Anzac Biscuits

This recipe is from my Great Aunt Be. Her brother (my grandfather) and husband both fought in the war. Her husband David was captured and held in a POW camp. Luckily he made it back alive, many were not so fortunate. I've seen photos from when he returned, emaciated, worn, aged beyond his years. I can't imagine what he must have gone through, what they all went through. That's what I think about every year when I make these biscuits. the sacrifices other people make and have made. I wish that we could have an Anzac day where we could celebrate the end of conflict in the world, but I doubt that will ever happen. For whatever reason people seem determined to fight and kill each other. 

I find it extraordinary that there were women all over the country making these biscuits in the 1940s and that more than 60 years later I put the same ingredients together and have the same smell filling my kitchen. It must have brought smiles to a lot of faces when the soldiers received these packages from home. 

Anzac Biscuits

125g plain flour

90g rolled oats

250g sugar (I use brown sugar)

90g dessicated coconut

125g butter

1tbs golden syrup

1tsp bi-carb soda

2tbs boiling water

Sift flour into a mixing bowl and stir in oats, sugar and coconut.

Melt butter and syrup in a saucepan.

Dissolve bi-carb soda in boiling water, and add to the butter and syrup mixture.

Stir melted mixture into dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.

Place tablespoons full of mixture well apart (I only put 6 on a standard cookie sheet) on greased baking trays and bake in a moderate oven at 160c for 25 mins (I only needed 10 mins for chewy, or 15 mins for crunchy) or until golden. 

Transfer biscuits to a wire cooling tray to cool to firm, then store in an air-tight bin.

This recipe yields about 18 big biscuits. You could easily use teaspoonfuls and get a lot more smaller biscuits, just make sure you adjust the cooking time.