Healthy Anzac Biscuits (Cookies) Recipe (Gluten-Free) - Veggiekins Blog (2024)

FAQs

What makes Anzac biscuits crunchy or chewy? ›

Another tip is to make sure you let them fully cool on a rack before tucking in, then they'll have time to crisp up completely. To make chewy biscuits, just swap out some sugar. Instead of using all caster sugar, substitute half for brown sugar and reduce the cook time by a 3-4 minutes.

But watch for crumbling or "melting": "If your biscuits are falling apart, then you have added too much of the wet ingredients, or potentially too much sugar," Quinn says. The marine biologist-turned-cook advises leaving the biscuits on the baking tray as they cool, then giving them a day or two to "chewify".

In Australia, "biscuits" are what Americans call "cookies," and these traditional treats date back to World War I.

Anzac biscuits are undoubtedly an Aussie and NZ classic, and they're ridiculously easy to make - whether you're marking our National Day of Remembrance or you just want to bake something quick with ingredients you already have in your pantry.

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).

Australians are divided over how Anzac biscuits should be served, with an overwhelming majority preferring them soft but a vocal minority in support of a crunchy consistency.

Gluten-free flour is not a perfect substitute for wheat flour. Each mixture out there is designed to mostly work in certain kinds of recipe, but not in all of them. And yes, it is perfectly normal for a gluten-free cookie to be crumbly, since it is the gluten itself that holds wheat cookes together.

Baking soda or bicarb soda is the main raising agent in Anzac biscuits - it is added to the wet ingredients before being mixed into the dry ingredients.

“Referring to these products as 'Anzac Cookies' is generally not approved, due to the non-Australian overtones,” the guidelines state. The Department says on its website: “No person may use the word Anzac, or any word resembling it in connection with any trade, business, calling or profession.”

What do Brits call a biscuit? ›

What is an American biscuit in the UK? The last piece of the puzzle, an American biscuit is a crumbly leavened quick bread similar to what we call a scone in the UK.

A cookie (American English) or biscuit (British English) is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet.

It's thought that Anzac biscuits were created as far back as World War 1. At this time, the biscuits were being baked by volunteers sold in Australia and New Zealand to raise funds for the army. A similar type of biscuit was sent to the soldiers in war.

The basic ingredients for a rolled oat biscuit were rolled oats, sugar, flour, butter with golden syrup, not eggs, used as a binding agent. This made them not only nutritious and full of energy but also long lasting.

At first the biscuits were called Soldiers' Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

Remember moisture is the key! White sugar creates crispier cookies and brown sugar creates chewier cookies. Why use melted butter? Melted butter creates cookies with a different texture compared to cookies made with softened or creamed butter.

Well, the long and short answer to chewy cookies is it's all about the moisture content. Cookies that are dense and chewy incorporate more moisture into the batter. This can be achieved by making substitutions with wet and dry ingredients, or even just changing the way you incorporate certain ingredients.

The story of the Anzac biscuit

Originally, the Anzac biscuit was designed to travel well over several weeks at sea, so the recipe didn't feature eggs, golden syrup or coconut. Their incredibly tough consistency and savoury taste meant that they were purely a source of sustenance and not particularly enjoyable.