The history of the Anzac biscuit is part of Australia's story. Making Anzac biscuits is a lovely way to involve children in commemoration activities for Anzac Day or other days of remembrance. We do this to recognise and remember the service and sacrifice of our veterans and serving personnel.
Recipe for Anzac biscuits
We published this recipe in our book, We Remember Anzac: Primary Resource, in 2014. The Anzac biscuit is more than 100 years old, so many recipe variations exist.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup plain flour
Method
- Heat oven to 160°C.
- Melt butter (or margarine) and syrup.
- Add dissolved bicarbonate of soda and water.
- Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, add the liquid mixture and stir.
- Place small balls of the mixture (about 1 teaspoon) onto a greased tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown.
- Lift biscuits onto a cake cooling rack and wait for them to cool.
Ideas for your community
You could share your Anzac biscuits with guests at an Anzac Day service at your school or with people in your local community.
Use the biscuits to introduce yourself to veterans in your local community. Read our resource, Reflections: Capturing veterans' stories, for ideas about recording their oral histories.
One year at Kirwan State High School in Queensland, the students researched the history of Anzac biscuits and baked 3,500 biscuits. School cadets and students delivered the biscuits to nursing homes and community centres, assisted by members from the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Why we bake Anzac biscuits
During World War I, people at home in Australia often sent parcels to the Anzacs to show their support. Parcels of food supplemented the soldiers' plain diet of tinned ‘bully beef’ and hardtack, also known as the ‘Anzac wafer’ or ‘Anzac tile’.
Many care parcels included biscuits made from rolled oats, golden syrup and flour, which had high nutritional value and kept well while being transported overseas. Now known as 'Anzac biscuits', they're still very popular in Australia today.
An early recipe
Early recipes often included ingredients like jam and eggs, and didn't include coconut, so they're quite different from the recipes we use today.
The Citizens' War Chest Fund (NSW) published this recipe in The War Chest Cookery Book, which was released in 1917 to raise money for the war effort.
The recipe was contributed by Alice Anderson, whose brother James was serving in France.
Anzac Biscuits.
4ozs. sugar, 4 ozs. butter, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup flour, 1 cup rice flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon mixed spice.
Beat butter and sugar to cream, add eggs well beaten, lastly flour, rice flour, baking powder, cinnamon and spice. Mix to stiff paste, roll and cut into biscuits. Bake a nice light brown in moderate oven. When cold jam together and ice.
Alice Anderson, "Oakdale," N. Sydney.
The Country Women's Association in New South Wales uses a tried and tested variation of Alice's fancy biscuits recipe in its annual cookery competition.
Permission to use the word ‘Anzac’
The Protection of Word "Anzac" Regulations (Cth) were established in 1921 to protect the legacy of the original Anzacs.
Under the Anzac Regulations, Anzac biscuits sold commercially in Australia need a permit to use the word ‘Anzac’.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) helps the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs in administering the Anzac Regulations. While many Australians prefer the term ‘Anzac biscuit’ for a traditional recipe, it's not a breach of the Anzac Regulations to make a variation of the traditional recipe or talk about Anzac cookies.
Learn more about permission to use the word ‘Anzac’.
Glossary
- bully beef
- hardtack