Anzac Biscuits - Recipe Winners (2024)

FAQs

What makes Anzac biscuits crunchy or chewy? ›

Chewy Anzac biscuits: cooking time is the key

The good news is you don't need to tinker with the ingredients to get the texture you prefer, only the cooking time. Just as with chocolate brownies, variations in cooking time can mean the difference between a chewier or firmer Anzac biscuit.

Best substitute for golden syrup is a combination of light molasses or treacle, plus honey. I use 1 part molasses or treacle, and 3 parts honey – the flavour is nearly identical, and the colour is very similar (a bit darker).

Anzac biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I. It is thought that these biscuits were sent by wives and women's groups to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation.

A point of interest is the lack of eggs to bind the ANZAC biscuit mixture together. Because of the war, many of the poultry farmers had joined the services, thus eggs were scarce. The binding agent for the biscuits was golden syrup or treacle.

Don't let the mixture stand around.

So, make sure you roll and bake the mixture as soon as possible after mixing to make rolling and flattening of the biscuits easy. If it does get a little dry you can just mix in another tablespoon or two of water to help make it a little more pliable before shaping.

Your cakes and biscuits will have a slightly finer texture when using caster sugar while if you use granulated sugar, your cakes will have a slightly coarser texture and your biscuits will be more crunchy.

In the U.S., golden syrup is usually sold under the name of light treacle, but it's not readily available in many grocery stores. In cooking recipes, molasses and light treacle are often used interchangeably because their textures and flavor profiles are similar.

Also known as light treacle, golden syrup makes its way into recipes with treacle in the title, like this Blood Orange Treacle Pudding.

Brown Butter Anzac Biscuits. This easy Anzac Biscuit recipe is chewy and oaty. Anzac biscuits are made with brown butter and honey or golden syrup for a perfect depth of flavour. These chewy Anzac biscuits keep well, so are great to make ahead of time.

“Referring to these products as 'Anzac Cookies' is generally not approved, due to the non-Australian overtones,” the guidelines state. The Department says on its website: “No person may use the word Anzac, or any word resembling it in connection with any trade, business, calling or profession.”

What was the original Anzac biscuit? ›

The standard Army biscuit at this time was a rock-hard tooth breaker also called a ship's biscuit. Although it's a myth that Anzac biscuits were sent and eaten by troops in Gallipoli, some evidence suggests a rolled oats based biscuit was sent to troops on the Western Front, although this is not widespread.

Key ingredients in our Anzac biscuits

Oats: here to bulk up your bikkies, oats are a key component in any Anzac biscuit. This clever ingredient soaks up the golden syrup and butter and forms a satisfying texture when mixed together.

Australians are divided over how Anzac biscuits should be served, with an overwhelming majority preferring them soft but a vocal minority in support of a crunchy consistency.

For those of you who have never had a hobnob biscuit, it's kind of like a cross between an Anzac and a digestive biscuit. This particular recipe comes from Kate Doran's Homemade Memories – Childhood treats with a twist, and uses wholemeal flour, oats and as well as being fairly restrained with the sugar.

'Hard tack' was, however, the most well-known term for the ship's biscuit. The ingredients were stone ground flour, water and salt, which were mixed into a stiff dough, baked in a hot oven for 30 minutes and then left to harden and dry.

chewy vs crispy is a combination of 2 things… ratio of fats to flour, and baking times/temps.. for more chewy cake like cookies, you want something with a high fat, content cooked at a lower longer temperature… for a more crispy or dryer cooking you want a lower fat batter cooked at a high temperature.

Remember moisture is the key! White sugar creates crispier cookies and brown sugar creates chewier cookies. Why use melted butter? Melted butter creates cookies with a different texture compared to cookies made with softened or creamed butter.

Texture - The biscuit dough has to be just right. If while mixing, you feel that the dough is too dry and crumbly and you are not able to shape it into rounds, add more liquid (this can be either in the form of a tablespoon of melted butter or just a tablespoon of boiling water).