ANZAC Biscuits (Golden Oatmeal Cookies) [Video]
The crunchiness of Anzac Biscuits goes back to the roots of when they were invented – by soldiers’ wives who needed a recipe for biscuits that would stay fresh for the months that it would take to reach soldiers overseas back in the early 1900’s. (ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.)The warm sweetness from the golden syrup combined with the wholesome goodness of oats and coconut is a flavour that is unique to this crunchy Australian biscuit!
Servings: 16 to 18
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain flour all purpose flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup desiccated coconut unsweetened
- ¾ cup white sugar preferably caster / superfine
- 150 g / 5oz unsalted butter
- 4 Tbsp golden syrup (Note 1)
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan forced).
- Line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Mix dry: Mix flour, oats, coconut and sugar in a bowl.
- Melt butter and golden syrup: Place butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over medium high heat and stir until butter has melted.
- Baking soda: Add baking soda and stir to combine – it will fizz up, this is normal. Immediately remove from heat.
- Biscuit dough – Pour butter mixture into flour and mix until just combined. The mixture will be crumbly but should stick when you press together.
- Form patties – Scrunch / press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into balls, then flatten into patties. (Thinner = crisper, thicker = chewier centre, crispy edges) Place balls, 2.5 cm/1" apart, on prepared trays.
- Bake for 15 minutes, swapping trays halfway during cooking, or until deep golden. (Bake 12 min for chewy biscuits!)
- Cool to crisp – Stand on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool – they harden as they cool!
Notes
- Golden syrup – amber coloured sweet syrup primarily used for baking purposes in Australia and in the UK. Has a caramel-like flavour. Best substitutes:
1 tbsp light molasses + 3 tbsp honey or light corn syrup or...
1 tbsp treacle + 3 tbsp honey or light corn syrup - Oats & batter consistency – Different brands of oats can have different levels of absorbency. Your dough should be firm enough so that you can roll it into balls without it sticking to your hands, but pliable and wet enough so that you can flatten the balls without the dough crumbling. If your dough is too sticky, add more flour, if it is too dry, add more melted butter. Don’t worry about playing around with this recipe – it’s a pretty forgiving biscuit dough!
- Storage – Anzac cookies stay crisp for about a week in an airtight container. After that, they soften a bit but are still good! If the biscuits go soft, they can be crisped up in the oven – 5 minutes at 180C / 350F.