Anzac Biscuits- better late than never

I know what you are all thinking- 'What a slacker?'. I know, I know. Anzac day has long since past, but I still wanted to share with you some photos of the biscuits I made on the day, as well as my mother's recipe for Anzac Biscuits. My mum's Anzac biscuits are a little different to the everyday variety: they contain currants. Not raisins, definitely not sultanas, but currants. Having grown up eating Anzac biscuits with currants, I wouldn't have them any other way. I urge you to try them with currants and see for yourself what a wonderful addition they make.

I must admit that mine turned out a little differently from how my mum's usually do, but then again she did neglect to tell me that she doesn't really follow the recipe, but rather measures by eye. This being said, if you prefer your cookies to stand up more like my mother's, rather than spread like mine, I'd suggest you reduce the quantity of butter to 100g, to make for a stodgier dough.

My Mum’s Anzac Biscuits

Ingredients

110g of Rolled Oats                                       2 Tablespoons of Golden Syrup

150g of Plain Flour                                       ½ Teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda

175g Caster Sugar                                         1 Tablespoon of Boiling Water

65g desiccated Coconut                                 ½ Cup of Currants (Optional)

125g Unsalted Butter                                   (3 Baking Sheets)

Method

Preheat oven to 160º C (140 º C Fan Forced oven).

            Combine Oats, Sifted flour, Sugar and Coconut in large bowl. Heat Butter and Golden Syrup together in a saucepan over gentle heat until melted. Set aside. In a second large bowl, mix Bicarb soda with boiling water and then add to butter mixture. Do make sure you use a large bowl as the mixture expands enormously in volume as the bicarb fizzes away. Add the liquid mixture to the oat mixture and stir to combine.

            Place tablespoon’s full of the mixture onto baking sheets lined with baking paper. Do make sure to leave sufficient room on all sides of each biscuit for spreading, otherwise you’ll end up with one giant Biscuit. Cook in the oven for about 15. If you like your biscuits soft, like I do, check every 2 minutes after the ten minute mark. They should look slightly golden but when touched, they should be very soft. They might seem like they need longer at this stage, but trust me, they will harden out of the oven and end up being perfectly soft and chewy. I like these best still warm from the oven, but you can’t eat a whole batch straight away, so I recommend that you leave them to cool on the trays before stowing them into airtight containers. They should last for nearly a week.

Yields 25-35 biscuits