Anzac biscuit recipes: chewy, crunchy and more! (2024)

FAQs

What makes Anzac biscuits crunchy or chewy? ›

Chewy Anzac biscuits: cooking time is the key

The good news is you don't need to tinker with the ingredients to get the texture you prefer, only the cooking time. Just as with chocolate brownies, variations in cooking time can mean the difference between a chewier or firmer Anzac biscuit.

Best substitute for golden syrup is a combination of light molasses or treacle, plus honey. I use 1 part molasses or treacle, and 3 parts honey – the flavour is nearly identical, and the colour is very similar (a bit darker).

If you under bake these, they'll be soft; if you over bake, they'll become a little harder, although they shouldn't become like rocks, as they'd burn first. I'm sure you'd notice that! ??? If your Anzacs spread, your butter was too warm.

Baking soda or bicarb soda is the main raising agent in Anzac biscuits - it is added to the wet ingredients before being mixed into the dry ingredients.

Well, the long and short answer to chewy cookies is it's all about the moisture content. Cookies that are dense and chewy incorporate more moisture into the batter. This can be achieved by making substitutions with wet and dry ingredients, or even just changing the way you incorporate certain ingredients.

Australians are divided over how Anzac biscuits should be served, with an overwhelming majority preferring them soft but a vocal minority in support of a crunchy consistency.

In the U.S., golden syrup is usually sold under the name of light treacle, but it's not readily available in many grocery stores. In cooking recipes, molasses and light treacle are often used interchangeably because their textures and flavor profiles are similar.

But watch for crumbling or "melting": "If your biscuits are falling apart, then you have added too much of the wet ingredients, or potentially too much sugar," Quinn says. The marine biologist-turned-cook advises leaving the biscuits on the baking tray as they cool, then giving them a day or two to "chewify".

A point of interest is the lack of eggs to bind the ANZAC biscuit mixture together. Because of the war, many of the poultry farmers had joined the services, thus eggs were scarce. The binding agent for the biscuits was golden syrup or treacle.

The golden syrup can be substituted and you could use (liquid/runny) honey or agave syrup. But we would mention that honey can have quite an assertive taste when used in cooking, so try to use a very mild-flavoured honey and we would mention that the cookies will not taste exactly the same.

How to soften Anzac biscuits? ›

Simply lay the bread at the bottom of the container and pile your cookies on top of it, seal the lid, and wait a few hours. The cookies will soak up all the moisture from the bread and by the next morning, they will taste as good as the day they came out of the oven gooey.

Don't let the mixture stand around.

So, make sure you roll and bake the mixture as soon as possible after mixing to make rolling and flattening of the biscuits easy. If it does get a little dry you can just mix in another tablespoon or two of water to help make it a little more pliable before shaping.

If you don't have bicarbonate of soda, you could substitute baking powder - you'll need to double the amount. Golden Syrup - this is a staple in Aussie homes. There really isn't a substitute for golden syrup in Anzac Biscuits as it's used to bind the dough (in place of eggs).

If it's hot, the mixture will de drying out more - you need to add more of the moist ingredients so the mixture is runnier - it will then spread more & be thinner & crunchier! I find that if I use more butter/syrup mixture then it will turn out flatter and chewy. This is the way I like my anzac too.

Properly stored in an airtight container, Anzac biscuits can last for up to two weeks. However, their freshness and texture may start to diminish over time. To help prolong their shelf life, adding a slice of bread to the container can help absorb excess moisture and keep the biscuits from becoming stale.

Chewy or crunchy? Depending on how you like the texture of your Anzac biscuits, you can adjust the baking time to suit. 3-5 minutes less baking will generally give you chewy Anzacs while the stated baking time, or a few minutes more, will make them deliciously crisp – perfect for dunking!

Remember moisture is the key! White sugar creates crispier cookies and brown sugar creates chewier cookies. Why use melted butter? Melted butter creates cookies with a different texture compared to cookies made with softened or creamed butter.

The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.

If your freshly baked biscuits seem too soft after they're cooled, then they're either under baked, or there is too much liquid in the recipe.