Anzac Biscuits for the 100th Anniversary of ANZAC Day

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

For the Fallen, Laurence Binyon

 

 

This year is the centenary of ANZAC Day.  ANZAC Day falls on 25 April every year, and honours Australians and New Zealanders who have participated in wars and peacekeeping operations around the world.

 

ANZAC is an acronym for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, who landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 in World War I.  Anzac biscuits were supposedly sent to the troops in World War I because of their keeping qualities.

 

Although Anzac biscuits are "keepers", they are delicious - they are made from rolled oats, sugar, coconut and golden syrup, and smell like heaven.

 

In honour of the centenary of Anzac Day, I made these Anzac biscuits from  a recipe on p84 of the April 2015 edition of Taste magazine.  I was not that happy with it - it uses caster sugar instead of brown sugar, the latter of which I feel gives the biscuits a lovely caramel flavour, and the butter stated was not near enough to roll the batter into balls.  Looking at other recipes, it seems that the ratio of dry ingredients to butter was slightly off.  The recipe makes crunchy Anzacs - I like mine chewy.  They tasted fine, but were just not what I am used to.

 

If crunchy Anzacs are your thing, here is the recipe with the quantity of butter adjusted - you could even add a little more butter, because I still struggled a little to make balls from the batter:

 

150g plain flour

155g caster sugar

140g rolled oats

80g coconut (I used dessicated, they used flakes)

150g melted butter

60ml golden syrup

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 tablespoon boiling water

 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, oats and coconut.  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the melted butter and golden syrup, and stir the mixture to combine.

 

In a small cup, combine the bicarbonate of soda and water, then pour it into the biscuit batter and stir to combine.

 

Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls, place 2cm or so apart on the baking trays, and bake for around 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

 

Remove the Anzacs from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking trays.

 

The recipe says you should get 26 Anzacs - I got 18.

 

Lest we forget.