If You Always Do What You've Always Done...Then You'll Always Get What You Always Got

Thursday 25 April 2013

My Best Anzac Biscuits

You have to make Anzac biscuits on Anzac Day.  Tradition, y'know?  Although I have stuck to this tradition for as long as I can remember, I've not made successful Anzacs before.  This is despite me following recipes, I promise.  I like a chewy biscuit, not too soft, but definitely not in the hard or crunchy classification.  My previous Anzacs have been either too hard for my liking, or so ... Well, soft isn't the word I'm after.  They've turned into one baking tray of something resembling brandy snaps.  Yes, I must have been putting them too close together, and yes, something else must have been wrong for them to spread quite so much.  Edible, and yummy, but not really what I was after.  Every time I had that style of Anzac biscuit disaster I would remember the Anzac Day spent in the U.S. where asking for golden syrup scored us that look of "... Er... You want what now?" so we substituted molasses.  It's not the same.
Today, I found numerous recipes for chewy Anzac biscuits.  I chose the more recent recipe that also used less sugar and coconut.  Success!  These are soft and chewy.  You can find the recipe here, or below:

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats (mine were quick oats, thanks to the most recent Queensland floods)
1 cup plain flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup dessicated coconut
125g butter, chopped
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda

Method:
Preheat oven to 160C.  Line 3 baking trays with baking paper (I really spread out my biscuits this time, so used 2 trays twice).
Combine oats, flour, sugar, and coconut in a bowl.  Place butter, syrup, and 2 tablespoons cold water in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir for 2 minutes or until butter has melted, then stir in the bicarb soda.  Stir the butter mix into the oat mix.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls, place onto trays 5cm apart, and flatten slightly.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

I found that at the 10 minute mark I had to swap the trays - the original bottom tray then only needed another minute, the other tray another 4. 
Putting away ingredients while the first batch was baking, I transferred my coconut to a slightly-too-small jar.  So the 2nd batch scored a bonus tablespoon or so of coconut.  This worked.  They didn't spread as much but are still soft and chewy.
Before I tasted these, I was thinking I should just keep baking Anzac biscuits until I come across a recipe that works to my satisfaction.  However, I think I found it!  I'll be transferring this recipe to my trusty old recipe book.  Of course, a few more batches before next Anzac Day just might be in order...

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