Anzac Cookies Recipe
Anzacs are made from oats, coconut, and flour coming together in a butter-kissed dough. You end up with a hearty, sturdy cookie, that isn't overly sweet, with little fuss.
Not overly-sweet, Anzacs are made from oats, coconut, and flour coming together in a butter-kissed dough. You end up with a hearty, sturdy cookie, with little fuss - altogether hard to get wrong. Today's recipe is based on a somewhat traditional Anzac cookie recipe, with a few little twists (and notes) I couldn't help but throw in. In this version I've added a bit of orange zest and a splash of orange blossom water to play off the oats and coconut.
A little context here, ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The legend and lore surrounding the origin of the recipe are murky and contested, many tell the story of these cookies (biscuits) being made by Australian and New Zealand women for soldiers during WWI. This wartime version is famous for being able to withstand overseas travel and oft described as rock hard and barely edible. What we are talking about today is a different beast. How it evolved from the barely edible variety, I'm not entirely sure, but maybe someone will come out of the woodwork in the comments to give us a bit more context.
A couple final notes, one of the signature ingredients in this Anzac cookie recipe is golden syrup - tricky to find here in the United States. Don't let this stump you, feel free to substitute honey, it gives the cookies a slightly different flavor profile, but is delicious just the same. And if you come across golden syrup, grab some.
Some people like their Anzac cookies on the thin and crisp side - I, on the other hand, like them thick so they are moist and chewy on the inside, with a golden crust. If you like crisper cookies, pat the dough out into thinner disks and bake for a few minutes longer. Delicious either way.
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Anzac Cookies
There are many other things you can do with the tasty Anzac dough. It's great as a cobbler topping, or even a tart base. Leftover cookies keep well in an air-tight container for a few days. Have fun experimenting with other zests or spice additions, anything that pairs nicely with oats and coconut will likely work here. For a more traditional Anzac cookie leave out the orange zest and orange blossom water.
- 1 cup flour (all-purpose or whole wheat pastry)
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup fine grain natural cane sugar OR brown sugar
- 1 cup finely shredded non-sweetened coconut
- scant 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup butter, cut into little cubes
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup or honey
- zest of one medium orange
- 1 tablespoon boiling water
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom water*
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Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl; flour, oats, sugars, and coconut. Mix well.
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In a small saucepan over low heat combine the butter syrup (or honey), and orange zest. Stir until melted and remove from heat. In a small bowl whisk together the boiling water and baking soda. Stir it into the butter. Now pour the butter mixture over the big bowl of oats and stir. Add the orange blossom water and stir again. This is a dough I like to mix it with my hands to make sure the butter is evenly distributed and the dough is moist throughout.
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I baked this batch of cookies in a well-buttered, heart-shaped cast iron pan, but you can simply drop them by the tablespoonful onto parchment lined baking sheets. Make sure they aren't too flat or they will get crispy. Bake for about 12 minutes or until deeply golden.**
Makes 18 - 24 medium cookies.
*Orange blossom water is sometimes available on Amazon.com, for example here and here. I also find it regularly at places like Whole Foods Markets and/or other natural food stores.
*Orange blossom water is sometimes available on Amazon.com, for example here and here. I also find it regularly at places like Whole Foods Markets and/or other natural food stores.
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In Canada you will easily find Roger's Golden Syrup, made from sugar cane, probably either in the sugar department, or along with the pancake syrup. You can see the shape of the bottle by typing 'Roger's golden syrup' into google.
Bridgett - yes, golden syrup is also called treacle...use it to make pecan pies too.
Is golden syrup like light treacle? A friend from the UK gave me some and I'm not sure what to do with it.
I sell anzac biscuits (among many other things) at a farmers market over in Australia. Even though golden syrup is plentiful here I now make mine with maple syrup, organic wholemeal spelt flour, organic rolled oats, organic raw sugar, unsalted butter and vanilla extract. I make them thin and crisp as Aussies prefer them that way. I do like your idea of the orange blossom water. Another variation is to add pepitas and dried cranberries.
One can never have too many oatmeal cookie recipes. I love anything with oatmeal in it. And this one has cane syrup. I grew up on the stuff and prefer it to maple. If you live in the South you can buy fresh locally made Cane Syrup. It is sort of the micro-brew of the South. For some reason all the foodies haven't discovered it yet. Every time I go visit my sister in Massachusetts I take them a bottle. My own grandparents grew their own cane and made their own syrup.
When I lived in San Francisco I used to buy what they called "oat cakes." They were sold in a small corner store, and at a coffee kiosk. They were sold individually from a large cookie jar and were about 3 inches in diameter and an inch thick (I see that you said the thickness could vary to personal taste). Could this be the same thing? I loved them and haven't found anything close to them since. If this is it, I'm jumping up and down! If it's NOT, could someone help me? -- lo
I was also going to say - sounds like a flapjack to me :-) At last, being a Brit has paid off - we are swimming in Golden Syrup in comparison!
yes, this cookie is amazing and one my favorites. i love golden syrup in place of honey when i bake my granola. it makes the end result very crunchy and sweet. yum-o! good on you for posting this recipe and bringing a little known cookie from australia and nz out in the world via your k/a site. (k/a=kickass) cheers
I hadn't realised that Anzac biscuits were basically flapjacks! Golden syrup is horrible - don't go there! You Americans have missed absolutely nothing. Never have liked it. I do substitute honey, but in fact, you can make a very good flapjack (or Anzac cookie) with just oatmeal, demerara sugar and butter/margarine. And then I add a bit of banana and some peanut butter, just for fun, and.....
Oooh. Now you've done it. You've made me miss my grandma. Mary Simpson made great Anzac cookies in her time.
Want Golden Syrup? Go to Amazon.com Lyle's Golden Syrup can be found in the gourmet section.
Nice, different, but NOT an Anzac. Maybe an American interpretation of our favourite biscuit Downunder. Golden Syrup is essential for that true Anzac taste.
For golden syrup sources in NYC (or via special order) try Meyers of Keswick (in the West Village): http://www.myersofkeswick.com/ or the Key Foods stores in Park Slope, Brooklyn, who are known to carry many British food imports. Yum! Thanks, Heidi!
I can't wait to try this one out! I always have used the Martha Stewart recipe for Anzac biscuits, and I just LOVE them.
The first thing I thought of was Rogers Golden Corn Syrup, so I went to wikopedia.com and checked to see what golden syrup is and it showed Lyle's in a can. I wonder if they would be similar? The cookies look wonderful and I can't wait to try them. What is a url?
I love cookies like this, I have a feeling these will fast become a favorite. I love the use of flower waters.
Oh man! I was just talking about laying low on the baking. i'm very tempted- i guess a few wouldn't hurt. i'll make them and share them with the office.
I love that you add orange blossom water, one of my favorite ingredients. I don't make cookies very often but I will definitely try these. Thanks Heidi!
World Market nearly always have a healthy stock of Golden Syrup for all the expats heading to pick up their supplies of PG Tips, Cadbury's choc, Marmite and Heinz Baked Beans. One of the best comfort foods is golden syrup pudding and custard. I love Anzac cookies, but down my way (originally Devon, England), this is basically a flapjack.
these are adorable, heidi! (and yummy-looking, too.) where on earth did you find that marvelous pan?