It’s easy to see why Anzac biscuits are such a beloved Australian and New Zealand tradition. The rich history and background are part of our cultural identity, and the recipe itself is extremely accessible in terms of both cost and execution.
The exceptional element is the combination of oats, coconut and golden syrup. It’s deeply wholesome and nostalgic, and the aroma evokes the feeling of warm sunshine on your bare shoulders.
To make, melt your wet ingredients for a bit, fold them in with the dry, roll your dough out and pop the biscuits in the oven. Too easy. It’s pretty foolproof and very kid-friendly – especially that kitchen alchemy moment of adding bicarb soda to golden syrup and watching it fizz.
Most of the ingredients are likely to be found in an Australian kitchen (perhaps with the exception of golden syrup, which was more of a staple 100 years ago, when Anzac biscuits first started appearing in cookbooks and newspapers). The recipe can easily be adapted for vegans, too.
There’s no shortage of recipes around for Anzac biscuits, and many families are likely to have a favourite. You don’t want to mess with them too much. The Department of Veterans Affairs has a series of rules about what can technically be called an Anzac – and producers can be fined for an errant chocolate chip or forbidden egg. Lemon zest pops up in some recipes – Maggie Beer approves but the DVA does not. And referring to them as cookies is absolutely not on.
No one is going to dob on you for what happens in your kitchen but purists might like to use one of the three recipes listed on the Australian War Memorial website.
Whatever variation you pick, all are best served with milky cups of tea and long conversations. Preferably in the sunshine.
Crisp or chewy?
This is the pre-eminent Anzac biscuit question. From a historical point of view, the biscuits were more likely to have been crisp, given their long-distance jaunt across the ocean.
Some older recipes recommend adding an extra teaspoon of boiling water for a crisper finish, or cooking at a lower temperature for a long time.
Biscuits can be made chewier by adding slightly more golden syrup (just pull back on the sugar to adjust the overall sweetness), and cooking them quickly.
The baker Charlotte Ree (her recipe appears below) has a great solution for households staring down the chewy-crisp divide: halve your batch and simply cook some for a few minutes extra for the best of both worlds.
Make them vegan?
Butter can easily be substituted with other fats to make the biscuits vegan-friendly (this is what most supermarkets do with their in-house recipes, too).
The vegan margarine Nuttelex has a bit of a cult following for its recipe, which delivers excellent, crisp biscuits (despite erroneously labelling them as cookies). Coconut oil also works, and really dials up the nutty flavours.
Sugar and syrup
Golden syrup really is crucial, and costs less than $5 at most supermarkets. Try to find tinned syrup for maximum authenticity. In a pinch, you can substitute with a mixture of treacle and honey but original is best.
Brown sugar is most commonly favoured but you might also use raw or caster sugar. Just go with whatever is on hand. Caster or raw sugar will give you a slightly crisper biscuit, while brown adds a richer flavour.
A pinch of salt is a great addition to round out the sweetness.
Leftovers
One of the challenges of baking during social distancing is finding people to help eat all your creations. If you find yourself with 24 biscuits and no one to eat them, consider the following twists:
Sandwich two biscuits together with chocolate spread for a homemade supersize Kingston, or with a little scoop of ice-cream for a very Aussie ice-cream sandwich.
Crush up leftover biscuits with a rolling pin and crumble over Greek yoghurt or ice-cream, with optional sliced banana and caramel sauce for banoffee vibes.
Using your fingers, work the crumbled biscuits with a little flour and cold butter into an apple crumble topping.
Lightly blitz in a food processor with melted butter and press into a pie tin for Anzac pie crust (then go nuts with lemon curd, custard, fruit or whatever filling you like).
Freeze biscuits to nibble on later.
Charlotte Ree’s chewy Anzac biscuits
“Here’s a recipe for chewy Anzac biscuits. If you prefer them to have more crunch, just bake them for a few extra minutes.”
Makes 24
150g unsalted butter
160g brown sugar
90g golden syrup
150g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
90g desiccated coconut
90g rolled oats
Preheat oven to 160C. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Place the flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats in a mixing bowl and mix to combine.
Melt the butter and golden syrup together in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the bicarb soda. Stir to combine and then pour over the oat mixture.
Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on to baking paper. Flatten slightly and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
This is an edited extract from Just Desserts by Charlotte Ree, published by Plum, RRP $29.99, photography by Luisa Brimble, styling by Lee Blaylock
Nadine Ingram’s giant Anzac biscuits
Nadine Ingram, the founder of Sydney’s cult-status bakery Flour and Stone, likes her Anzacs slightly crispier, extra coconutty and XL-sized. “There are many inferior competitors to rival the Anzac biscuit, but none that evoke such a sense of home and country,” she says.
“The pleasing warm smell of golden syrup as they come out of the oven is something I have always loved about them, surpassed only by my occupational advantage of always being able to eat them straight off the baking sheet.”
Makes 12 giant or 24 soldier’s-pocket-sized biscuits
250g unsalted butter
300g golden syrup
2tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tbsp boiling water
250g plain flour
150g light brown sugar
150g desiccated coconut
100g shredded coconut
300g rolled oats
Preheat the oven to 150C and line three baking sheets with baking paper.
Combine the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan and place over medium heat to melt the butter, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, tip the bicarbonate of soda into a small bowl, add the boiling water and mix them together with a small spoon. Place this bowl near the stove, at the ready.
Once you see the butter and golden syrup just beginning to boil remove the pan from the heat and, stirring with a wooden spoon, immediately add the bicarbonate of soda mixture. Mix well, then set aside to cool until just tepid.
Place all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix them together thoroughly. Pour over the cooled butter syrup and mix it through with a wooden spoon until the dough becomes sticky and everything is well combined.
For the giant biscuits, scoop half a cup of dough for each biscuit directly on to the prepared baking sheets, then use your fingertips to flatten the dough to a thickness of 3mm, trying to keep them as round as possible. Leave a 5cm gap between each biscuit to allow for spreading. For the pocket-sized biscuits, use a quarter cup-sized measuring cup to portion out the dough. Bake the giant biscuits for 30 minutes and the smaller ones for 20 minutes or until golden. If you prefer your Anzacs crisp, leave them in the oven for a further five minutes.
Remove the biscuits from the oven and slide them on to a wire rack to cool. They will keep in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
