ANZAC Biscuits

Makes about 45 cookies

ANZAC is an acronym for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps and these cookies (or; as the British call them, "biscuits") were made during the Second World War by everyone Down Under to send to soldiers at the front. My friend Melbourne food stylist Maureen McKeon, who gave me the recipe, wrote that she remembers helping her Irish grandmother pack large tins of the cookies.

1 cup rolled oats (regular oatmeal)
3/4 cup firmly packed shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey or Lyle's Golden Syrup
2 tablespoons hot water
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 or 3 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans
covered with parchment or foil

1. Set the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine the oatmeal, coconut, and flour; stir well to mix.

3. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Still over low heat, stir in the sugar and the honey. Cook until the mixture is beginning to simmer, stirring occasionally until the sugar melts.

4. Combine the water and baking soda in a little bowl, then off the heat stir into the simmered mixture—be careful, it will bubble up. Just keep on stirring and the foam will abate.

5. Stir the warm liquid into the oatmeal and flour mixture to make an evenly moistened batter.

6. Drop teaspoonfuls of the batter 2 or 3 inches apart on the prepared pans.

7. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they spread and color evenly.

8. Slide the papers off the pans onto racks.

9. After the cookies have cooled, detach them from the paper and store them between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover.

Buy the Book!

Cookies Unlimited
By Nick Malgieri
HarperCollins, October 2000
Hardcover, $35.00
Color photographs throughout
ISBN: 0-06-019285-2
Recipe reprinted by permission.