ANZAC Baking Ideas

Here in New Zealand it is ANZAC Day in a little over a week, on the 25th April.  ‘ANZAC’ stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps and the 25th of April is significant for us as it marks the landings at Gallipoli made during World War One.  On this day each year we acknowledge the sacrifice of all those who have died in warfare, and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.

A baking tradition for the day is to make Anzac biscuits.  These biscuits are said to have been sent by wives to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation.  Why not make of batch?  Or, try out one of our ANZAC recipes that are a bit of a twist on the traditional biscuit.

ANZAC Biscuits

Gooey Caramel ANZAC Slice

ANZAC Muffins

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
- Laurence Binyon

ANZAC Muffins

Last year I made  ‘Gooey Caramel ANZAC Slice’ and Mel made ‘ANZAC biscuits’, it was about that time that I saw a few ANZAC muffin recipes, I put off making them so I could share them with you all closer to ANZAC day 2013. These muffins are best served fresh and in my opinion would work well as breakfast/brunch food.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup rolled outs
1 egg
3/4 cup warm milk
50g butter, melted
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/4 cup rolled oats for top
1/4 cup brown sugar for top

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cases.
In a large bowl place melted butter and milk heat to warm in the microwave (15-20 seconds).
Add golden syrup and egg, whisk to combine.
Place all your dry ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
Create a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Spoon into cases and top with rolled oats and brown sugar.
Bake in your pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack, best served warm.

Gooey Caramel ANZAC Slice

I came across this recipe in the April copy of ‘Food’ magazine but ended up adapting it a little bit, it is ‘Mmmmmm’ delicious and something a little different to your traditional ANZAC biscuit.

Ingredients:
Base:
1½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup brown sugar
150g butter, melted
Caramel:
395g can of condensed milk
2 tablespoons golden syrup
50g butter
Topping:
⅓ cup each – shredded coconut, rolled oats, brown sugar
50g melted butter

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a 25cm x 15cm slice tin with baking paper.
Combine the flour, baking powder and brown sugar in a bowl, add the melted butter and stir well until combined then press mixture evenly into the prepared tin to form the base. Bake for about 10 minutes until pale golden and just set.
Remove from the oven and place your tin on a cooling rack while you make your caramel.
To make the caramel melt together the condensed milk, golden syrup and butter in the microwave, I gave mine four zaps of 40 seconds each, stirring between each interval.
Your caramel is ready when it is golden and thickened. To take the guess work out of using the microwave you could use a double boiler to combine your caramel ingredients.
Set aside to cool for 5 minutes while making the topping.
To make the topping combine coconut, oats, soft brown sugar. Pour over the melted butter and stir well to ensure the dry mix is evenly coated in butter.
Pour the caramel over the warm par-baked slice and carefully spread over topping mixture pressing into the caramel lightly. Bake the slice for a further 10-15 minutes until golden.
Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
- Laurence Binyon

Remember to buy a poppy as a mark of respect and gratitude to all the men (and women) who have served to protect our way of life for ANZAC day on April 25th.

Anzac Biscuits

It’s now April, which means Anzac Day is coming up, so I decided to try out baking some Anzac biscuits.  If you’re not from New Zealand or Australia you might be wondering what ‘Anzac’ is and the significance of these biscuits.  ‘Anzac’ stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps and each year on the 25th of April we have ‘Anzac Day’ where we acknowledge the sacrifice of all those who have died in warfare, and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.  Anzac Day marks the landings at Gallipoli in Turkey, made during World War One on the 25th April in 1915.  Anzac Day has been a public holiday in New Zealand since 1921.

Anzac biscuits are said to have been sent by wives to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation.  Traditionally they don’t have chocolate on them, but I had some in the pantry I wanted to use up :)

Makes approx. 24

1 cup flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 cups rolled oats
125g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 cup chocolate, melted (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Place the flour, caster sugar, coconut and oats in a bowl and stir to combine.  Make a well in the centre.
Place the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan and stir until the butter is melted.
Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water.  Add the butter mixture and the dissolved baking soda to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
Roll heaped teaspoon amounts of the mixture into balls and press onto the prepared baking trays, allowing space for biscuits to spread while cooking.
Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until firm and golden brown.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.  If desired, dip one half of each biscuit into melted chocolate and allow to set before serving.

I’ve just realised as I’m typing up this post, that the teaspoon in the photo above has a picture of the Auckland War Memorial Museum on it – how fitting :)