The great Anzac Biscuit Debate.

Ginger Oat Biscuits (fake Anzacs), Anzac Biscuits

Chewy or crunchy, soft or hard, dry or moist, how do you like your anzac biscuits? It seems as though every Australian family has their own recipe, and we all grow up comparing all others unfavourably, holding our childhood biscuits in the highest esteem. So, what better to do on Anzac Day than to have an Anzac biscuit battle to determine who’s family recipe produces the most satisfying treat. On the one hand we have the unpatriotic, barely even an Anzac, Ginger Oat Biscuit  that F holds dear. On the other is the latest evolutionary iteration of my family’s haphazard ‘recipe’.

My Anzac Biscuits

I searched high and low for the anzac biscuit recipe that my mum made twice a week for years, but found nothing. I knew it off by heart in my youth, and F. thinks that it is probably encoded in my genetic sequence, so I never though to write it down. So I called my Dad, who took over the job of Anzac making when Mum decided she had had enough. I remember making anzacs on rainy days with him, but he couldn’t remember the recipe either. Though he did give me a few hints – add the oats first! See, anzac making in my household was indeed more of an evolution, even Grandma says that they never ever turn out the same.

Next step? Skype Mum. In Vietnam. She remembered the recipe, well, sort of. ‘A half a thing of butter, sometimes I put in about 1.5 cups of sugar, sometimes less. Or more!’ You get the idea. Armed with this motley collection of recollections I was ready to get to work/enter the kitchen stadium.

F., on the other hand was on the phone for 5 minutes talking about weekend plans and returned with a neatly written and precise recipe from the family’s battered Delia Smith cookbook. 

Our mixes were prepared in parallel, though F. easily beat me to oven, having gotten a 5 minute headstart (handicap). Mine were a bit more, um, involved. With no recipe I was floating free and my first batch is now in the freezer, waiting to be re-incarnated as something else. Too many dry ingredients. The second almost went the same way along with my sanity, but a little bit of water added brought them both back, and soon the house smelt like my childhood.

The verdict? F.’s were a lot easier to make, foolproof even, though the end result was a little dry and lacked the satisfying chewiness that everyone can appreciate in a good Anzac. Mine were an ordeal, but turned out caramelised and divine – crunchy and chewy at the same time, if such a thing is even possible. F. exclaimed ‘what the hell did you do?’ with surprised delight after tasting them (and watching the near train wreck of the biscuits creation). Plus, there are about 10 times more of mine  :)

Who won? I’m not sure it is a contest that can be won, but I did! (not least of all because the competition was stacked, Ginger Oat biscuits aren’t even anzacs at all).

Anzac Biscuits (originally from Grandma, perverted by PMum and Dad).

half a thing of butter (125g)
sugar 1.5 cups, or more sometimes less (1.5 cups)
2 heaped tablespoons golden syrup, sometimes even 3 (3T)
1/2 t woofel dust (bicarb soda)

1 cup rolled oats, the big ones, not those measly broken up ones (1 cup)
some flour, but not too much, you don’t want them dry (1/2 cup)
some desiccated coconut (3/4 cup)

Heat butter, sugar and syrup on the stove until sugar is melted and caramelised and it is bubbling. Then add the woofel dust and stir so it bubbles up (F. reckons that if you stop at this stage you have just made hokey pokey). Remove from heat, stir through oats, then coconut then flour. This is where it gets a little hazy. My mixture was too dry, so I added some water, just enough so tablespoonfuls of the mixture will stick together. Place on a lined baking tray and press the top of the biscuit with a fork to get the pretty indentations (essential!). Wetting the fork in between will help.
Cook until ready (we had a wood stove, so temperature and times were all random, though mine were baked at 180C for about 15 – 20 mins) (F. says I should say ‘cook til golden brown’, how cliche!). Cool on tray and then place on wire rack to cool completely. Keeps for a few days, though they will all be gone by then. Store them in a biscuit tin.

Superior Ginger Oat Biscuits (originally from Delia Smith)

This recipe makes a significantly smaller batch of biscuits than the strange experiment described above, think about 15-18 biscuits depending on your preferred biscuit size.

110g butter
75g demerara sugar
1 dessert spoon golden syrup
110g self raising flour
110g porridge oats
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
1 pinch salt

Put the butter, sugar and syrup into a pan on the stove and heat until the sugar has dissolved completely. Meanwhile sift the flour into a mixing bowl and combine with oats, ginger and salt. Once the liquid is ready, pour into the bowl and mix with the dry ingredients. Finally take small blobs of the mixture, create balls and place them on a lined or greased baking tray. Flatten the balls to near the desired thickness bearing in mind that they will rise and spread a little. Bake at 170C for around 10 – 15 minutes, or until golden brown – what? Put them on a rack to cool.