Anzac Biscuits

This has been a busy week for new things, not only did I make my placemats with my new sewing machine, but I also made Tim Tams in an Intro to Australian Baking course by Bread Ahead. That wasn’t enough though, I couldn’t stop at just making the delicious chocolatey and crunchy Tim Tams biscuits, I had to have a go at the Anzac biscuits too, another Australian bake. Because these biscuits are super special, I decided to dedicate a separate post, especially for them.

The Anzac biscuit reportedly became popular after the first world war when loved ones would send them to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers due to their durable and long-lasting ingredients.

I’d actually heard of Anzac biscuits before, mentally adding them to my ever-growing ‘to-bake’ list but never getting round to it. I was very happy to finally get the opportunity during the same Australian baking course I made the Tim Tams on, and was surprised and delighted by how incredibly simple they are.

It took around five minutes in total for the biscuit mix to come together. We started by mixing all the dry ingredients first, then melting the butter and golden syrup and mixing the baking soda with a tiny bit of boiling water before combining everything to form a relatively dry mix. This recipe by my baking hero Nigella Lawson looks similar to the one I used in the class and stresses the importance of the cooking time. Having never tried an Anzac biscuit before I wasn’t sure how the texture should be, but the teacher of the class told us there was a divide between people who like their Anzac biscuits crunchy, and those who prefer them softer. I split my mixture into two batches and baked one lot for 10 minutes for the crunchy version and the next one at 8 to try the chewy.

At a push, I would say I prefer the chewy, but I wouldn’t say no to either! They were so moreish and gently flavoured. They were sweet, yes, but the savoury oats and coconut balanced it out to make a beautifully textured endlessly eatable biscuit. The Anzac biscuits aren’t fancy or showy, they’re a simple, every day, drink-with-a-cup-of-tea kind of biscuit which I love – a little treat to brighten up a rainy day. I whipped up another batch the next day, intending to put some in the freezer so I always have some on hand, but they’ve not quite made it there yet…