Chewy Anzac Biscuits (crispy edges)
These Anzac biscuits are buttery and golden with a crisp edge and a soft chewy center. The oats add texture and the golden syrup gives them caramel like flavor and helps give them chew too. I went with brown butter in these to give them a bit of a buttery flavor you only get from brown butter.
Hey team, Nick here! ANZAC Day is 25th of April each year. I love making these with our daughter every Anzac day morning. They’re a simple oat biscuit that comes together quickly and honestly one of the best things about them other than how delicious they are is how amazing your kitchen smells when you bake them.
The flavor comes from a few key ingredients, oats being the main one which brings texture. The coconut in them bring a bit of crunch and the golden syrup gives them a caramel flavor which I absolutely love. One of the biggest changes I’ve made it browning the butter which is one of my favorite things to do with biscuit recipes these days. It gives them a rich nutty butter flavor.
Related – if you’re looking for more aussie recipes, check out my soft lamingtons which are fluffy and filled with jam or my vanilla slice which is the single most popular recipe on the site!
These have such a rich, interesting history
This is a biscuit recipe that was created during World War 1 to last long journeys overseas to ANZAC soldiers. Back then they were made hard and crisp using ingredients that were available during war time. The soldiers would grind them up into porridge. These days though we make them softer with chewy insides and crisp edges.
And yes, you can not call these cookies. The name ANZAC biscuit is protected by Australian law. And you can’t even call them that if they deviate too much from the original recipe either. I’ve just made a few minor changes to my recipe. The brown butter being the biggest one!
Oh and by the way, I tested this recipe 4 times. The first batch was a melting disaster. Tasted great, but the liquid measurements were way off. Once I got those right, I ended up with a biscuit that had enough spread (with a little help which you’ll see below) and the chewy center and crisp outside which I think is a must for these!
How to make Anzac Biscuits!
- Combine dry ingredients
- Melt the butter down. It’ll bubble then begin to froth. When it starts to froth start checking the bottom with a spatula to look for little brown flecks. They should be golden, not black. If they’re black the butter is burned and your cookie will taste butter. Trust me.
- See the little flecks in the butter? Flavor!
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.
- Add golden syrup and stir it in, then add the boiling water and stir it slowly.
- Then, add bicarb soda. It will froth as you stir. That’s gonna make your cookies light instead of dense and heavy.
- Pour that golden liquid into the dry ingredients
- Mix until a dough forms
- Scoop out about 2 tbsp of dough
- Roll into a ball
- Lay out onto a baking tray and squish down slightly to flatten. Bake.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, squish them down a little more once they’re baked.
To get round cookies – Shuffle a round cookie cutter around the hot biscuits to shape into round biscuits. It should be a little bigger than the biscuit.
A Quick Baking Guide
If you’re new to baking or just want to brush up on the basics, these guides are a great place to start!
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Chewy Anzac Biscuits (crispy edges)
These easy Anzac Biscuits are a crunchy golden oatmeal biscuit (what we call cookies in Australia) that’re crunchy and slightly chewy in the center.
Serves 12
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 your oven to 180C / 355F (fan off), 160C / 320F (fan on). Line two half sheet baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
- 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 dry ingredients – Add the flour, oats, coconuts and both sugars into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Combine wet ingredients – Add the golden syrup and boiling water to the slightly cooled butter 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 58g per cookie) and flatten slightly using a spoon or the back of a measuring cup. Space evenly across both baking trays. Bake for 7-8 minutes, turn tray around and bake another 7-8 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
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.
Golden syrup – is a wonderful caramel/toffee flavored syrup which is used for biscuits and other delicious desserts. In this recipe it helps sweeten, ‘goldenise’ and bind the biscuit ingredients. You can use honey in its place which will give it a splendid honey flavor.
Consistency – this batter is slightly crumbly but should be rollable when squeezed together. If your dough is too sticky to roll, add 1 tbsp extra flour into the dough and 1 tbsp of melted butter.
For a crispier biscuit – simply bake for 15 minutes until completely golden.
Storage – Anzac Biscuits (Cookies) can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.
Nutrition – is based on per biscuit and this recipe makes 15 biscuit.
A note on measurements – all ingredients in this recipe are offered in Australian cup measurements and weight measurements. Weight measurements are created by me, in my kitchen here in Melbourne Australia. The best way to get recipe success is to measure ingredients by weight, using kitchen scales.
Nutrition
Calories : 214kcal
Carbonhydrates: 28g
Protein: 2g
Fat: 11g
Saturated Fat: 7g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g
Monounsaturated Fat : 2g
Trans Fat : 0.3g
Cholesterol: 18mg
Sodium: 78mg
Potassium : 72mg
Fiber: 2g
Sugar : 15g
Vitamin A: 208IU
Vitamin C: 0.1mg
Calcium: 12mg
Iron: 1mg
Nutrition Disclosure
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14 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
Perfectly soft and chewy Anzac biscuits. The browned butter makes all the difference. Thanks for sharing
Thanks so much Bron! So stoked to hear that! – N x
Nick
Nailed these too! Perfect chewy and crispy (I love crispy, family loves chewy!). First time with burnt butter and I am a covert. Thanks again.
Thanks so much Gin! Yes! The browned butter is such a game changer flavour wise! N x
Thankyou for the recipe. Although after reading all of the info I didn’t make Anzac biscuits. APOLOGIES to all, but I don’t like coconut so I used ground almonds. They were yum so I still thankyou for the original recipe. 😊
All good Sarah! To each their own, glad you like it with the almonds! N x