Saturday, January 19, 2008

Should have made these Anzac biscuits much sooner!

Since it's way to cold too go anywhere outside, what else is one to do but bake? Cookies sounded good today and we decided to go for a recipe we've been talking about making for awhile... Gingery Anzac Biscuits!

When I pulled the first trays out of the oven, my first though was that I must have been too light-handed with the flour. Our cookies went a little more lacy that I thought they should have - I gathered after reading a few descriptions that these cookies would spread and be somewhat thin, but ours were almost see through!

If we put that aside, the taste and texture were exactly what we needed today. What makes these cookies special are those wonderful caramel undertones from a couple tablespoons of Lyle's Golden Syrup. A bottle or jar of this is good for many things by the way... it is fantastic on toast or warmed up and poured over pancakes!

Traditional Anzac cookies don't have ginger in them, but we love the combination of sweet and heat, so I added a modest half cup of the crystallized variety. You will also notice that the cookies have a decent amount of coconut in the recipe - however, I didn't detect much of that flavor at all if that is not your thing - it mainly adds a definite chew to the cookies. When you bake them, be sure that they are a rich golden brown before you remove them - they will be soft right out of the oven, but they will slowly crisp up around the edges, yet remain chewy in the center, as they cool. A bonus to these is they keep for quite awhile without loosing their texture.


8 comments:

  1. It was SO cold today! This morning was horrible...I hope your baking warmed your house and that you were toasty warm! Tomorrow is supposed to be chilly again, and I have some baking planned to stay warm!

    Courtney

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  2. Courtney - Tomorrow is when we usually head out to the market... it should be an interesting trip! Brrr!

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  3. Joe,

    These look great! I would love to give them a try but I don't have Lyle's Golden Syrup. Can you suggest a replacement, (maple syrup, corn syrup, molasses or honey?), or can I omit it?

    Thanks for another great recipe.

    Jennifer

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  4. I love everytinhg you do!
    You´re a great baker.

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  5. Jennifer - If you can't find/use Golden Syrup - I would either use King's Syrup (like cane syrup) or Dark Corn Syrup.

    Winnie - Thanks!

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  6. These Anzac biscuits are tradionally Australian and are extremely popular here Downunder. I'm glad you enjoyed these tasty morsels.

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  7. I made these finally this weekend, after having "clipped" the recipe on bloglines months ago. OMG, this may be my new favorite cookie. I love Lyle's syrup so I knew these would be good. Mine did not spread, though, which is odd. But they were still addictive. I had to give them away lest I keep eating a whole batch myself. Thanks for the great recipe!!
    Leslie

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  8. Leslie - I'm glad you tried these cookies out!

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