ANZAC is an acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Choir. You can read more about here . As for the cookies, ANZAC Biscuits were originally sent to the troops in World War I to boost morale. They travel and keep well. Also, they are made without eggs. The Lyle's Golden Syrup plus sugar is what binds them together. Speaking of which, this was probably one of the first recipes I ever made with Lyle's Golden Syrup.
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Lyle's Golden Syrup
Dark corn syrup works in a pinch, but traditionally these are made with Lyle's Golden Syrup. Golden syrup is a thick amber colored syrup made from cane sugar that has been partially inverted into glucose and fructose. To me, its flavor is caramel-y, but others describe it as being like butter toffee in syrup form. Lyle's is the most well-known brand, and here in the USA it's found in the British section of large supermarkets. If your regular grocery store doesn't carry it, you can usually find it at World Market. Or buy it online, of course.
Small Batch
This is a small batch recipe, so if baking for an army you will no doubt want to double, triple or quadruple the recipe. But alas, I've yet to bake these for a large group and have only tested this little version which makes just enough for the family. Or go the opposite route and make a half batch of this small batch. Without an egg, it's pretty easy to just weigh out half of everything on the scale and shape into six balls of dough.
ANZAC Biscuits from Cookies by the Dozen
Grab the ingredients!
- 1 cup oats (quick or old fashioned)
- ½ cup (60 grams) flour (weigh or measure with a light hand)
- ⅓ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
- Pinch salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 tablespoons (60 grams) salted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup or Dark Corn Syrup
- 1 teaspoon very hot water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
To make the cookies, you'll preheat the oven to 325F. Next step, mix the dry ingredients. Add melted butter and stir, then stir in a mixture of Golden Syrup, hot water and vanilla. Drop by tablespoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the pan so that the cookies will bake evenly. Let cool on pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
There are a lot of ANZAC Biscuit recipes out there, but I always go back to this one. An old book called Cookies By The Dozen is the original source. It's what I'd call a vintage cookbook now, and if you find it in a used book store or even in the library consider yourself lucky.
Recipe
ANZAC Biscuits from Cookies by the Dozen
Ingredients
- 1 cup oats (100 grams)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (60 grams)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (65 grams)
- Pinch salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted (56-60 grams)
- 3 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup or Dark Corn Syrup
- 1 teaspoon very hot water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and put rack in highest position.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the oats, flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.
- Add melted butter and stir until the mixture is moist and clumpy.
- Combine syrup, hot water and vanilla and add all at once to clumpy oatmeal mixture. Stir to blend.
- Drop by tablespoons onto a lined cookie sheet. Gently press down mounds to make fat patties. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through for even baking. Note: You may need to bake the cookies longer. Go by color. They should be very golden.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Randi says
have you had that cookbook for a long time? Its out of print and its so expensive to get it used.
Anna says
Hi Randi,I don't own the book. I pretend the copy residing on the shelves of the Austin Public Library belongs to me and that the library employees are its nannies/guardians. I could steal the book and pay less for it than if I were to buy it used on Amazon, but I'm not a real Abbie Hoffman follower so I don't resort to those tactics.
Sweetnicks says
Thanks for the recipe! I made them last night, and gave you a shout-out on my site. Very yummy!
jtoepfert100 says
This reminds me, I've got a step-cousin (if there is such a thing) that was recently sent to Saudi Arabia. I've been meaning to bake up a whole mess of stuff to send - these look like a perfect addition!
Anna says
Joe, Cooking Light also has an ANZAC recipe. Ms. Chevious pointed it out to me yesterday, so we should try it.Jeff, that would be cool if you adopted your mom's best friend's son. If I can get my act together and send cookies to Iraq, I'll post responses from the soldiers.
Jeff says
What a great idea! My Mom's best friend's son just left for Iraq a few weeks ago, so we may have to do something similar.
Joe says
I keep seeing Anzac biscuits in the store and have been intrigued to find out what they taste like. I think i'll have to try a couple recipes myself to find out! They look good!