Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Anzac Biscuits


Anzac Biscuits (a.k.a. Crisp Coconut Oatmeal Cookies)
recipe adapted from Lazy Cat Kitchen
makes about 22
100 g / 1 cup oats
85 g / ¾ cup (slightly heaped) desiccated coconut*
100 g / 1 cup + 1 tbsp all purpose flour*
100 g / ½ cup + 1 tbsp caster sugar*
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp water, hot
100 g / 3.5 oz vegan butter, margarine or refined coconut oil*
1 tbsp maple syrup or golden syrup*
*Notes:
100g unsweetened coconut chips, pulsed
50g white whole wheat flour + 50g AP flour
75g coconut sugar
40g coconut oil + 60g unsalted butter
maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 180° C / 355° F.
2. Put oats, desiccated coconut, flour and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and mix well.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat (or in microwave), add maple syrup and stir until combined.
4. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 2 tbsp of hot water and add to melted butter mixture.
5. Add melted butter mixture to dry ingredients and stir gently until it is mixed well.
6. Roll mixture into balls with your hands (it should make 20 at 25 g each), flatten each ball so that you have 1 cm / 0.4″ high cookies, and place them 2 cm / 1″ apart on a paper lined baking tray.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden and transfer to a wire rack to cool.


I wasn't at all familiar with Anzac Biscuits nor Australia Day until I came across a couple posts on these cookies while looking for an oatmeal cookie recipe.
An Anzac biscuit is a sweet, hard tack biscuit, popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water, and (optionally) desiccated coconut. Anzac biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I.
(source: Wikipedia


What's not to love about these biscuits from down under which are pretty much oatmeal cookies with loads of coconut chips mixed in? They turned out exactly as I have anticipated - crisp and chewy with a wonderful aroma!

I adapted the recipe to balance between wholesome and indulgent. I substituted half of the flour with white whole wheat flour and nearly half of the fat with coconut oil. I also opted for coconut sugar and maple syrup which I have readily on hand.



I added 15g more coconut chips unintentionally and forgot that the recipe called for desiccated coconut. I only briefly pulsed my coconut chips which resulted in larger pieces mixed into the batter. The dough was a bit crumbly and took some time to form into balls, but nonetheless turned out delicioso!


Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Fragrant, buttery and rich!
Texture: 4 stars out of 5
Crisp with loads of oatmeal and coconut chips which added some chew!

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