Anzac Biscuits (Crispy Oatmeal Cookies)

Today I wanted to share with you a cookie I whipped up in a matter of minutes and ended up more impressed with than I thought I would.  They are an Australian based cookie known as Anzac Biscuits.

I will call them Crispy Oatmeal Cookies for more understanding of what they really are.  These are tasty, crispy and crunchy, economical and super easy to make! 

I found the recipe for these in a cookbook I bought a few years ago called The 50 Best Oatmeal Cookies In The World, by Honey and Larry Zisman.  Flipping through the book, which is only about 5x5 inches, I saw these anzac biscuits and because they were so simple with minimal ingredients, I decided to make half a recipe and give them a shot.  I’m not the biggest fan of crispy cookies, but these are surprisingly good!  There are no eggs in them, so I was actually concerned with how they were going to turn out, I thought they’d spread a ton, but they are perfect.

In the book the recipe says it is from Paul Keating (former) Prime Minister of Australia.  You can do research if you’d like to find it’s origin, I changed a couple small things that I don’t think affected how the cookies turned out.  I’ll give the full recipe, even though for a first time, I halved it.  No mixer is needed, these are easy to mix with a wooden spoon in a bowl!

Anzac Biscuits (aka—Crispy Oatmeal Cookies), adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup all purpose flour (I used unbleached)

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup butter (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Baking Sticks)

2 tablespoons pancake syrup (that is what the recipe says—I used some pure maple syrup and have since seen other recipes use Lyle’s Golden Syrup)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine oats, flour, sugar, and coconut.  Set aside.  Combine butter and syrup over low heat until melted (I melted them together in the microwave.)  Set aside.

Mix together  baking soda and water and add to butter mixture.  Mix into oat mixture.  Place tablespoons of batter onto lightly greased cookie sheets (I used parchment paper lined sheet) about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 20 minutes (I baked them for 16 and thought they were plenty done.)  Loosen cookies from cookie sheet (they didn’t even need loosened from the parchment paper) while still warm and then let cool on sheets.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Next time I plan to try them with whole wheat flour and maybe even unsweetened coconut, since I have a 5 lb. bag of it!  It’s good to know they traditionally are made with golden syrup as I have a bottle of that, too, and just ran out of pure maple syrup.  If you like crispy cookies, give these a try!