Friday, April 25, 2008

Happy ANZAC Day!

Today is ANZAC Day. Otherwise known as Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Day. It honors members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Anzac Day is also celebrated in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.

It is a fabulous random holiday I decided to celebrate instead of Arbor Day, which I actually adore thanks to a former arborist and girl scout leader who I adore too!

The ANZAC biscuit or cookie was reportedly created because any food sent to the soldiers was carried via the Merchant Navy to the soldiers, the transportation of said food would take upwards of two months. The basis of the recipe was rolled oats, then utilizing other ingredients that did not spoil easily. One notable omission from any ANZAC biscuit recipe is that of eggs. This was due mostly to the scarcity of eggs.



This particular recipe comes from A Cookie for Every Country.




Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
4 oz butter
2 tbs golden syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbs water



Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together. Melt syrup and butter together. Mix baking soda with boiling water and add to melted butter and syrup. Add to the dry ingredients while it is still foaming.

Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Place spoonfuls of the dough (approx. 1 tbs each) on baking sheet approximately 2" apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and remove from baking sheet to racks to cool.




I baked mine for about 15 minutes and they didn't turn into little coconut rock piles as I got the impression that they would. Instead they were golden and crunchy on the outside and just a bit chewy inside. I'm not sure how they are holding up 24 hours later as far as consistency goes. In case you don't know this about me, I wouldn't touch anything with coconut in it with a 100 foot poll. The only coconut ridden item that I have ever consumed is a Samoa and I tend to think that is because the coconut is shredded smaller and is smothered in chocolate to obscure the taste, not to mention it is toasted first.

1 comment:

Sara said...

these were pretty good.