Anzac Biscuits
These easy Anzac Biscuits are crispy on the outside, slightly chewy in the center and are made using simple kitchen staple ingredients. The end results is a delightfuly golden biscuit that has a really interesting history in the way they were formed.
I absolutely adore Anzac Biscuits. They’ve got a really interesting history that is ingrained in Aussies and Kiwis and they taste delicious! Modern day biscuits are chewy and crispy on the edges, although the original biscuit was purely crispy. They’re easy to make and use simple ingredients that you most likely have in your kitchen right now!
If you’re looking for some other great cookie recipes, check out these reader favorite Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Brownie Cookies or these Lemon Crinkle Cookies!
What are Anzac Biscuits?
ANZAC biscuits (what we call cookies in Australia) are a buttery, warm caramel flavored biscuit treat that are made by Aussies and Kiwis to commemorate Anzac Day.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army corps. The biscuits were invented during World War 1 when soldiers wives needed a biscuit recipe that would stay fresh for months by the time it reached soldiers overseas. The recipe uses simple ingredients typically available during scarce war times which means they’re super easy to make and you probably already have the ingredients in your cupboard.
Original Anzac biscuits were so hard and crunchy that soldiers would grind them up and use them as porridge. Modern say Anzac biscuits are more on the chewy side of things. Mine are definably chewy!
You’ll Love Anzac Biscuits Because:
- They have a buttery, caramel-like flavor
- Chewy texture
- Easy to make
- Simple ingredients
- Enjoy them with a cup of tea
- Gift them to people to help remember ANZACs
I Made All The Mistakes So You Don’t Have To!
Before we get stuck into the recipe and the ingredients you’ll need to make Anzac Biscuits, I want to share a bit of the trial and error that went into developing this recipe in the hopes that it will show you what can go wrong when you deviate from a recipe.
I made 4 batches of these biscuits. I started off by making a finished recipe from a reputable website to get an idea of what a good Anzac biscuit recipe delivers. Then I looked at a bunch of recipes to get a general idea of how they’re made and what ingredients are used and wrote my own. Here are the results.
Batch #1
Laughable disaster
- No form
- Really crumbly
- Not crispy or chewy
- Too dry
- Needed more moisture.
- No water
Batch #2
I added more butter and lowered the coconut and oat amount
- Too greasy
- Added water (I think this with too much butter made the batter too wet)
- Spread way too much because of high temperature and butter amount
- Crispy around the edges and chewy in the center – great!
Batch #3
Back to batch #1 butter amount, less coconut and oats
- Added less water
- Biscuit didn’t spread at all this time! (got a plan for this!)
- Biscuit was chewier this time.
- Less sugar in this recipe too.
Batch #4
Biscuit spread, chewy in the center, crispy on the outside. Perfect!
- Added more water than batch #2!
- Added more golden syrup
- Less sugar
- Squashed them down before baking
- Squashed them down as soon as they came out of the oven
- Helped make them perfectly round with round biscuit cutter shuffle technique.
- Chewy in the center
- Crispy on the outside and perfectly golden!
Now that we have the perfect biscuit, let’s get stuck into how to make it!
Ingredients You Need To Make Anzac Biscuits
Note: the whole recipe, including the ingredient quantities, can be found at the bottom of this page – just scroll down to the bottom, or click the ‘Jump to Recipe’ button at the top of this post.
- Unsalted butter – if using salted butter leave out the salt in the recipe. The purpose of slowly ‘browning’ your butter helps give it a toasty, nutty flavor and deepens the biscuit flavor nicely. You can skip browning it and just use melted butter in this recipe. You may get a slightly buttery-ier flavor and less of that nice nuttiness you get from browned butter
- Rolled oats – Regular rolled oats, also known as old fashioned oats. Quick oats would work as well.
- Flour – I used all purpose flour.
- Desiccated coconut – this is a finer coconut than shredded coconut which is unsweetened. Shredded coconut would work as well.
- Granulated sugar – caster sugar would work as well, although you’d get a sweeter biscuit.
- Brown sugar – light or dark will work but alter flavor depending on which one you use.
- Golden syrup – am ingredients more commonly known to Aussies and people in the UK. If you don’t have access to this ingredient, you can use honey instead.
- Boiling water – make sure your water is boiling and when you add it to the wet ingredients add it slowly and mix slowly.
- Bicarb soda – this helps the biscuits rise.
How to make Anzac Biscuits!
- Combine dry ingredients
- Brown butter
- See the little flecks in the butter? Flavor!
- Add golden syrup
- Stir slowly
- Add the water
- Stir slowly
- Add bicarb soda. It will froth as you stir.
- Pour into dry ingredients
- Mix until a dough forms
- Scoop out about 2 tbsp of dough
- Roll into a ball
- Lay out onto a baking tray
- Squish down and flatten. Bake.
- Squish down again once baked
- Shuffle a cookie cutter around the hot cookies to shape into round cookies.
- Cool on baking tray for 15 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack to cool before serving.
Tips and Tricks For Recipe Success!
- Don’t deviate from the recipe ingredient amounts! This recipe is not forgiving! Use kitchen scales for best results.
- When browning the butter – slow and steady is best! High heat will likely burn the butter milk solids. Properly browned it will be a brown color and nutty in flavor.
- To get a rounder cookie use a round cookie cutter, slightly bigger than your biscuits to shuffle around the biscuits while they’re really hot and shape them into a more round shape.
- Use the right oven temp! I used a fan forced oven which runs hotter than a conventional oven (no fan) if using a conventional oven baked at 180C / 355F.
Frequently Asked Questions about Anzac Biscuits
Why is the butter browned in this recipe?
Browned butter is butter that has been melted and cooked until the milk solids turn brown giving it a nutty aroma flavor which transfers into your biscuits.
How do I store the biscuits?
Store them in an airtight container for up to 1 week. These are chewier (wetter) cookies than the original recipe which is a much dryer crispy biscuit.
Can I make the dough in advance?
Nope. This dough dries out really quickly so you need to shape the biscuits as soon as the dough is done and bake them.
Gave this a go? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok for more great recipes!
My favorite cookie recipes!
Brownie Cookies
Soft Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Nutella Stuffed Cookies
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @thescranline on Facebook and Instagram!
Anzac Biscuits (Oatmeal Cookies)
Serves 15
Ingredients
Anzac Biscuits
- 125 g unsalted butter, see notes
- 100 g rolled oats
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 80 g desiccated coconut
- 65 g granulated sugar
- 65 g brown sugar, light or dark
- 112 g golden syrup or honey, see notes
- 30 g boiling water
- 1 tsp bicarb soda, baking soda
Instructions
- Anzac Biscuits
- Preheat a fan forced oven to 160C / 320F. Line two half sheet baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients – Add the flour, oats, coconuts and both sugars into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Brown butter – Add the butter to a saucepan and melt on medium low heat. Once the butter has melted, it will begin to froth. That’s the water sinking to the bottom and the milk proteins at the top. At this stage begin gently swirling the pot here and there until the bits at the bottom turn a deep golden color. Not burned! If the butter burns, throw it out and start again. See step by step instructions for a guide on what it should look like.
- Combine wet ingredients – Add the golden syrup and boiling water and slowly stir until well combined. Then add the bicarb soda and stir. It will bubble and then go back down.
- Make dough – Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula or wooden spoon to form a dough. The dough will be a little crumbly but should form a shape when squeezed.
- Bake – Roll into 12 evenly sized balls (about 2 tbsp in volume) and flatten slightly using a spoon or the back of a measuring cup. Space evenly across both baking trays. Bake for 4 minutes, turn tray around and bake another 4 minutes or until golden around the edges. Flatten again and use a slightly bigger round cookie cutter to shuffle around each biscuit while hot and get a round biscuit. Once baked allow to cool on trays completely before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
8 comments
Hey Nick, these cookies look amazing, I can’t wait to try them! Just a note that you might want to switch out your photos for steps 5-8 as I think they might be for a different recipe :D. Thanks for the great content!
Oh dear! I have no idea how that even happened! Thanks so much for letting me know. Have gone in and changed them! N x
I just made these and they are so good. I did notice that there was no listing for salt in the recipe…I read your note about using salted vs unsalted butter…I went back to see how much salt to add….When I did not see it, I added 1 teaspoon to the dry ingriendients…I also added a temp of vanilla…Also, under the ingredients section, you have granulated sugar listed twice (not in the recipe card, just the blood post description)…I also noticed some pictures using a square pan…assuming this can be used as a crust or tray bake, but not sure I saw any other description of that.
Hi David! I think I saw your bakes on instagram! Thanks for your comment and for pointing all of that out. I’ve gone in and added the salt (1/4tsp) and deleted the double up on the granulated sugar. I haven’t tried it as a tray bake but look, I wouldn’t say it would be a disaster lol. I’ll give it a go next year and update the recipe. I also wouldn’t mind adding chocolate to a tray bake because I think it would be delicious. Hope that helps! N x
You recipe list 3 T water (30mls). Which is it because 3T is 60 mls?
Sorry Janey, it should be 45ml (15ml per tbsp). Have just gone in and fixed that. Thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Finally, I have managed to make a perfect batch of ANZAC biscuits after failing miserably for many, many years! I followed the recipe exactly using scales and did not alter a thing to ensure success and they worked beautifully! The only question I have is that the top of the recipe says makes 12 and the nutritional information says it makes 15. I ended up making them a bit smaller and made 18, so they were a little flatter, but I didn’t want them too big. Thanks for doing all the work to make these work so well, Nick! Nga mihi from NZ
Hi Erin! Thanks so much! Glad you loved them. I’ve gone ahead and updated the recipe card to say 15 cookies. N x