Australian Anzac Biscuits

I'm delighted that my daughter's school has adopted an international focus in their curriculum. I hopped on board the cooking committee, and our first mission was to make Australian Anzac Biscuits for the entire school. How fun! There were four of us baking, and there was enough for the staff, too. These traditional biscuits were baked by anxious wives and mothers during WW I, packed & sent to the Australian soldiers in the trenches.



I veganized the recipe (easy since it didn't call for eggs), and tweaked it slightly (my changes in parenthesis), and these cookies (actually called "biscuits") are simply delicious!
Appropriate for schools since they aren't obscenely unhealthful, and are basically allergen-free without nuts or dairy. You could probably make them gluten-free using 1 1/4 c. spelt flour instead of white.


Anzac Biscuits
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup desiccated coconut (I used regular & processed it to fine in my food processor)
1 cup white flour
1 cup sugar
125g (4oz) butter (Earth Balance, of course)
2 tablespoons golden syrup (I used 2 tbsp. brown rice syrup & 1 tsp. molasses)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon boiling water

Preheat oven to 300F
1. In a big bowl, mix oats, flour, sugar & coconut together.
2. In a little bowl, melt syrup, molasses, & butter together.
3. In a baby bowl, mix soda with boiling water. Add to melted butter and syrup. Then, add that to dry ingredients.
4. Place 1 tablespoonfuls of mixture on parchment paper lined cookie sheets (allow room for spreading). Bake for 20 minutes.