Anzac Biscuits

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Heralding from Australia and New Zealand, Anzac Biscuits are delicious crispy, yet chewy cookies, loaded with oats, coconut and golden syrup. Perfect with tea or coffee at any time of the day, they are quick to make using store cupboard ingredients. Hugely popular all over the region, they are now also readily available in the UK. (Hurrah!)

ANZAC Day

As the name suggests, these biscuits are synonymous with Anzac Day.  ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is a national day of remembrance and a public holiday in Australia and New Zealand; an opportunity to remember those who lost their lives in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. It is celebrated on April 25th each year. The first Anzac Day was observed in 1916 to remember those who lost their lives at Gallipoli, the ANZACs first major military action in WW1 (1914 – 1918). Anzac Day has grown and changed since then but continues to be hugely important in the national calendar.  

Commemorative services are held at dawn around both countries, in remembrance of the time of the original landing at Gallipoli. Much like Remembrance Sunday in the UK, this service involves the laying of wreaths, singing hymns, playing the last post and also, of course, singing the national anthem. 

Gunfire – Tea or Coffee and Rum

It is not uncommon to see people enjoying a drink called ‘Gunfire’. This is a hot black tea or coffee with rum – in memory of the soldiers who would have been given a tot of rum by their sergeant major to drink with their morning tea before sunrise and stand-to. Something to quell the nerves before being asked, gun and bayonet in hand to charge, possibly to your death but certainly to witness horrors many could never speak about again.

History of Anzac Biscuits

The story of Anzac Biscuits is slightly more contested. The popular story is that wives, mothers and girlfriends back home would bake these biscuits and send them to their loved ones who were away at war. This seems unlikely though, and certainly unwise, as it would have taken at least 6 weeks for the cookies to arrive by boat, by which point they would most likely have spoiled.

Hardtack

It is more likely that these biscuits are confused with ‘hardtack’ a very hard nutritional substitute for bread which did not go mouldy and hence fed to troops on the front line. So closely associated are they with the Gallipoli campaign that they became known as Anzac wafers or Anzac tiles. Hence the confusion with these delicious sweet Anzac Biscuits.

Anzac Biscuits

It is possible though that Anzac biscuits were made and sold during this time at fetes and in shops to raise money for troops and the war effort. Whatever the truth of it, they really are one of the most delicious cookies you will eat and an absolute favourite in this household.

They pack up well so are ideal for lunches on the move – my husband likes to pack them in his backpack when skiing as well as sneaking a few to take to work. Whilst six weeks on a boat maybe too long, they do box up well and make wonderful gifts for friends and family.  

Having lived in Australia twice in three different cities, I have eaten my fair share of Anzac biscuits! Our daughter Charlotte has just returned from travelling in both countries and likewise, tried many versions in both places. (To read more about her travels please see Charlotte Explores here.)

How to make Anzac Biscuits

They really are a fabulous biscuit! Like many classic recipes however, there are many versions out there, similar yet different. This is our recipe of choice – crispy edges, chewy centre and quite pale after baking. If you prefer crispy and darker, just bake a little longer.

Collect all your ingredients together:

• unsalted butter, in cubes
• golden syrup
• plain/all-purpose flour
• caster sugar
• porridge oats
• desiccated coconut
• baking powder
• bicarbonate of soda 
• fine salt

Now make them – it will only take you 10 minutes!

1. Melt the butter and golden syrup, either in a pan on the hob or in a bowl in the microwave
2. Add the remaining ingredients: flour, sugar, oats, coconut, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
3. Mix well. Divide into balls using a small ice cream scoop or a 1 tablespoon measurement. Each ball should weigh around 30g and you will make around 18 cookies.
4. Use your hands to roll them into neater balls (optional) and place them spread out on a baking sheet. Bake for 6 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and, using a palette knife, press down gently on each biscuit to flatten them slightly.
6. Put back in the oven and cook for a further 6 minutes. They will be golden on the edges and thick and soft in the middle. They will look slightly underdone.
7. Leave on the baking tray for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
8. Eat and enjoy! That simple but soooooo good. 

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Troubleshooting:

Butter running out of the cookies whilst cooking –

1. When you take the cookies out of the oven after 6 minutes cooking, you may notice that butter is running out of the cookies. Don’t worry!
2. Press down gently with a palette knife as described above, and put back in the oven.
3. Cook for a further 6 minutes and the butter will have gone – absorbed back into the cookie as they cook!

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Difference between cookies which are shaped with an ice cream scoop and those which you have then rolled in your hands to neaten!

1. Shaped using an ice cream scoop only.
2. Rolled by hand to neaten
3. The top 2 cookies have been rolled by hand and the two below haven’t. Rolling will give you a neater rounder edge. If you don’t roll them, the edges will the a little flatter and crisper.

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Made this recipe?

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