An easy recipe for the most deliciously chewy Anzac biscuits EVER! Made with self raising flour and quick oats, they’re super quick to bake (only 5 mins prep!) and deliciously soft and chewy. The perfect snack alongside a hot cuppa.
“This recipe has everything you could want.. it was simple and delicious. I mean it’s kind of crazy how six ingredients can create so much deliciousness. The biscuits were chewy and struck a nice balance of sweetness. I know what I’m making next ANZAC day!”
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
There’s nothing better than the aroma of freshly baked biscuits straight from the oven. The whole house smells incredible and you get a sweet treat or two as well.
This scrumptious Anzac biscuit recipe is made with self raising flour and quick oats to make them extra fluffy and chewy. But you can still make them crunchy too!
Golden, sweet and irresistible, they’re the perfect treat when you’re feeling snacky, or crumble them up and add to your fav dessert. Yum!
These amazing Aussie bickies are budget friendly and super easy to make, perfect for little bakers. They also freeze well so why not bake a double batch to enjoy some now and some later.
Related: Easy Scones Recipe / Weetbix Slice / Vegemite on Toast
Did You Know?
Anzac biscuits are said to have been invented during World War 1 – hence the name ANZAC which is the acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Some records say wives and family members would bake them to send to soldiers on the front. Others say they were made to sell back home and raise funds for the war.
They often get confused with other Anzac rations known as hardtack, Anzac tile or Anzac wafers, but they’re actually quite different.
Cool Fact #1 – According to this article, the first recorded instance of the named ‘Anzac Biscuit’ recipe dates back over a hundred years ago (around 1919 or 1920) in our home town of Adelaide!
Cool Fact #2 – It’s technically illegal to call these biscuits Anzac cookies. In Australia, we always call them biscuits (or “bickies” for short).
What are Anzac Biscuits?
Anzac biscuits are sweet oat biscuits which were traditionally firm, crunchy and long lasting. They’re popular in Australia and New Zealand. And much like pavlova or ginger kisses, ownership is hotly debated between the two countries!
The biscuits have become part of Anzac Day traditions, commemorating the landing of Anzac troops at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915. Our readers also love cooking them on Australia Day (26th January), but we bake them just about any time of year!
Nowadays lots of people prefer a more soft and fluffy biscuit, which is where today’s recipe comes in!
Where We Learned This
As kids, we’d often get them in our school lunchboxes as a tasty treat. Sometimes, Laura’s mum would bake a tray to take to class parties along with lamingtons or coconut ice. They make a deliciously sweet contrast to other party favourites like party pies and sausage rolls.
What You’ll Need
- Quick Oats – We use quick oats / instant oats which help keep these biscuits soft and fluffy, unlike the original firm and crispy Anzac biscuits made with rolled oats.
- Sugar – Regular white sugar, caster sugar (superfine sugar), raw sugar or a mix of white and brown sugar all work fine.
- Self Raising Flour – We use self-raising flour which already includes baking powder as the raising agent. If you only have plain flour, add 2 tsp baking powder.
- Butter – You can use salted or unsalted, we generally use salted in most of our baking recipes. Salt brings out the sweetness and flavour of the biscuits even more. If you’re using unsalted butter, you might like to add a pinch of salt when mixing the dough.
- Golden Syrup – The key ingredient in traditional Anzac biscuits! It helps to bind the ingredients together, which is why you don’t need eggs to make them! Sub with treacle, honey or maple syrup in the first instance, though the flavour won’t be the same, they’ll get you through.
How to Make Anzac Biscuits
First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.
Pre-heat your oven to 160°C / 320˚F fan forced (or 180˚C / 356˚F conventional).
- Add the oats, sugar and self raising flour to a large mixing bowl and give them a good stir.
- Pour the melted butter and golden syrup over the dry ingredients and stir through. Add 3 tbsp water and mix well. Tip: add the final tbsp if needed to get the right texture, see recipe card notes for more info.
- Scoop out a portion of dough and roll into a ball, then place onto your lined baking tray(s). Lightly flatten each biscuit with your hand (or a fork for a nice decorative effect). Repeat with the remaining dough, keeping plenty of space between each biscuit to expand while it bakes. Bake for 20 mins until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for around 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool down completely.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Dough – Remember to lightly flatten the dough balls before baking otherwise you may end up with with baked oat balls instead of regular shaped biscuits!
- Consistency – This can vary depending on the absorbency of the oats you’re using. If your dough is too dry, try adding an extra teaspoon of water and mix again (repeat as required). If it’s too wet, add a little more flour. The dough should be sticky enough to hold together without crumbling, but not too moist either.
- Firmness – The baked bickies will be soft and slightly crumbly when you first take them out of the oven, so avoid being tempted to over-bake them. They’ll firm up slightly (but still be nice and chewy) once cooled.
- Crunchier Biscuits – To make them crunchy, bake them slightly longer and use rolled oats, not quick oats. You can also split your batch in half, baking some as chewy and some as crunchy for the best of both worlds.
Storage, Freezing & Reheating
Freshly baked Anzac biscuits will last for a few weeks when stored in the pantry in an airtight container. You can also freeze the unbaked dough (rolled into portions) OR the finished biscuits in an airtight container for up to a few months. Thaw them on the bench for an hour or so when you’re ready to snack.
FAQs
Traditionally, they’re quite a crunchy biscuit. We prefer to make them chewy because that’s how lots of people (ourselves included!) love to enjoy them.
Crushed Anzac biscuits are amazing sprinkled over ice cream or yoghurt for extra flavour and crunch! Use in place of regular oats, granola or muesli in apple crumble or persimmon crumble. Or whizz them up in a food processor and add extra butter to turn them into a pie crust or biscuit base for tarts or slices.
You could turn them into ice cream sandwiches or add a layer of buttercream between two biscuits, similar to ginger kisses.
Serving Ideas & Variations
While there are some hard and fast rules for what constitutes a traditional Anzac biscuit, there’s no reason you can’t experiment in your own kitchen. Here are a few ideas if you want to create your own unique twist:
- Add Texture – Desiccated coconut is considered an accepted variation to the traditional recipe. But for something more experimental, try adding chopped macadamias, peanuts or walnuts, desiccated coconut (a common Anzac biscuit ingredient) or dried fruit for extra pops of crunch.
- Add Flavour – Try it with cinnamon, vanilla extract or almond extract stirred through the dough.
- Add Chocolate – Stir chocolate chips through the dough before portioning it out. Then once baked and cooled, you can drizzle or dip them in melted chocolate.
- Vegan Anzac Biscuits – Swap the butter for an equal amount of coconut oil.
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★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
- 2 Baking Tray lined with baking paper
Ingredients
- 180 g quick oats 6.34 oz, sub rolled oats
- 80 g white sugar 2.82 oz
- 150 g self raising flour 5.29 oz, sub plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder
- 150 g salted butter 5.29 oz, melted
- 1 tbsp golden syrup sub treacle, honey or maple syrup
- 3 tbsp water plus 1 tbsp extra if required
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 160°C / 320˚F fan forced (or 180˚C / 356˚F conventional).
- Add the 180 g quick oats, 80 g white sugar and 150 g self raising flour to a large mixing bowl and give them a good stir.180 g quick oats, 80 g white sugar, 150 g self raising flour
- Pour the 150 g salted butter and 1 tbsp golden syrup over the dry ingredients and stir through. Add 3 tbsp water and mix well. Tip: add the final tbsp if needed to get the right texture, see notes for more info.150 g salted butter, 1 tbsp golden syrup, 3 tbsp water
- Scoop out a portion of dough and roll into a ball, then place onto your lined baking tray(s). Lightly flatten each biscuit with your hand (or a fork for a nice decorative effect). Repeat with the remaining dough, keeping plenty of space between each biscuit to expand while it bakes.
- Bake for 20 mins until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for around 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool down completely.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Dough – Remember to lightly flatten the dough balls before baking otherwise you may end up with with baked oat balls instead of regular shaped biscuits!
- Consistency – This can vary depending on the absorbency of the oats you’re using. If your dough is too dry, try adding an extra teaspoon of water and mix again (repeat as required). If it’s too wet, add a little more flour. The dough should be sticky enough to hold together without crumbling, but not too moist either.
- Firmness – The baked bickies will be soft and slightly crumbly when you first take them out of the oven, so avoid being tempted to over-bake them. They’ll firm up slightly (but still be nice and chewy) once cooled.
- Crunchier Biscuits – To make them crunchy, bake them slightly longer and use rolled oats, not quick oats. You can also split your batch in half, baking some as chewy and some as crunchy for the best of both worlds.
- Storage – Freshly baked Anzac biscuits will last for a few weeks when stored in the pantry in an airtight container. You can also freeze the unbaked dough (rolled into portions) OR the finished biscuits in an airtight container for up to a few months. Thaw them on the bench for an hour or so when you’re ready to snack.Â
14 Comments
Derek Watson
07/05/2021 at 6:25 pmHow to make golden Syrup?? And what ratio flour and baking powder for self raising flour???thx
Wandercooks
08/05/2021 at 9:50 amHey Derek, we buy golden syrup here as an ingredient, and don’t make it ourselves. If you can’t source it, you can substitute with treacle, molasses or maple syrup. It’s 2 tsp of baking powder with 150g / 5.3oz of plain / all purpose flour. Hope this helps!
Ann
07/03/2020 at 3:41 amWOW! These crunchy cookies are totally scrumptious! I feel like I want to bite these through my screen. I’m definitely saving the recipe for later. I’ll probably make these tomorrow. Lucky me, I have all the ingredients at home.
Thanks for posting this! Your blog is amazing. I’ll be coming around often. Keep it up!
Wandercooks
09/03/2020 at 9:37 amAwesome Ann, hope you had fun baking. Let us know how they turned out! 🙂
Jeannette
18/02/2020 at 6:17 pmYES! I’ve never made ANZAC biscuits before, but I know where to look for the recipe now! Thanks for sharing such a classic!
Wandercooks
24/02/2020 at 3:09 pmHey Jeannette – haha, glad you’re so excited. Hope you have fun baking them. Let us know how they turn out!
Jayne
18/02/2020 at 4:41 pmLove the flavor of oats in these biscuits. I make them often!
Wandercooks
18/02/2020 at 5:37 pmThey are a pretty popular biscuit, glad you enjoy making them too!
Sara Welch
18/02/2020 at 2:52 pmSuch a great recipe and comes together so easily! Looking forward to baking these this weekend; looks too good to pass up!
Wandercooks
18/02/2020 at 5:36 pmOh nice Sara, have fun and happy baking!
Kacey Perez
18/02/2020 at 1:24 pmThese look like the perfect grab and go breakfast! Definitely want try this one out!
Wandercooks
18/02/2020 at 5:36 pmThat’s a great idea. We love having them for morning tea with a hot cuppa. So moreish!
Rebecca
18/02/2020 at 1:15 pmYour Anzac biscuits look amazing! Can’t wait for them to be ready to eat.
Wandercooks
18/02/2020 at 5:35 pmThanks Rebecca – hope yours turn out just as delish!