ANZAC Biscuits
Chocolate chip cookies are an American invention. Around the world, other countries also have sweet treats they created. Think French pain au chocolat and éclairs, Italian biscotti, and the chewy Japanese rice flour treat called mochi.
We know little about Australian cooking, so let me introduce you to ANZAC biscuits. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, and a biscuit is a sweet cookie. ANZAC biscuits are like crunchy oatmeal cookies with shredded coconut. They are associated with ANZAC Day (April 25) when during World War I, troops from Down Under landed in Gallipoli to face a horrendous situation. The biscuit was created to send home-cooked food to troops far away and to fortify their limited diet with good nutrition.
As with chocolate chip cookies, recipes for ANZAC biscuits abound. Here, I use a soft buttery spread in place of butter to minimize saturated fat and cut out cholesterol. Keeping the fat content reasonable means this dough works best baked as a bar.
ANZAC Biscuits
(Makes 20 servings)
Ingredients
- 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
- 1 cup reduced-fat, unsweetened shredded dried coconut (or ½ cup regular, unsweetened shredded coconut)
- ½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- ½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttery spread
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons boiling water
- Canola oil cooking spray
Mixing Directions
- In mixing bowl, use whisk to combine oats, coconut, flours, sugars and salt.
- In small pot over medium heat, heat spread until melted. Mix in honey. Remove pot from heat.
- In small bowl, combine baking soda with boiling water. When mixture is foamy, add to melted spread mixture.
- Pour warm mixture into dry ingredients and mix, first using flexible spatula, then your hands, working with your fingers until mixture is evenly moistened. It will be sandy and crumble when squeezed in your fist.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 2–24 hours, until handful squeezed tightly sticks together.
Baking Directions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Coat 11-by-7-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Pour bar mixture into prepared pan and press firmly into even layer.
- Bake 10 minutes. Remove pan and using sharp, thin knife make 4 cuts spaced evenly across wider width of pan. Rotate pan 90 degrees and make 3 cuts across smaller width of pan, creating 20 bars. Return pan to oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until cookies are deep golden brown. They will be slightly puffy and yield a little when pressed with a finger.
- Set pan on wire baking rack and run knife through cuts. Cool completely. Run knife through cuts again to make sure cookies are completely separated and lift from pan. ANZAC cookies will keep in airtight container for 1 week.
Nutrition Facts
SERVING SIZE
Calories: 130
Total fat: 6 g
Saturated fat: 3 g
Carbohydrate: 17 g
Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 1 g
Sodium: 140 mg