Today, April 25th 2024, I’m bringing you a “controversial take” on ANZAC Biscuits (according to my fellow Aussie colleague lol!). Controversial because they’re SQUARES and more like slice than a biscuit (cookie).
Wait, what… What is ANZAC DAY ?
This day commemorates the anniversary of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) landing on the shores of Gallipoli in 1915. Every year, ANZAC Day is day of remembrance where Australians and New Zealanders honour the memory of those who have served and died in all military operations.
Why do Australians eat biscuits (cookies) on ANZAC Day?
During World War I, mothers, wives and girlfriends would send food care packages to their men serving in the war, though this article I came across recently suggests:
While some families or communities may have made and sent what we now call Anzac Biscuits to the front in the First World War, it did not have the national cultural import that subsequent stories have given it (although it was sent to Australians serving in subsequent wars).
If we believe the stories, though the ships carrying the care packages would take months to arrive, so any food had to be edible after that long without refrigeration. The ANZAC biscuit only contains a handful of ingredients, none of which spoil quickly (so, no eggs) – they were the perfect food to pack and send. During the war, eggs were scarce anyway, so the binding agent is the golden syrup (although I’ve found sweet brown rice syrup works well if you cannot find golden syrup). To make sure the biscuits stayed crisp on the long voyage, they were packed in tins such as airtight tea tins. These were dubbed ANZAC biscuits after the landing at Gallipoli and are one of the few products able to be legally marketed in Australia using the word ANZAC which is protected by Federal Legislation.
Crispy or chewy?
Though the biscuits were packed in airtight containers so they stayed crispy on the long voyage, MY favourite ANZAC biscuits are a bit crunchy on the outsides but mostly chewy so I wouldn’t have minded if my biscuits arrived not-so-crisp! You’ll find a lot of different recipes for ANZACS, some using brown sugar, some using regular granulated sugar and this does change the “crispy/ chewy” factor.
Get my recipe for ANZAC Biscuits here.
Get my recipe for Gluten-Free, Vegan ANZAC Biscuits here.
Coconut or no coconut? Variations on a classic
I grew up eating ANZAC biscuits that were made with coconut but some recent research on the Australian War Memorial site that I read when I was developing the square version of the recipe reveals some interesting facts about the biscuits, including the fact that there is a version without coconut and even a version without oats (including jam and icing!) which we think of as one of the main ingredients! And, interestingly:
even within the scope of the traditional Anzac Biscuit, there is a high degree of variation within the recipes with different amounts of flour, sugar or golden syrup and some even had lard instead of butter, used treacle or honey in the place of golden syrup, or most controversially of all, some even included egg!
This is true – if you ask any Aussie, they have “their” recipe (the one their mum used, the one they clipped from the paper 30 years ago that’s a go-to, or their favourite website recipe) and they all vary just ever so slightly.
My own variations and why I’m making squares
In the recipe I’m sharing today, I’ve replaced the baking soda/ boiling water with baking powder after reading that you can substitute it. This recipe came about when I was looking for a no-fuss recipe to teach my dad and was flipping through some of the mum’s cookbooks I brought home from Australia, including this gem:
Ostensibly bought for my sister (her name is in it) but mum used a few of these recipes a lot when we were little so I wondered if there might be something in there that would be easy to show dad. Indeed, there is a “Honey Oatcake” recipe that looked nice and simple and tasty but on closer inspection, I saw it was very similar to ANZACS. I modified the recipe slightly to include the MUST-have ingredient of Golden Syrup and I tinkered with the proportions of the recipe to make it more ANZAC-like but I made it in the Swiss Roll pan they use to make a slice. I LOVED this iteration so dad and I hopped on Zoom and he made them with me a second time:
(for a non-baker, these are pretty perfect!)
Dad-tested and approved, so here they are today!
(yes, different colour to dad’s – different oats, perhaps different Golden Syrup, different ovens etc… but dad’s were the correct texture – a little crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside!)
ANZAC biscuit in square form! A one-bowl recipe! As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.ANZAC biscuit squares
Ingredients
Instructions
Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire cooling rack.Recommended Products
Mmmm – crispy edges!
Get my traditional ANZAC Biscuit recipe!
Get my recipe for ANZAC Biscuits here.
Get my recipe for Gluten-Free, Vegan ANZAC Biscuits here.
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yes, folks, I can vouch for them…. not only easy to make, but delish. Thanks Mardi.
Mardi, where do you purchase golden syrup? Would I maybe find in a British store?
Hi there, I linked out to this on Amazon but any “British products” store should have it or be able to get it in for you!