ANZAC cookies have a very special place in my heart. Just the smell of the cookies remind me of my years in school and every bake sale and every ANZAC day steeped in rich history. Every household has their own special go-to recipe, and more often than not I find these recipes have been passed down through the generations.
For me, this recipe represents everything I truly want to pass on to my own children. The love for the simple things, and a humble cookie recipe that would one day be “my Grandmother’s recipe”. It is a very small dream.
A little bit about ANZAC day
ANZAC day is a very special one in the Australian and New Zealand calendars. It is the day we commemorate soldiers from the two nations “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served”. Originally the day was to remember those that laid down their lives in Gallipoli in World War 1.
Each year on the 25th of April there are services held across both nations, the first of which start at Dawn. COVID-19 has meant that these services have been heavily reduced, but nonetheless individuals and families have found their own ways to commemorate.
One of the biggest traditions around ANZAC day are the humble ANZAC cookies/biscuits. There are various claims around the true origins of the biscuit with some people claiming that the biscuits were sent to the soldiers as the ingredients were staple and would not easily spoil, while others claim the cookies were sold in Australia and New Zealand to raise funds for the soldiers. It was in 1917 that the first version of the modern-day ANZAC cookie featuring oats was published and today these are a bit of staple in the average Australian household.
What are ANZAC Cookies?
ANZAC cookies are made using a combination of oats, flour, baking soda, brown sugar, butter, a pinch of salt and traditionally golden syrup. There are no eggs in the recipe! Some people add some ginger, or some nuts or even some sultanas in the recipe. I find that every family has their own version of the cookie passed down and each is absolutely wonderful.
Traditional cookies use luscious and sweet golden syrup as the binding agent and sweetener for the cookies. My version is a bit richer in flavour owing to the se of treacle which I heat up with butter until the butter just starts browning. The result?
A beautifully dense cookie with that luscious burnt butter flavour.
Trust me. This is the very BEST ANZAC cookies you have ever made.
How do we make the BEST ANZAC Cookies?
Here is the recipe and you are going to want to make it right now. The home is going to smell amazing and you will find these cookies disappearing right away.
How to make the BEST ANZAC Cookies
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 125 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 40 g treacle or golden syrup treacle results in a really rich flavour
- 160 g brown sugar shy of ¾ cup
- 150 g plain flour roughly 1 cup
- 100 g rolled oats roughly 1 cup
- 60 g desiccated coconut a little over ⅔ cup
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda bi-carb soda
- 2 tbsp. hot water
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180° Celsius and prepare two baking trays lined with baking paper
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter and treacle together until the butter starts to bubble and brown. Remove this from the heat and set aside
- Mix the dry ingredients (except the baking soda) together in a mixing bowl
- Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. Make sure the soda has dissolved completely
- Add the soda mixture in the butter and treacle mixture and use a spatula to combine. The mixture should look amber and start to foam
- Add the treacle mixture to the dry ingredients and use the spatula to combine everything
- Scoop out the batter onto the baking tray and flatten the balls gently with your hands before placing the tray into the oven. Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes, rotating the tray half way through
- Once baked, let the cookies rest on the tray for about 5 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to completely cool. Serve up fresh! These cookies last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks
And there you have it. Such a simple recipe and such a delicious outcome!
