The crunchiness of Anzac Biscuits goes back to the roots of when they were invented – by soldiers’ wives who needed a biscuit recipe that would stay fresh for the months that it would take to reach soldiers overseas back in the early 1900’s.
The warm sweetness from the golden syrup combined with the wholesome goodness of oats and coconut is a flavour that is unique to this crunchy Australian biscuit!
Anzac Biscuits
Australia’s favourite biscuit! We love them for their buttery caramel flavour, how crunchy they are, that it’s a forgiving recipe and the history – this is a biscuit that Aussies make to commemorate ANZAC Day.
“ANZAC” stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. And ANZAC Day – 25 April 1915 – is Australia’s most important national occasion each year, marking the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War during which we suffered heavy casualties.
It is said that the wives of soldiers came up with the original Anzac Biscuits using ingredients such that the biscuits stayed fresh for the weeks it took to reach the soldiers overseas. I’m told that the original Anzac biscuits were as hard as a rock, so hard in fact that some soldiers would grind them up and use them as porridge.
I think Anzac biscuits as we know them today are much more to my liking! 😅
Here’s what you need (not much!)
Golden syrup
The only ingredient that might not be familiar to those outside of Australia and the UK is golden syrup. It’s an amber coloured syrup with the consistency of honey, and it has a toffee flavour. It has a bit of a harsh edge to the flavour so I only use it for baking, though some people use it in place of maple syrup for things like pancakes.
Best substitute for golden syrup is a combination of light molasses or treacle, plus honey. I use 1 part molasses or treacle, and 3 parts honey – the flavour is nearly identical, and the colour is very similar (a bit darker).
How to make Anzac biscuits
The making part is very straight forward – melt butter with golden syrup, add the baking soda then mix it into the dry ingredients. Roll into balls, flatten and bake!
Should Anzac biscuits chewy or crisp??
Apparently, the question of whether Anzac biscuits should be crisp or chewy is a topic of huge debate. 🤷🏻♀️
In my world, there’s no question. Anzac biscuits should be crispy, crispy, crispy!!! Just like the original created by the soldiers’ wives over a century ago! 🙂
But actually, if you want chewy it’s very simple – just reduce the bake time by a few minutes.
See? Anzac biscuits for all! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Anzac Biscuits (Golden Oatmeal Cookies)
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup desiccated coconut , unsweetened
- 3/4 cup white sugar , preferably caster / superfine
- 150g / 5oz unsalted butter
- 4 tbsp golden syrup (Note 1)
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate soda)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan forced)
- Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Mix dry: Mix flour, oats, coconut and sugar in a bowl.
- Melt butter and golden syrup: Place butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over medium high heat and stir until butter has melted.
- Baking soda: Add baking soda and stir to combine – it will fizz up, this is normal. Immediately remove from heat.
- Biscuit dough – Pour butter mixture into flour and mix until just combined. The mixture will be crumbly but should stick when you press together.
- Form patties – Scrunch / press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into balls, then flatten into patties. (Thinner = crisper, thicker = chewier centre, crispy edges) Place balls, 2.5 cm/1" apart, on prepared trays.
- Bake for 15 minutes, swapping trays halfway during cooking, or until deep golden. (Bake 12 min for chewy biscuits!)
- Cool to crisp – Stand on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool – they harden as they cool!
Recipe Notes:
- 1 tbsp light molasses + 3 tbsp honey or light corn syrup
- 1 tbsp treacle + 3 tbsp honey or light corn syrup
Nutrition Information:
Anzac biscuits originally published July 2014, refreshed in 2019 and 2020. Updated with new photos, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added! No change to recipe.
More must-try biscuit and cookie recipes!
Life of Dozer
When you watch my recipe videos, just know that Dozer is always just out of the frame!
Spot on! Follows your recipe to the letter, something I rarely do first time. Crunchy, just as I like ’em. Thank you for sharing 👍
I’m from the crunchy camp too!!!! N x
Hello Nagi
Borrowed your lovely recipe for Anzac Biscuits today must confess this hasn’t been the first Anzac Day i’ve borrowed your recipe they cook up perfect every time the guests here at the Byron on Byron Resort have loved the tradition of Anzac Biscuits served with coffee on Anzac day for the last 11yrs i’ve been here. I love this web page of yours i’m turning 60 tomorrow and tagging a recipe from a site like yours with the opption to increase without giving myself brain damage trying to calculate weights and measures for a larger batch is a blessing thank’s. Giving these biscuits away today has been a blessing for us as well, our elderly guests take great delight in traditions being kept.
Love your Work
Keep them Comming
Cheers
Garry
Happy ANZAC day to you Garry and thank you so much for those kind words and for keeping the tradition alive and well in Byron! N x
I used Orgran gf plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon guar gum and gf oats to make gf. Turned out perfectly!
Thank you I was wondering if it would work with gf flour 🙂
Thanks Nicole!! That is really helpful! Just out of interest, what does the guar gum do? N x
It’s a hot tip that I got from a friend but from the Red Mill website “Guar gum is a natural ingredient that works similarly to gluten, to secure, emulsify and thicken gluten free ingredients. If you bake gluten free goods without guar gum or a similar substitute, the result will likely be quite crummy. Literally!”.
It’s helped me to even make pides and flatbreads with gf flour! Ps thanks for all your fabulous recipes 💗
Oh wow! Thanks Nicole – that is really good to know and I’m sure quite a few readers will be happy to know that tip! N x
Fantastic!!! This recipe easy and delicious, my 8yr old did most of the wirk on this and they turned out Grest!
Woo hoo!! I love to see the kids in the kitchen! N x
Nice! We actually used raw sugar + brown sugar and honey instead of golden syrup (what we had) and turned out very yummy.
That’s great Laura!! Thanks for that feedback! N x
Can I use baking powder instead of bicarbonate soda? Love your recipes and cook them all the time. Thank you for sharing so generously.
That won’t work – sorry Patric! N x
I just made a batch if these alongside a batch of my tried and true Anzac biscuits. Have to say that we found your recipe to be sweeter and they spread a lot more. I use brown sugar, less butter (125g) and less golden syrup (2Tbsp) in my recipe so maybe that makes a difference.
That would make a difference Maria but I am sure yours are great! N x
Hi Nagi, I love your recipes and have made quite a few of them now.
I have my “own” (no idea anymore where I got it from years and years ago) ANZAC biscuit recipe. It doesnt differ from yours except it uses Brown Sugar instead of white.
I’d like you, please and maybe, to try out your recipe and use brown sugar instead of the white and see what you make of it and how you like it,,
Thanks lots
Ingrid
Thanks for that suggestion Ingrid! I will try it out! N x
Thank you Nagi and good luck 😍😊🤩
I made these months ago but used American measurements. They spread all over the baking sheet and pretty much burned. Even so, my mother in law loved them. I threw half of them away. Today I adjusted the measurement to AU ones and they turned out just like your picture!!! They are very delicious and hearty. Let’s see if my mother in law likes the correct version!!!
I am glad that they worked out for you the second time around Erin!! N x
These are seriously delicious! However your nutrition information is completely incorrect I’m sorry to say!
If you make 16, it’s 188 cal per biscuit (10.8g fat, 20.9g carbs, 1.6g protein). And 167 cal if you make 18… I have no idea how you got 74 cals. Unless you make 40 biscuits!
If you could update that, that would be great!
I made these a few times and the mixture was very crumbly (although the outcome still delicious) until it twigged that I was using a UK TBSP (15ml) instead of an AUS TBSP (20m) for the syrup. Much better adjusted! Thanks!
Thank you so much for this! I only made Anzacs once and that was over 30 years ago when I first moved to AU from the US. They were also crumbly and fell apart. Disaster! I had brought all of my measuring things with me and they were of course, in US sizes. Now that I have Australian measuring utensils, I will try again with Nagi’s recipe and hopefully, these will turn out better 🙂
Yum! So simple and absolutely delicious.
Hello Nagi,
These cookies are so simple to make and so, so good. My father only likes crispy cookies so he will love these! Thank you for sharing. This will definitely be a repeat recipe.
Best recipe I have found and the most like my Gran’s, thanks Nagi!! Love the pic of Dozer, our late Cavalier loved Anzacs the only food he ever obsessed over (picky eater) and he would have adored these!!!
Awwww…I love a dog that loves an Anzac! N x
Since I’m from the U.S. I never heard of Anzac biscuits. I printed the recipe and made the biscuits. They were awesome. I’m now saving the recipe to a permanent file! No problem finding the the golden syrup. I’ve also enjoyed all the comments, especially the story about the soldier. Thanks for some great recipes!
These were the best Anzac cookies I have ever made!
Making these for my kids class. How many biscuits does this recipe make?! I couldn’t find that info.
Thanks!
16-18
Amazing and easy thank you could not find golden syrup I used the alternative u advice awesome taste and smell
Delicious! And super easy.
When you give the oven temperature the second one is for fan forced. What’s the first one? Just bake? Or fan bake. I don’t have fan forced and am having trouble with mine. Thanks