Have you ever thought you’d made some great new discovery only to find out that the discovery had actually been made years before and that, furthermore, you were late to the party? Well, that was the case with these Anzac cookies, or biscuits as they’re called in Australia.
My expectations for these cookies was quite low; their name is from the acronym for the Australia New Zealand Army Corps. Women sent a variation of these cookies to soldiers abroad during World War I because the ingredients didn’t spoil and the cookies traveled well.
Well, these eggless wonders really took me by surprise. Far from the tasteless bricks I was anticipating, they were soft, chewy, with a definite caramel flavor. But I’m definitely late to the party with this one. After I made them I realized that Heidi already wrote about them years ago, claiming they were her favorite cookie AND that David had included a recipe for an adaption in his latest book Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes.
Well, I might not have made any new discoveries but I’m happy to have found these cookies nonetheless. They were easy to convert to gluten-free and tasted amazing. An added bonus is there’s no worry about eating the raw dough because no eggs are involved. I hope you give them a shot.
Anzac Biscuits (Cookies)
Yield: Approximately 30 cookies
Ingredients:
* 1 cup gluten-free oats
* 3/4 cup dried, unsweetened coconut
* 1/3 cup brown rice flour
* 1/3 cup oat flour (I ground my gluten-free oats in a coffee grinder)
* 1/3 cup potato starch
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 Tablespoon honey (or Golden Syrup if you can find it)
* 2 Tablespoons boiling water
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking sheet or line with a Silpat baking mat.
Mix together the oats, coconut, brown rice flour, oat flour, potato starch, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and xantham gum in a large bowl and stir to combine.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and honey together. Add the boiling water and stir to combine. Pour into the oat mixture and mix well.
Drop by teaspoon onto prepared baking sheet and bake for approximately 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool for one to two minutes on the baking sheet. Remove cookies to a cooling rack.