I woke up on Anzac Day feeling kind of miserable. Still under the weather and feeling sorry for myself, I curled up on the sofa in my pyjamas with a cup of tea, yet another episode of The Gilmore Girls and my new furry blanket. I almost felt like staying there all day. But I knew that to do that would probably make me more miserable, and Karl was due home from Europe, so I got myself up and downstairs and made some Anzac biscuits.
It is a myth that Anzac biscuits were made and sent to the New Zealand and Australian troops at Gallipoli, with the first mention of them in a cook book coming in 1921. At the end of the day, the Anzac biscuit (or cookie for my readers over the other side of the Pacific Ocean), is easy to make and always delicious, You can rustle these up in just a few minutes and enjoy, of course, with a cup of tea. I like mine crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.
You will need:
1 cup rolled oats ¼ cup golden syrup
125g butter. 2 tbsp boiling water
½ tsp baking soda 1 cup flour
1 cup desiccated coconut 1 cup soft brown sugar
Preheat oven to 160C and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Mix together the oats, flour, coconut and sugar in a large bowl. Put the golden syrup, butter and boiling water in a pan and heat until the butter melts. Stir in baking soda, and then add to the dry mixture and stir it all up.
Roll the mixture into balls about 2cm in diameter, and flatten a little, and allow a little room for spreading out. Annabelle Langbein suggest that for biscuits that are crunchy on the outside but a little chewy inside, lightly flatten with a fork or damp fingers. Bake for about 20 minutes or until light gold in colour. Bake longer if you want hard biscuits though quite frankly, I prefer them just a bit chewy.
And you know what? Just the act of baking and filling the house with delicious smells perked me up. So next time you feel a bit blue, get up and bake a little treat. Make a pot of tea, and hopefully sit outside in the sunshine.
Title of the post from Nigel Slater’s Eating For England, talking about the biscuit tin.
“The tin, with its tight lid and cute pictures, is a playground for those who like their snacks sweet and crisp and reeking of tradition”.
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