Australian-NZ heritage cookie — rolled oats, coconut, golden syrup, butter, sugar, flour, baking soda. Created during WWI to send to ANZAC soldiers because eggs spoil in transit. Crisp-chewy texture; eaten on Anzac Day (April 25) every year.
Anzac biscuits were sent to Australian and NZ soldiers during WWI; the recipe avoids eggs so the biscuits keep on the ship from Sydney to Gallipoli. The recipe is protected by Australian law (cannot be sold under the name 'Anzac' if it deviates substantially).
Crunch an Anzac biscuit — sweet golden syrup, oats and coconut crunch, a faint butter chew. The texture sits between cookie and granola — exactly engineered to survive a 30-day sea voyage. The April 25 ritual taste.
Golden syrup keeps the biscuits chewy (vs. brittle if pure sugar) and was a wartime substitute for eggs as a binder. Baking soda + boiling water creates aeration without yeast. Oats provide structure that holds together for weeks.
Variations
Anzac with Macadamia (modern). Anzac Slice (bar form). Anzac with Chocolate Chips. Anzac without coconut (allergy version).
On the Palate
Where Anzac Biscuits sits in the Australian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
7 steps · 20 min active + 20 min waiting
- 15 min
Preheat oven to 160°C. Line baking sheets with parchment.
- 23 min
Combine 1 cup rolled oats, 3/4 cup desiccated coconut, 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup brown sugar in a bowl.
- 33 min
Melt 125g butter with 2 tbsp golden syrup in a small saucepan.
- 41 min
Add 1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 2 tbsp boiling water to the melted butter — it will foam up.
Watch outStir the soda-water into the melted butter and watch it foam up pale and frothy — that fizz is the lift, so tip it in while it's still bubbling.
- 53 min
Pour butter mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir until evenly combined.
- 63 min
Drop tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets, leaving 5cm spacing.
- 722 min
Bake 15-18 min until deep golden. Cool on tray 5 min before transferring to a rack — they're soft when warm, crisp when cool.
Watch outPull them at deep golden and leave them five minutes on the tray — they're floppy hot and only firm up crisp as they cool, so don't move them straight off.
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