Anzac Biscuits

The crunchiness of the biscuits was important when the recipe first came about. Although we now see recipes for more chewy versions, the original biscuits – whatever their name at the time – had to stay fresh for the months it took them to reach soldiers overseas.

It is said that women at home came up with the recipe based on ingredients that were readily available, namely oats, sugar, flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup or treacle, bi-carbonate of soda and boiling water. None of these spoiled easily, which meant that the biscuits would stay fresh for longer. Eggs were scarce during the war, and made baked goods more likely to spoil, which is why melted butter and treacle were used as binding agents, and bi-carb soda as a leavening agent.

Both Australia and New Zealand had an extensive number of Scottish immigrants and descendants, so some say that the original recipe was based on a Scottish biscuits recipe. Oats were eaten extensively in Scotland and were considered very nutritious, which is why they were included.

Although associated with wartime, the biscuits were less common in WW2 as ships had better refrigeration, allowing goods such as fruitcake to be transported to troops stationed overseas.