OK, you asked for it. And now for a classic Aussie recipe, from WWI. Anything made as hard tack you would think would be ghastly, but they're not. They're absolutely delicious. We eat them now, they're the only biscuit I buy for husband (although my mother would be wagging her finger at me, I should be making them).
So here is the only recipe given out by the Australian War Memorial:
http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/anzac/biscuit/recipe.htm
ANZAC is an acronym for the Australasian troops of WWI - Australia New Zealand Army Corps. These were a volunteer army - no conscripts. We've only ever had conscription for Vietnam and probably won't have it again. (husband thinks we had also had conscription in the later stages of WWII - I don't think so.) ANZAC is a term which has become associated now with ALL Aussie & NZ troops. husband is an Anzac, by that definition, but he doesn't claim it because he never served overseas. Our national day for our armed services is Anzac Day, on 25 April, commemorating the day of the landing at Gallipoli. How like Aussies, eh? Celebrating a military disaster and major mistake. However, it also celebrates the determination of the Anzacs to make the best of it and go way above the call of duty, with ingenuity, comradeship and courage. And these days - the enemy we were fighting, the Turks, are now celebrating it with us. This gives it all the more validity and meaning, to be able to come together in peace with a former enemy and both sides pay tribute to the courage and high ideas of all involved.
When you taste these biscuits, you will understand why we didn't need conscription for our soldiers in WWI!
Ignore the first (commercial) recipe - that's why we don't buy THEIR biscuits.
Here is a recipe very similar to the second one from the War Memorial site -
Anzac biscuits
Chef: Margaret Fulton
A traditional favourite. Serves a small party. Degree of difficulty: Low
Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes. Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
You need:
1 cup each of plain flour, sugar, rolled oats and coconut
120 grammes of butter, melted
1 tablespoon of Golden Syrup
2 tablespoons of boiling water
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in a little water
Method:
Mix together dry ingredients
Then the rest
Spoon onto a greased oven tray
Cook in a coolish oven 150-160 centigrade for 10 to 15 minutes
Serving Suggestion: Fresh
The biscuits should still be soft to the touch when you take them out of the oven but will harden on cooling. The best Anzacs are crunchy on the outside and a bit moist and chewy in the centre. Very good for you, but they taste very bad for you, a lovely toffee/butterscotch flavour. Great for dunking in your tea.
Golden Syrup is a by-product from the sugar cane processing/refinery. It's delicious, rich in flavour. If you can't get Golden Syrup, use molasses instead of Golden Syrup. Or maple syrup. Or honey. They will taste different but still be very yummy. Despite what the second recipe on the War Memorial website implies, Golden Syrup is NOT the same as molasses - molasses is darker with a stronger burnt sugar flavour.
The value of these biscuits - because they contain no egg, they keep well (hence used by the army in the days of long sea voyages and no refrigeration at the front). Back in WWI, making Anzac biscuits for the troops was a valid alternative to knitting balaclavas. People would make large batches of them and post them off to the war, and make more batches to eat at home because of rationing.
A good Anzac biscuit should spread out while cooking, so give them plenty of space. Use baking paper or non-stick silicone trays. For the authentic feel, use seasoned cast-iron, well greased. In a wood fire.
A recipe book my mother gave me had a problem with the quantities - my biscuits never spread out, they just sat there on the tray like lumps of sandstone (which they later resembled in texture). Inedible. The mix had far too much dry ingredients, the recipe took too much effort to try to set right. It has some other Aussie classics now lost in the mists of time (and good taste) such as "Calves Head in Brain Sauce". I want to go to HER place for dinner! (not). Chances are, that recipe is also wrong, but I've never bothered to find out...
Marg