Today is Anzac Day.
In Australia, that means a day off from school and from work for most people. So I thought I’d bake some Anzac biscuits to represent the day, and because its raining out and what better to do on a rainy day than bake?
Anzac biscuits are a very popular rolled oat biscuit in Australia. The story goes that a similar, harder version of the Anzac biscuit was sent over to soldiers in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during World War I, as they were filling and didn’t spoil easily.
And as they have such a presence here, I have been baking them since I was a little girl. They were probably one of the first things I ever baked, and the recipe was handwritten into my childhood recipe journal. To be honest, I’m not even sure where it originated from.
Even though I have been baking these for years and they are very simple to make, this is the first time I got them right, the way I truly like them – crispy.
Just around the edges and outside though. Anzac biscuits tend to maintain a chew throughout the center. But I found that flattening them right down on the trays gave me a big, flat, crisp yet chewy, buttery, oaty Anzac biscuit. If you prefer a chewier version, simple flatten them less.
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup dessicated coconut
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 125g unsalted butter, melted (4.5 oz)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and line 2 trays with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, coconut, sugar and salt.
- Add the melted butter and maple syrup and stir well to combine.
- In a little bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water. Mix it through the dough.
- Roll large tablespoons of the dough into balls and place them on the baking trays, allowing room for spreading. Flatten a little for a chewy cookie and flatten right down for a crisp cookie like mine.
- Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until golden. Makes 16 large, palm-size cookies, but you could always make 32 smaller Anzacs.