Sweets for the Sweet

I made/modified a recipe today that came out really well, and it was easy as pie. This is a common Australian cookie. I'm posting this because, if you sub out the butter for margarine, it's even vegan friendly for our vegan reader(s). I figured this out when I was looking up the key ingredient and found that many vegans use golden syrup in place of honey -- it has a similar look and taste. While not easy to find, I didn't have to go to a real specialty store to find it -- I think I found it in the "international" section of a supermarket chain. If you can't find it, you might want to use honey or dark corn syrup.

I really want to call these "kitchen sink" cookies, because in my case it was finishing up a lot of random ingredients I had around (what recipe calls for 9 Tbs of butter, which was what I had left? This one does. And I'd had this bag of dried unsweetened coconut for a while that needed using up). They're nice and crispy and crunchy.

Anzac Biscuits

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup dried, unsweetened coconut (found in Whole Foods, most recipes allow for the sweetened shredded stuff in the bag)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
9 tablespoons butter, unsalted (1 stick plus one Tbs)(or margarine)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup


1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease baking sheets. (or use a silpat or parchment paper -- always easier)

2. In your main mixing bowl mix together oats, flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a microwave-safe bowl, put butter, sugar and golden syrup. (hint for the golden syrup or any other sticky syrup -- spray cooking spray on the inside of the measuring cup -- all the sticky stuff will slide right out. Thanks, Alton). Microwave until the butter is melted -- about 45 seconds, tops, and stir every 15 seconds or so. Mix together until blended.

4. Pour the butter/sugar/syrup mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix together until all of the ingredients are incorporated.

5. Pinch off small balls of the dough, and compress into 1 inch balls, and place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Don't be afraid to handle this dough and moosh it together, because it's fairly crumbly.

6. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until golden brown. Take out of the oven, and let stand on cookie sheets for a few minutes, and then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

Makes about 35 cookies.