ANZAC Biscuits

[Bender]

This Friday is ANZAC day, and I thought it might be appropriate to post a couple of recipes for ANZAC biscuits. But before I do, here's a bit of background on what ANZAC day is about, with thanks to the Australian War Memorial site. If you're ever in Canberra, it's worth a visit to the Memorial. Plan to spend some time there (some people spend a couple of days) as it is a very large museum with a lot to look at. There is something for everyone including kids. It can be a very moving experience.

About ANZAC Day:
ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

Australians recognise 25 April as an occasion of national commemoration. Commemorative services are held at dawn – the time of the original landing - across the nation. Later in the day, ex-servicemen and women meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centres. Commemorative ceremonies are held at war memorials around the country. It is a day when Australians reflect on the many different meanings of war.

When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 14 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the "ANZAC legend" became an important part of the national identity of both nations. This shaped the ways they viewed both their past and future.

About ANZAC Biscuits:
The army biscuit, also known as an ANZAC wafer or ANZAC tile, is essentially a long shelf-life, hard tack biscuit, eaten as a substitute for bread. Unlike bread, though, the biscuits are very, very hard. Some soldiers preferred to grind them up and eat as porridge.

During World War 1, the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers were concerned for the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men. Here was a problem. Any food they sent to the fighting men had to be carried in the ships of the Merchant Navy. Most of these were lucky to maintain a speed of ten knots (18.5 kilometers per hour). Most had no refrigerated facilities, so any food sent had to be able to remain edible after periods in excess of two months. A body of women came up with the answer - a biscuit with all the nutritional value possible. The basis was a Scottish recipe using rolled oats. These oats were used extensively in Scotland, especially for a heavy porridge that helped counteract the extremely cold climate.

The ingredients they used were: rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup or treacle, bi-carbonate of soda and boiling water. All these items did not readily spoil. At first the biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits. A point of interest is the lack of eggs to bind the ANZAC biscuit mixture together. Because of the war, many of the poultry farmers had joined the services, thus, eggs were scarce. The binding agent for the biscuits was golden syrup or treacle. Eggs that were sent long distances were coated with a product called ke peg (like Vaseline) then packed in air tight containers filled with sand to cushion the eggs and keep out the air.

As the war drew on, many groups like the Country Women’s Association, church groups, schools and other women’s organisations devoted a great deal of time to the making of ANZAC biscuits. To ensure that the biscuits remained crisp, they were packed in used tins, such as Billy Tea tins. You can see some of these tins appearing in Australian supermarket as exact replicas of the ones of earlier years. The tins were airtight, thus no moisture in the air was able to soak into the biscuits and make them soft. Most people would agree there is nothing worse than a soft biscuit. During World War 2, with refrigeration in so many Merchant Navy Ships, the biscuits were not made to any great extent. It was now possible to send a greater variety of food, like fruit cake.

ANZAC biscuits are still made today. They can also be purchased from supermarkets and specialty biscuit shops. Around ANZAC Day, these biscuits are also often used by veterans’ organisations to raise funds for the care and welfare of aged war veterans.


Here's the first recipe (this one is from Bob Lawson, an ANZAC present at the Gallipoli landing):

Ingredients:

• 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar, rolled oats, and coconut
• 4 oz butter
• 1 tbls treacle (golden syrup)
• 2 tbls boiling water
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda (add a little more water if mixture is too dry)

Method

1. Grease biscuit tray and pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Melt together butter and golden syrup. Combine water and bicarbonate soda, and add to butter mixture.
4. Mix butter mixture and dry ingredients.
5. Drop teaspoons of mixture onto tray, allowing room for spreading.
6. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on tray for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

A second (more comprehensive) recipe from Arnott's Biscuits:

Ingredients sufficient for six biscuits:

• 200 gm/1.5cups/300 mls flour
• 400 gm/3 cups/600 mls wholemeal flour
• 40 gm/5 tbls sugar
• 20 gm/3 tbls milk powder
• 1.5 gm/good pinch salt
• 220 mls water
  Use self-raising flours. If self-raising flours are not available, sieve 10 grams of baking powder together with plain flour before adding other ingredients.

Method:

1. Place flour, sugar, and milk powder in a large bowl and blend with finger tips. Form into pile and scoop out a hole (well) in the centre. Add all of the water in which the salt has been dissolved. Thoroughly work the flour from the inside of the well into the water until the whole is a mass of lumps of flour and water.
2. Once the dough is formed, transfer it to a table top or pastry board. The dough should now be torn apart, rubbed into balls, and thrown together, and the process repeated until the mass is well mixed and in the form of a hard dough. The dough is then rested for about half an hour.
3. Now roll the dough in 8 mm–thick sheets using a rolling pin and two 8–mm thick guides (wooden slats are ideal), the dough being rolled down between the two guides until the rolling pin rests on the guides during each traverse.
4. The rolled sheet of dough is then cut into 90 mm squares, preferably by pressing with the edge of a steel rule rather than slicing with a knife. The pressing action helps to join the top and bottom surfaces and will improve the lift on baking. A cardboard square, 90 mm on each side, can be used as a pattern to ensure uniformity in your tiles.
5. Next, the biscuit squares should be docked by having a regular horizontal and vertical pattern of holes pushed into them at about 18 mm spaces with a flat-ended pin or rod. Push it in until it bottoms, twist slightly, and then withdraw. Repeat at the next position. Each biscuit should have five vertical and five horizontal rows of docker holes, 25 holes in all. There are those at the Memorial who argue for 49 holes (7 x 7) as the authentic number of docker holes.
6. Place on a lightly greased steel baking sheet, with the biscuits about 6 mm apart, and form a wall around the load with scrap dough to avoid burning the edges of the biscuits.
7. Bake at about 200 degrees centigrade for 30 to 40 minutes on a low shelf in the oven. Take care not to burn them. To achieve a suitable hardness in your biscuits, store for a time in an air-tight container.

[daffodil]

Jamie "bender" Oliver!

Not a fan of the Anzac biccie myself. Completely agree with your take on the War Memorial being a moving experience - several years since I visited, and it still resonates.

[Bender]

Jamie Oliver!

Urgh, I cannot abide Jamie Oliver, with his constant "yeah"-ing and "pukka tucker". The recipes may be ok, but he isn't.

I'd much rather watch Nigella leer at the camera and lick her lips as she beats the ingredients into submission!

[daffodil]

Personally, I'm a bit over the whole celebrity chef cult.

Though as an avid cookery book collector (primarily to look at rather than use!), Jamie's recipes always turn out spot on.

[Kooky]

Jamie's recipes always turn out spot on.

Unless I'm cooking them.

[daffodil]

Fair call.

[Bender]

an avid cookery book collector (primarily to look at rather than use!)

So am I, we're running out of room for them. Started collecting the Australian Womens Weekly cookbooks years ago, back when the magazine was published every week (I wonder why they didn't re-name it when they changed the publishing schedule to monthly?).

I think we're up to 200+ of them. What I like about them is every recipe comes with a photo, so you can see what your creation should have turned out like.

Interesting statistic/bit of useless information: Australians buy and own more cookbooks per head of population than anyone else.

[Satellite]

I think we're up to 200+ of them. What I like about them is every recipe comes with a photo, so you can see what your creation should have turned out like.
.

Nothing else would work for me too!

I just bought a Microwave + oven+ grill for mr. sate! Cant wait to use it!

[daffodil]

Don't have any of the Australian Weekly ones, shall have to check them out.

Latest addition is Nigella Express - the quick chocolate mousse with marshmallow is very yummy. And vey sinful

[Bender]

Australian Weekly ones, shall have to check them out.

Here's a link to the current issues. They release about 6 per year and discountinue about the same number, so at any time there are probably about 25-30 titles available. They're available at newsagents, supermarkets and online for about $12 each. There are often "2 for the price of 1" deals - currently they're doing it for mothers day.

Got the Nigella books, they're good "food porn". Other favourites are the Bill Granger books. Nice casual food. Kooky will be able to go to Bill's cafes in Sydney for breakfast - yummy!

[Kooky]

Bill has a smile to melt my heart.

[FurBaby]

sorry Bender, i read your post and it gave me such an ear-worm that i must share it:

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul ...

[daffodil]

Bill has a smile to melt my heart.

And prices to burn a hole in it!

bills was fun when it first opened, now it's become just another pretentious cafe trading on past glories.

Edit : There's one opp the bar we went to after dinner the other night....

[Burbage]

an avid cookery book collector (primarily to look at rather than use!)

So am I, we're running out of room for them. Started collecting the Australian Womens Weekly cookbooks years ago, back when the magazine was published every week (I wonder why they didn't re-name it when they changed the publishing schedule to monthly?).

I think we're up to 200+ of them. What I like about them is every recipe comes with a photo, so you can see what your creation should have turned out like.

Interesting statistic/bit of useless information: Australians buy and own more cookbooks per head of population than anyone else.

I have a friend who took a lot of those photos. They had to employ someone called a "Food Artist", so it's highly unlikely that, without similar professional help, your meals could have looked anything like the ones in the pictures.

[Fat Bob]

Don't they use cyanide or some other poison to bring out the best in the colours of the food? Or is that just a CSI falacy?

Oh, had some of Nigella's Choccy mouse today. Very nice!

[Tack]

The second recipe does not have the ingredients that the article states is the basis of Anzac biscuits.
Er, just needed to state that.

But I love cookery books too. At the moment Nigella's is getting a good work out.

[Bender]

The second recipe does not have the ingredients that the article states is the basis of Anzac biscuits.
Er, just needed to state that.

Not surprising, it's from a biscuit company. Having the two recipes highlights how simple the original recipe was.

[BFG]

"At the moment Nigella's is getting a good work out."

Oh....my....goodness.....

[azzam]

Amazing what ANZAC biscuits can do to a man.

[nev]

I'm not a fan of ANZAC biscuit - I hate dried dessicated coconuts . Arnott's recipe looks yum tho.

Jamie's recipes are easy peasy, but nowhere as tasty as Nigella's. A friend gave me my first Nigella recipe book, and I'm hooked . My only gripe is, ALL her recipes are so unhealthy. A stick of butter (250g) for one roast chicken is heart attack on a plate. Sigh. I don't know how anyone can cook like her and still look like her.

[BFG]

I'm not a fan of ANZAC biscuit - I hate dried dessicated coconuts . Arnott's recipe looks yum tho.

Jamie's recipes are easy peasy, but nowhere as tasty as Nigella's. A friend gave me my first Nigella recipe book, and I'm hooked . My only gripe is, ALL her recipes are so unhealthy. A stick of butter (250g) for one roast chicken is heart attack on a plate. Sigh. I don't know how anyone can cook like her and still look like her.

Nigella Lawson is a COOK???!!!

[Kooky]

Jamie's recipes are easy peasy

They are - I was only joking. Even I can bung a couple of fish fillets in a foil packet and stick them in the oven for 20 minutes.

Erm, that "I just bought...for Mr Sate" escaped my notice the other day. Should I be dusting off me hat?

[nev]

Nigella Lawson is a COOK???!!!

She cooks, sometimes

[Burbage]

A stick of butter (250g) for one roast chicken is heart attack on a plate. Sigh. I don't know how anyone can cook like her and still look like her.

Because eating butter and chicken will not make you fat. Eating rice, flour, sugar and potatoes is what makes you fat. And you are far more at risk from heart disease if you are obese than any amount of saturated fats could make you.

[Bender]

We have our own Dr Atkins!