Anzac biscuits

Is it sacrilegious to tweak a biscuit as important to national identity as the Anzac? Probably. So I’m not really sure why I did it. N says it’s easily his favourite biscuit, but it was always much too sweet for me. Overwhelmingly sweet, and it didn’t taste of much else.

I’ve since substituted treacle for golden syrup to give it a slightly bitter undertone, and shredded coconut for dessicated so that it tastes more coconutty and has added texture. And, I added salt – because salty-sweet is always a winning combination.

Update: further research (and a tip off from a friend) has led me to a recipe from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs which suggests treacle is A-OK! You’ll find their recipe here. Interestingly enough, culinary historian Allie Reynolds says that modern-day Anzac biscuits bear little resemblance to the sturdy, long-lasting biscuits which were shipped to Diggers.

These Anzac biscuits are crunchy on the outer edges and chewy in the middle. If that’s your preference, bake them to colour as shown in the picture above, if you prefer yours crunchy throughout, which is probably how they were eaten back in the day, to reduce spoilage, bake them a few minutes longer.

So call it what you will, and despite my research, it may not even qualify as an Anzac biscuit to you without golden syrup, but here’s my version of the Australian (and New Zealand) classic. This is my second batch, I should add, because N felt the need to bribe his work colleagues with cookies with all of the first batch.

Did everyone get a cookie? I asked. No, he said, there weren’t enough cookies to go around. He did admit to eating the first five or so.

“If they want cookies, they have to come to me,” he said, beaming. He’s really getting delirious on his cookie powers.