Nettle and Quince

Anzac day commemorates the arrival of soldiers from Australia and New Zealand (the ‘Australia and New Zealand Army Corps’ = ANZAC) at Gallipoli in 1915 to help the Allies fight against the Ottoman Empire during WWI. It has become the defining Australian national holiday, and is celebrated with Anzac biscuits.

Recipes vary, mostly just in quantities, as the ingredients are pretty set: oats, coconut flakes, butter, sugar, flour, golden syrup, and no eggs. This last point contributed to the biscuit’s history (or mythology) as overseas war care packages, since the absence of egg made them more durable.

We’re always happy to adopt traditions, especially when they involve food, and these biscuits deserve to be made much more frequently than just on Anzac day, as has become the case in this house.

I’ve tried quite a few recipes over time and tweaked them to achieve less sweetness without losing chewiness. I like how these turn out.

 

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ANZAC biscuits recipe

100 g (1 cup) rolled oats (or porridge oats, see note in the first step)
125 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
80 g (2/3 cup) brown sugar
Squeeze of golden syrup (or honey)
1 Tbsp water
100 g (1 cup) flour
75 g (1 cup) unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt

Blend the oats in a food processor briefly, just until they become coarsely ground but not too fine. ***I know this is an annoying extra step but it helps with chewiness. Otherwise use finer porridge oats.***

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, golden syrup, and water, and warm over a low heat until the butter has melted and the ingredients are well combined.

Turn off the heat and add the oats, flour, coconut, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and moist throughout.

Divide the dough into two, onto narrow sheets of parchment paper. The dough will be soft but not runny — use the parchment paper to roll the dough into logs of approximately the same diameter. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 160 C (325 F). Take the cookie dough logs out of the fridge and let them warm up a little at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

Once slightly softened, cut the logs into 1cm (1/3 inch) slices. Place the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and reshape the dough a bit into soft edged cookies.

Bake for 12 to 16 minutes until golden. Let cool on the baking sheet as the biscuits are still soft and crumbly when they come out of the oven.

Once cool, store in a cookie tin or glass jar. I hear they can keep for up to two weeks …

 

This entry was posted on 22 May 2020 at 12:10 and is filed under Baking, Dessert, Easy, Holidays, Year-round. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.