doesn’t taste sickly sweet. It’s got a great chewy texture and with the addition of oatmeal, we can pretend it’s somewhat healthy. We have remained true to the recipe, with the exception that this year, I made only half the recipe and made the cookies much smaller (don’t worry, you can eat more of them this way!) Hope you enjoy them.
Anzac Biscuits
Chewy and not as sweet as you would think
Ingredients:
Makes about 3 dozen (I used the smallest ice cream scoop, about 1″ in diametre).
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
- 1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoons Lyles Golden Syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon plus a bit baking soda
- 1/8 cup boiling water
Directions:
- Pre heat the oven to 350°F.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, and coconut and stir well with a wire whisk. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with syrup. (I do this in the microwave on 30% so the butter does boil over and make a mess)
- Dissolve baking soda in boiling water, and add to butter mixture. Stir to combine. (Be careful; if the butter is hot, it will bubble up considerably.)\
- Add butter mixture to dry ingredients, and stir to well combine. This will be a very crumbly mixture.
- Using a 1 inch ice-cream scoop, drop onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart (be sure to pack the scoop tightly so the mixture doesn’t crumble).
- Flatten cookies slightly with the heel of your hand. The cookies will spread a little so leave about 2 inches between each.
- Bake until bottom and sides golden brown and firm but not hard, about 11 minutes (larger cookies will take longer).
- Transfer to wire racks to cool.
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