The Retro Wartime Cookie That Will Warm Your Heart

Often considered the national cookie for Australia and New Zealand, Anzac biscuits have a long legacy. The crisp, sweet oat cookies are delicious with tea and will keep for weeks.

anzac biscuits laid out on a white surface, with some cookie crumbs surrounding them — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

A quintessential Australian cookie, the Anzac biscuit, has stolen my heart. These oat and coconut cookies have an irresistible buttery caramel flavor from the blend of butter, brown sugar, and honey. This combination puts them in my favorite category of cookies—ones that are acceptable to have at breakfast.

With the same recipe, I can choose whether to bake them crunchy or chewy. They’re straightforward, too. There’s no creaming the butter or chilling the dough, and you don’t even have to crack an egg.

The best part is that they keep for a couple of weeks, so I can hide them away in my snack cupboard and enjoy them over a longer period of time. I can have just one or two to dunk in my coffee or tea each day with no pressure to finish them all before they go stale—although they tend to disappear quickly all the same.

The History of Anzac Biscuits

Anzac biscuits are a popular oat and coconut cookie in Australia and New Zealand. Anzac is an acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, created during World War I. It’s said that these biscuits were sent to soldiers abroad during the war because they kept so well, even during long transportation at sea.

Nowadays, they’re made for Anzac Day, similar to Veteran’s Day in the US. It’s commemorated on April 25, the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1915. It was the countries’ first major military action during World War I.

anzac biscuits on a cooling rack, with a bite take out of one of the cookies — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Crunchy vs. Chewy

Aussies have an unsettled debate about whether Anzac biscuits should be crunchy or chewy. I’ve tested both, and while I’m firmly on team chewy, I’ve included instructions for those who prefer a crunchy cookie.

However, I must admit that crunchy cookies are closest to the original Anzac biscuits baked for soldiers abroad since they’d travel better. Plus, they remind me of the Hobnob biscuits that I miss from my time living in London.

Replacing Golden Syrup With Honey

Anzac biscuits are traditionally made with golden syrup, a byproduct of sugar refining first sold in the UK in the late 1800s. It’s an indispensable ingredient in the UK and Australia and has a toffee caramel flavor.

Many grocery stores sell Lyle’s Golden Syrup in the baking aisle, or you can find it online. I call for honey in these Anzac biscuits because it’s the easiest to find in American supermarkets, and I always have a jar in my cupboard, but you can use either interchangeably in this recipe.

anzac biscuits on a light blue serving plate — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Arrange racks in the bottom and top third of the oven. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. If you only have one baking sheet, bake the cookies in 2 batches.

Combine the dry ingredients:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, coconut, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt.

Oats and flour for the Anzac Biscuits recipe in a white bowl — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Heat and combine the remaining ingredients:

Heat the butter and honey in a small saucepan set over medium heat, stirring until the butter has melted.

Add the baking soda and water and stir to combine. The mixture may fizz up as the baking soda reacts to the honey.

Honey and butter for the Anzac Biscuits recipe in a small sauce pan — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Make the dough:

Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Mix with a rubber spatula until just combined. The dough will look crumbly but should stick together when squeezed in your palm. If it’s too crumbly, add another tablespoon of water.

Dry and wet ingredients for the Anzac Biscuits recipe getting mixed together with a spatula in a white bowl — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

A small ball of dough for the Anzac Biscuits recipe shaped in a hand above a mixing bow with the rest of the dough — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Scoop and bake:

Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Arrange cookies on the lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and back to front halfway through. 15 minutes will yield cookies with crisp edges and a chewy center, whereas 20 minutes will yield crunchy cookies. At 15 minutes, the cookies will be golden around the edges, and at 20 minutes, they will be deep golden.

Six dough balls for the Anzac Biscuits recipe placed on a parchment paper lined baking sheet — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Six cookies for the Anzac Biscuits recipe baked on a parchment paper lined baking sheet — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Cool:

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. The crunchy cookies will seem soft while warm but harden as they cool.

Anzac biscuits can last for up to 2 weeks stored in an airtight container, but their texture diminishes over time. Crunchy cookies will stay crunchy for about a week before beginning to soften, and chewy cookies will lose their crisp edges.

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