Monday, January 24, 2011

Happy Australia Day | Anzac Biscuits

Tomorrow is Australia Day at home and as an Australian in Canada, it just didn't seem right to not acknowledge our special day.

There is nothing more Australian than a good batch of Anzac Biscuits.  So I have decided to surprise the office with an Australian morning tea.  Well, hardly a morning tea.  Just some biscuits to go with the coffee.

I will be tuning into the Triple J Hottest 100 as well!  It's the closest I'll be getting to a summer BBQ and gathering on the back deck this year.  Ahh sigh! ...bless the Vancouver winter!

This recipe is courtesy of the Australian Women's Weekly.

Anzac Biscuits  


Ingredients

  • 1 cup of rolled oats
  • 1 cup of plain flour
  • 1 cup of caster sugar
  • 1/2 cup of desiccated coconut
  • 125 of butter, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons of golden syrup (this key ingredient proved pretty hard to find in Canada - the home of Maple Syrup.  So I am improvising with regular syrup)
  • 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tablespoon of boiling water
What to do

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.

Combine the oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut in a large bowl.  Combine the butter and 'golden' syrup in a saucepan, stir over a low heat until the butter is melted.

Combine the soda and water, add it to the butter mixture and stir it into the dry ingredients while the mixture is still warm.

Roll approximately one and a half heaped teaspoons of mixture into a ball and place the balls about 4cm apart on a greased oven tray.  Flatten the balls slightly and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes (or until they are golden brown).  

Loosen the biscuits on the tray while still warm and then allow to cool on the trays.

Enjoy them with a nice warm cup of bushells (the quite essential Australian cuppa).

On a finishing note, you should know that I have never served Anzac Biscuits on Australia Day.  It's always been a selection of lamb, seafood and meats on the barbie, with salads and a few cold beverages with friends.  But I figured this was the easiest nod to Australia given the circumstances...  Circumstances being I'm in the middle of a Canadian winter and NOT getting a day off!


2 comments:

  1. Anzac biscuits.. never heard of them! They sound delicious though! Like oatmeal cookies?

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  2. Anzac Biscuits are iconic in Australia and also New Zealand. Anzac stands for the Australian New Zealand Army Corps, and they say wives use to send these to their soldier husbands in WWI. A little trivia for you.... but basically a take on the oatmeal cookie! :-)

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