South Australian bakery recreates the Original Soldiers’ Biscuit for Anzac Day
A South Australian bakery has recreated one of the “original” versions of the Anzac biscuit, and is raising money for the War Widows Guild of SA in the process.
SA News
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Rolled oats and syrup – plus flour, butter and sugar.
There are various predecessors to the Anzac biscuit Australians know and love today, but core ingredients remain. Mostly.
Of course, they weren’t called Anzac biscuits then.
“There were rolled oat biscuits, munchies, nutties, surprise biscuits – it went on,” South Australian culinary historian Allison Reynolds said.
Such biscuits were often included in food care packages sent to Australians serving in WWI. Usually made without egg, and with enough sugar, they could last for months.
“Certainly the soldiers would have dunked their biscuits,” Ms Reynolds said. “The only difference is they would have had their tea in an enamel mug; nothing as fancy as a fine cup and saucer.”
When it comes to the patriotic snack, Ms Reynolds literally wrote the book. She published Anzac Biscuits: The Power and Spirit of an Everyday National Icon in 2018.
The book inspired Lobethal bakery Emmaline’s to recreate the original Soldiers’ Oat Biscuit, with part sales benefiting the War Widows’ Guild of SA.
“They represent the families of the war widows who also have made the ultimate sacrifice … they lost a father, a husband, a brother, a son,” said Ms Reynolds, who chose the organisation to receive royalties from her book.
She described the Emmaline’s biscuit as “very, very similar” and praised the bakery for using “real” ingredients. “They’re quite thick … and not nearly as sweet as the ones made today,” she said.
Aged care provider ACH Group, which manages the WWG of SA’s housing communities, has thrown its support behind the collaboration. The biscuits are available at selected supermarkets and adelaidehillsfoods.com.au.
Home bakers can join in on Ms Reynold’s live biscuit making session, “Bake Together Anzac Biscuit Live”, at 1.30pm Thursday – register via Eventbrite.
ALLISON’S CHEWY ANZAC BISCUITS
INGREDIENTS
½ level cup/75g plain flour
½ level cup/75g self raising flour
1 cup/90g rolled oats (not
instant)
1 cup/70g desiccated coconut
1 cup/200g sugar (try half caster and half soft brown sugar)
125g butter
1 x 20ml tablespoons of golden syrup – be generous! (Open lid and stand tin in bowl of hot water to soften before measuring.)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (bicarb)
1 tablespoon boiling water (You may need extra water when you bind together so that you can form a ball in your hand.)
METHOD
Mix flour, oats, desiccated coconut and sugar in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat, add golden syrup (dip tablespoon in hot water before measuring), stir till dissolved, bring gently to boiling point then remove pan from heat.
Mix boiling water and bicarb and stir till dissolved. Add this to the hot melted mixture and stir till it froths up the pan. Carefully add the frothy mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. If a little dry, add ½ tablespoon of extra water to help bind it together.
Take a rounded dessert spoon of mixture, roll into a ball. Place balls on baking trays 5 cm apart, (the biscuits will spread).
Press biscuits down using a fork, the back of spoon or the bottom of a cup measure. Place trays in oven (150C fan forced). After 15 minutes, take trays (one tray at a time) out of the oven and press biscuits flat again.
Return trays to oven and continue baking for a further 3-4 minutes or until golden brown (they will be soft).
Leave biscuits on the trays for barely one minute – just enough time for the biscuits to firm up slightly before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Recipe makes 26-30 biscuits.
Crispy Anzac Biscuits
INGREDIENTS
1 Level cup / 145g / 4½ oz plain flour
1 Cup / 90g / 3 oz rolled oats (not instant)
1 Cup / 70g / 2½ oz desiccated coconut
1 Cup / 200g / 7 oz sugar (granulated sugar is good for crispy)
125g / 4½ oz butter
2 x 20ml tablespoons of golden syrup (open lid and stand the tin in bowl of hot water to soften the syrup before measuring).
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (bicarb)
2 tablespoon boiling water (water must be boiling when you use it)
METHOD
Mix flour, oats, desiccated coconut and sugar in a large bowl. Melt butter in a large pan over moderate heat, add golden syrup (dip tablespoon in hot water before measuring), stir till dissolved, bring gently to boiling point then remove pan from heat.
Mix boiling water and bicarb and stir till dissolved. Add this to the hot melted mixture and stir till it froths up the pan.
Carefully add the frothy mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. If a little dry – add ½ tablespoon of extra water to help bind it together.
Take a rounded dessertspoon of the mixture and roll into a ball – place on baking trays 5 cm apart, (the biscuits will spread).
Press biscuits down using a fork, the back of spoon, or the bottom of a cup measure. Put trays in the oven (150C if using a fan forced oven).
After 15 minutes take trays (1 tray at a time) out of the oven and press flat again.
Return trays to the oven and continue baking for a further 3 to 4 minutes or until golden (they will still be soft)
Leave the biscuits on the trays to firm up until completely cool - about 10 minutes.
Recipe makes 25-28 biscuits.