Traditional ANZAC Biscuits Recipe (Australian Oat Cookies)

ByMelissa Goodwin Updated on

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While ANZAC biscuits are traditionally eaten in April for ANZAC Day in Australia, these sweet oat ‘cookies’ are delicious all year round. Cheap, easy, egg-free and stores well.

anzac biscuit stack

ANZAC biscuits (cookies for Americans) are a traditional Australian biscuit from WW2 when the recipe was created for wives and mothers, who would send these biscuits to their soldiers in Europe.

The biscuits needed to be something that wouldn’t spoil during the long (looonnng) trip to Europe. They also had to be inexpensive to bake – remember, they were on wartime rationing!

This is why this biscuit recipe is egg-free and has plenty of sugar for preserving.

ANZAC biscuits are still a favourite today. While they are traditionally eaten on Anzac Day, they can be eaten all year round. They are perfect with a morning cup of tea and are great in lunchboxes!

My recipe comes from my father. It’s a pretty standard recipe from an old commonsense cookery book.

ANZAC Biscuit Ingredients

ANZAC Biscuit ingredients

Ingredients

butter
golden syrup
bicarbonate of soda
boiling water
plain flour
rolled oats
sugar (white or raw)
desiccated coconut
vanilla (optional)

A Note on Golden Syrup: Golden syrup is a sugarcane product similar to treacle. It’s very common in Australia and England (buy in the sugar section in the supermarket) but less so in the US. You can buy it online (Amazon.com).

You can substitute with treacle (richer, stronger, a little more bitter, not as sweet), maple syrup, honey, or, in a pinch, light corn syrup.

Making ANZAC Biscuits

The process to make ANZAC bikkies is super easy.

Add all of the dry ingredients (except the bicarbonate soda) to a bowl and mix.

dry mixture for anzac biscuits

Melt the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan or microwave. Disolve the bicarb in the boiling water and add to the melted butter mixture. It will bubble up nicely.

melted butter and golden syrup mixture

Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

The mixture is supposed to be crumbly, but if it is too dry, add a teensy, tiny bit more boiling water. Whether you need to do this will depend on the flour.

biscuit mixture combined

.Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto a prepared baking tray (either grease with butter or line with baking paper). I like to use a mini ice cream scoop for easy, uniform-sized biscuits.

Press the mixture down slightly and leave room on the tray for some spreading.

raw anzac biscuits

Bake until golden, about 12 minutes at 180°C or 17 minutes if you like your biscuits less chewing and more crisp.

ANZAC biscuits on a plate with a poppy for remembrance
Yield: 12

Traditional ANZAC Biscuits

anzac biscuit stack

A traditional Australian biscuit from the World Wars.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 17 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes

Ingredients

  • 125g butter
  • 1 Tbsp golden syrup (treacle)
  • 1 tsp bicarb soda
  • 1 Tbsp boiling water
  • 1 cup of plain flour
  • 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • few drops of vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a baking tray.
  2. Melt the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over low heat.
  3. Dissolve the bicarb soda in the boiling water and add to the butter mixture.
  4. Sift in the flour and salt. Add the coconut, sugar, rolled oats and vanilla. Stir to combine.
  5. Drop lumps of mixture onto the baking tray (or roll into balls) and bake for 17 minutes (12 mins for a more chewy texture). Cool on trays.

Notes

Numbers will depend on the size of the biscuit that you make. They will spread slightly when cooking.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 225Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 127mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 19gProtein: 2g

Nutritional information is calculated automatically using the Nutritionix database. Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, serving size or the source of nutrition data. We strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy. We encourage readers to make their own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Did you make this recipe?

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© Melissa Goodwin
Cuisine: Western / Category: baking

Looking for more baking recipes that use rolled oats?

Melissa Goodwin

Mel Goodwin has been writing about frugal living for 10+ years but has been saving her pennies since she first got pocket money. Before writing about frugal living, Mel worked as an accountant. As well as a diploma in accounting, Mel has an honours degree in humanities, including writing and research. She also studied to be a teacher and loves sharing the things that she has learned and helping others to achieve their goals.

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One Comment

  1. thanks so much for this. I saw your post and thought it would be nice to send the kids to school with something Aussie tomorrow (we live in Oman) so hopefully I get up early enough to make some of these in the morning. I love your blog, it helps me feel closer to home too. xxx Clo

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