The Best ANZAC Biscuit Recipe

2009-04-19T23:42:00.001-07:00

ANZAC biscuits are a famous recipe. You'll have no trouble finding an ANZAC recipe, but I think this particular one is the BEST. My husband Jeff (who tweaked the recipe until it was just right) entered these biscuits into the Melbourne Royal Show a few years ago, and won first prize. It was a novice category. Never mind about that bit. First is first!

I've annotated the recipe, illustrating ingredients and steps that I think are interesting.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour (sifted)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
125g butter
4 tablespoons golden syrup
4 tablespoons boiling water
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method
Combine dry stuff in bowl.
Melt butter and syrup. Dissolve bicarb in water, then add to butter/syrup. Mixture will foam up.
Add foaming mixture to dry ingredients and combine thoroughly. Mixture should be firm enough to roll into a ball on a teaspoon.
Bake for 20 minutes at 150C

Mixing the dough

2009-04-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

When you mix the liquid into the dry ingredients, you'll get a soft dough.

When you roll it up into balls, remember it will still be warm. Adults should cope just fine, but supervise kids. This is a great time to make a fuss over hand washing!

What happens in the saucepan

2009-04-19T23:34:00.001-07:00

When you add the butter and syrup to the pan, of course it will all melt together nicely.

Stir it around a bit as it melts. Remember this mix is very hot - supervise kids closely.

When you pour in the water/bicarb mix, it will froth up ...

... a LOT - so be sure to use a big pan for the job!

Coconut

2009-04-19T23:33:00.001-07:00

Dried, or dessicated, coconut is available in various levels of shreddedness. This is what we use, fine shredded coconut. You can toast it a bit before baking, to add some flavour, but don't overdo it!

Flour

2009-04-19T23:31:00.000-07:00

The flour here is "Plain" flour. That gets called "all purpose" flour in some countries. Normal white flour, with no raising agents.

Syrup

2009-04-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

The syrup we refer to here is Golden Syrup, easily available in Australia.

Measuring four tablespoons is a real bother. The syrup sticks to the spoon, and you have to dip it back into the jar with most of the syrup still clinging. Oh, don't get me started! A bit over quarter of a cup will be about the same measurement. You can warm the jar of syrup in the microwave to make it pour more readily, but don't overdo it - just a few seconds.

Did you know a Tablespoon is different in different countries? The Aussie tablespoon is 20ml. Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry on tablespoons for your information.

Mmm, that's syrupy!

Oats

2009-04-19T03:49:00.000-07:00

We like "quick oats" rather than "rolled oats" because they are a little finer. We think they make the biscuits chewier.

You may prefer the look of big rolled oats in your biscuits - go for it!