ANZAC Biscuits!
ANZAC Biscuits
ANZAC biscuits are simple and easy, and are a great thing to make with your kids because there is Science-in-Action (the bicarb and water reacting with the butter/sugar mix) and the balling of the dough is very hands on. They keep for a long time, and they're a an excellent alternative to muesli bars for kids' lunch boxes.
All ANZAC biscuits are egg free! To make either of these recipes dairy free, simply replace the butter with a dairy-free spread or oil.
Although the method and ingredients for these are very similar, I've included both recipes because they came from different sources.
ANZAC Biscuits - The Regular Version
Taken from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook, Golden Press, 1970.
This is the recipe my mother has always used to make ANZAC biscuits.
Ingredients
* 1 cup [95 g, 3 1/3 oz] rolled oats
* 3/4 cup [70 g, 2 1/4 oz] desiccated coconut
* 1 cup [120 g, 4 oz] plain flour
* 7.5ml [1 1/2 teaspoons] sodium bicarbonate
* 40 ml [2 Australian tablespoons, 2 2/3 tablespoons everywhere else] boiling water
* 1 cup [250 g, 8 oz] sugar
* 125g [4 oz] butter
* 20ml [1 Australian tablespoon, 1 1/3 tablespoons everywhere else] golden syrup
Method
1. Combine rolled oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut.
2. Combine butter and golden syrup. Stir over gentle heat until melted.
3. Mix soda with boiling water, add to melted butter mixture. Stir into dry ingredients.
4. Spoon dessertspoonfuls of mixture onto greased oven trays. Allow room for spreading.
5. Bake in slow oven [150 C, 300 F, Gas Mark 2] for 20 minutes.
6. Cool on trays. Makes approximately three dozen.
Mum's Notes
If you want them soft and chewy, cook them for 15 mins.
If you want them hard and crunchy, cook them for 20 mins.
(My notes at the bottom of the post.)
ANZAC Biscuits - The Gluten Free Version
(Picture taken by mrsquizzical)
Taken from the Coeliac Society of Australia Inc.'s Wheat and Gluten Free, Fortiori Publishing, 2005.
I made these today, and they are truly fabulous. I could hardly tell the difference between these and mum's. The texture and flavour were wonderful.
Ingredients
* 2 cups [60 g, 2 oz] gluten free cornflakes - (Some of the brands on the market aren't very nice. We buy Norganic brand Organic Cornflakes, which are gluten free and actually taste decent.)
* 3/4 cup [70 g, 2 1/4 oz] desiccated coconut
* 1 cup [250 g, 8 oz] sugar
* 1 1/2 cups [180 g, 6 oz] gluten free plain flour - (We use White Wings Gluten Free Plain Flour.)
* 125 g [4 oz] butter
* 20 ml [1 Australian tablespoon, 1 1/3 tablespoons everywhere else] golden syrup or corn syrup - (If you can, use the golden syrup. It and the coconut are the main flavours of this biscuit, and without it, I can't imagine it would taste like an ANZAC biscuit.)
* 7.5 ml [1 1/2 teaspoons] sodium bicarbonate
* 40 ml [2 Australian tablespoons, 2 2/3 tablespoons everywhere else] boiling water
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150 C [300 F, Gas Mark 2]. Line two baking trays with paper.
2. Combine the cornflakes, coconut, sugar and flour in a bowl.
3. Melt the butter and golden syrup in a small pan over low heat. Stir the bicarbonate of soda into the boiling water until completely dissolved. Add to the butter mixture, pour into the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
4. Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls and place on the prepared trays, allowing room for spreading. Flatten slightly with a fork and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly on the trays, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 40.
My Notes For Both Recipes
* First off, forget all this 'spooning' of the mixture onto the trays. Ain't going to happen. This is a fairly dry, rough dough and the best way to do it is by rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands in there. Take a wad of dough and squish it in your fist TIGHTLY, until you have a ball the size of a walnut (or a Snitch! :D) This is especially important with the GF version. It'll seem like it doesn't want to stick to itself at all. If you squeeze it tightly enough, it'll ball.
* Secondly, DON'T BOTHER with the 'flattening with a fork'. I ditched that step years ago, long before I had anything to do with gluten free food. I worked out that if I left mum's recipe ANZAC biscuits balled, rather than squashing them, they turned out nicer. Also, if you try flattening the balls of GF dough, you'll just end up with a pile of doughy crumbs, and have to scrape them up and ball them again. They spread out and flatten on their own, without any help.
* Thirdly, use a MEDIUM sized saucepan rather than a small one. It'll look silly, melting the butter and golden syrup in such a big pan, but once you add the bicarb and water to it, it foams up, and you'll need that extra volume. Try to do the bicarb -> butter mix -> dry ingredients sequence as quickly and fluidly as you can, too. And feel free to get your hands straight in there and start balling the dough once it's mixed through. It'll be warm, but not hot.
* Fourthly, there is NO WAY either of these recipes makes 36-40 biscuits. I got 21 out of the GF recipe today. I suppose if you made itty bitty biscuits you'd make the dough go further, but IMHO, an ANZAC biscuit shouldn't be smaller than 5 cm [2 inches] in diameter.
* And finally, when the biscuits are done, they'll still feel very soft. DON'T PANIC, and don't shove them back in the oven (unless they've not noticeably browned at all - if that's the case, check your temperature). These biscuits harden up as they cool, which is why both recipes tell you to leave them on the trays for a while. Soon enough, they'll be hard and crunchy and wonderful (or slightly soft and chewy, if you cook them for fifteen minutes, rather than twenty, as my mum's notes say).
ANZAC biscuits are simple and easy, and are a great thing to make with your kids because there is Science-in-Action (the bicarb and water reacting with the butter/sugar mix) and the balling of the dough is very hands on. They keep for a long time, and they're a an excellent alternative to muesli bars for kids' lunch boxes.
All ANZAC biscuits are egg free! To make either of these recipes dairy free, simply replace the butter with a dairy-free spread or oil.
Although the method and ingredients for these are very similar, I've included both recipes because they came from different sources.
ANZAC Biscuits - The Regular Version
Taken from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook, Golden Press, 1970.
This is the recipe my mother has always used to make ANZAC biscuits.
Ingredients
* 1 cup [95 g, 3 1/3 oz] rolled oats
* 3/4 cup [70 g, 2 1/4 oz] desiccated coconut
* 1 cup [120 g, 4 oz] plain flour
* 7.5ml [1 1/2 teaspoons] sodium bicarbonate
* 40 ml [2 Australian tablespoons, 2 2/3 tablespoons everywhere else] boiling water
* 1 cup [250 g, 8 oz] sugar
* 125g [4 oz] butter
* 20ml [1 Australian tablespoon, 1 1/3 tablespoons everywhere else] golden syrup
Method
1. Combine rolled oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut.
2. Combine butter and golden syrup. Stir over gentle heat until melted.
3. Mix soda with boiling water, add to melted butter mixture. Stir into dry ingredients.
4. Spoon dessertspoonfuls of mixture onto greased oven trays. Allow room for spreading.
5. Bake in slow oven [150 C, 300 F, Gas Mark 2] for 20 minutes.
6. Cool on trays. Makes approximately three dozen.
Mum's Notes
If you want them soft and chewy, cook them for 15 mins.
If you want them hard and crunchy, cook them for 20 mins.
(My notes at the bottom of the post.)
ANZAC Biscuits - The Gluten Free Version
(Picture taken by mrsquizzical)
Taken from the Coeliac Society of Australia Inc.'s Wheat and Gluten Free, Fortiori Publishing, 2005.
I made these today, and they are truly fabulous. I could hardly tell the difference between these and mum's. The texture and flavour were wonderful.
Ingredients
* 2 cups [60 g, 2 oz] gluten free cornflakes - (Some of the brands on the market aren't very nice. We buy Norganic brand Organic Cornflakes, which are gluten free and actually taste decent.)
* 3/4 cup [70 g, 2 1/4 oz] desiccated coconut
* 1 cup [250 g, 8 oz] sugar
* 1 1/2 cups [180 g, 6 oz] gluten free plain flour - (We use White Wings Gluten Free Plain Flour.)
* 125 g [4 oz] butter
* 20 ml [1 Australian tablespoon, 1 1/3 tablespoons everywhere else] golden syrup or corn syrup - (If you can, use the golden syrup. It and the coconut are the main flavours of this biscuit, and without it, I can't imagine it would taste like an ANZAC biscuit.)
* 7.5 ml [1 1/2 teaspoons] sodium bicarbonate
* 40 ml [2 Australian tablespoons, 2 2/3 tablespoons everywhere else] boiling water
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150 C [300 F, Gas Mark 2]. Line two baking trays with paper.
2. Combine the cornflakes, coconut, sugar and flour in a bowl.
3. Melt the butter and golden syrup in a small pan over low heat. Stir the bicarbonate of soda into the boiling water until completely dissolved. Add to the butter mixture, pour into the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
4. Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls and place on the prepared trays, allowing room for spreading. Flatten slightly with a fork and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly on the trays, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 40.
My Notes For Both Recipes
* First off, forget all this 'spooning' of the mixture onto the trays. Ain't going to happen. This is a fairly dry, rough dough and the best way to do it is by rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands in there. Take a wad of dough and squish it in your fist TIGHTLY, until you have a ball the size of a walnut (or a Snitch! :D) This is especially important with the GF version. It'll seem like it doesn't want to stick to itself at all. If you squeeze it tightly enough, it'll ball.
* Secondly, DON'T BOTHER with the 'flattening with a fork'. I ditched that step years ago, long before I had anything to do with gluten free food. I worked out that if I left mum's recipe ANZAC biscuits balled, rather than squashing them, they turned out nicer. Also, if you try flattening the balls of GF dough, you'll just end up with a pile of doughy crumbs, and have to scrape them up and ball them again. They spread out and flatten on their own, without any help.
* Thirdly, use a MEDIUM sized saucepan rather than a small one. It'll look silly, melting the butter and golden syrup in such a big pan, but once you add the bicarb and water to it, it foams up, and you'll need that extra volume. Try to do the bicarb -> butter mix -> dry ingredients sequence as quickly and fluidly as you can, too. And feel free to get your hands straight in there and start balling the dough once it's mixed through. It'll be warm, but not hot.
* Fourthly, there is NO WAY either of these recipes makes 36-40 biscuits. I got 21 out of the GF recipe today. I suppose if you made itty bitty biscuits you'd make the dough go further, but IMHO, an ANZAC biscuit shouldn't be smaller than 5 cm [2 inches] in diameter.
* And finally, when the biscuits are done, they'll still feel very soft. DON'T PANIC, and don't shove them back in the oven (unless they've not noticeably browned at all - if that's the case, check your temperature). These biscuits harden up as they cool, which is why both recipes tell you to leave them on the trays for a while. Soon enough, they'll be hard and crunchy and wonderful (or slightly soft and chewy, if you cook them for fifteen minutes, rather than twenty, as my mum's notes say).