ANZAC Biscuits

With ANZAC day approaching on Wednesday, two things come to mind; celebrating our heroes and Anzac biscuits.  For the readers who are not in our hemisphere, the acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Core.  The history dates back to WWI when the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers who were concerned for the health and nutrition of their men wanted to send food that would ensure they were getting good nutritious, homemade foods.  The problem, though, was that any food the women intended to send could take up to two months to get to them without any refrigeration.  The solution was ANZAC biscuits.  A combination of rolled oats, sugar, butter, coconut, flour and golden syrup.  All these items did not spoil readily and were staples in many households.

There are two teams when it comes to these biscuits - crunchy vs chewy!  In our house it's a unanimous decision - crunchy is the winner.  To make them the perfect crunch, I bake them for an extra 5-10 minutes and add a little extra golden syrup (1 tablespoon) than the recipe asks for.  So, if you like them chewy follow the recipe as listed below.

ANZAC Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup dessicated coconut
• 125g butter
• 2 Tablespoons golden syrup 
• 1/2 teaspoon bi-carbonate soda
• 1 tablespoon boiling water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees celcuis.
2. Combine the oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a small saucepan, combine the butter and golden syrup. 
4. Stir gentle over a low heat until melted.
5. Mix the bi-carb soda with the boiling water.
6. Add the bi-carb soda mix to the melted butter mixture.
7. Stir the butter mixture into the dry ingredients.
8. Place teaspoonfuls of mixture on lightly greased oven trays
9. Cook in oven for 20 mins
10. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes

Add an extra tablespoon of golden syrup for a crunchier texture

Cook for 5 – 10 mins longer for crispy crunchy Anzacs.

The kids LOVE these in their school lunch box and Martin and I devour them with a cup of tea.