Anzac Biscuits (Vegan Recipe)

Absolutely more-ish, these Anzac biscuits are perfect if you love the taste of granola.

If there’s one biscuit that’s been a favourite in our family, for as long as I can remember, it’s these Anzacs.

Based on my grandmother’s recipe, but updated to make it vegan, it uses a higher proportion of oats, and less sugar, than most contemporary versions. This makes the biscuits less, well, ‘biscuity’ and more like the texture and flavour of granola.

So if you love the sound of toasted oats, mixed with almonds and flaked coconut, all wrapped in a crunchy biscuit, you may just love this recipe.

Origins of the Anzac biscuit

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Origins of the Anzac biscuit ~

Anzac biscuits have a fascinating history. While legend has it that they were sent to the Australian and New Zealand soldiers (thus the name ‘ANZAC’) at the front during the Great War, this is not certain. (The reasoning is that their good keeping abilities and sturdiness would have made them suitable for shipping.) Because the earliest known recipe is from 1919/1920, which was after the war, the exact history is a little hard to pinpoint.

It’s thought that they evolved from older recipes for egg-less rolled oat biscuits, made with golden syrup as a binder instead of eggs, which would have also been practical as they kept well without refrigeration. They may have been renamed Anzac biscuits after the end of the Great War, to help with fund raising efforts.

In any case, these more-ish little biscuits are associated with the Anzacs, and in particular with Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, which is April 25 each year. But they are loved all year round.

Whatever their absolute origins, early recipes published in newspapers and cookbooks, from around 1920, and referred to as Anzac biscuits, use a much higher ratio of oats to flour, and less sugar, than most modern recipes. They are almost identical to my grandmother’s old recipe, except she always added an almond on top.

These early versions used rolled oats, golden syrup, sugar, white flour, butter, hot water and carb soda. By the mid twenties, desiccated coconut was being included in some recipes. Over the decades, the proportion of flour and sugar increased, and the rolled oats ratio decreased, to create a more dense biscuit.

My recipe goes back to the original versions for inspiration. Rolled oats are the main ingredient, and the hero flavour. The underlying secondary flavour is coconut. Butter is swapped to coconut oil, which not only makes it vegan, but imparts a delicious flavour that adds depth to the flaked coconut. The scant amount of flour used is wholemeal, to make it healthier, while raw sugar gives a more caramelised flavour than the original white sugar. Lastly, the addition of a single almond on top adds a delightful crunch.

Sometimes I add an almond on the top of each biscuit, which roasts to perfection alongside the golden base, but they are also delicious without.

It’s perhaps the texture of these biscuits, with their creamy oats, which makes them so delicious. The biscuits are sweetened with raw sugar, which makes them crispy, and with golden syrup, which makes them chewy. Because there isn’t much flour in the recipe, the addition of boiling water helps to hold the mix together, while allowing them to spread nicely on the baking tray.

Anzac biscuits
(vegan : egg-free : dairy-free)

INGREDIENTS
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 cup coconut flakes
1 teaspoon bi carb soda

½ cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons golden syrup
3 tablespoons boiling water

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

• In a medium size mixing bowl, stir together the oats, flour, sugar, coconut flakes and soda.

• In a small saucepan, mix the coconut oil and golden syrup. Stir over low heat until the oil has melted.

• Pour wet mixture over dry mixture in bowl, and stir well.

• Sprinkle boiling water over mixture, and mix until even. If the mixture seems a little crumbly, add another splash of boiling water.

• Drop teaspoon size dollops onto a baking tray, and press an almond into the top.

• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden.

• Allow to sit on the warm tray for a few minutes, before gently transferring the biscuits to a wire cooling rack.

• MAKES APPROX 24 BISCUITS.

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If you try the recipe,
please let us know in the comments how it turned out for you.

Happy cooking!

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