Do as I'm doing...ANZAC Biscuits.

I made ANZAC biscuits, and I really, really liked them.  ANZAC (and I'm going off memory here so everyone, please cut me some slack if I get it a bit wrong) means Australia New Zealand Army Corps.  They were the men and women from Australia who fought in....WWII...again, I hope I am correct.

So, you've got your son or daughter fighting over seas, what's a "mum" (gotta do it when talking about these "biscuits"), to do?  Make them cookies.  But, make sure they are going to survive the long distances and time in transit to get to your loved one, while still tasty.  So those crafty ladies invented a cookie that can go the distance.

Vocabulary Lesson Of the Day:
Biscuit: Cookie.  You might be asking yourself, well, then what do they call actual biscuits?  Nothing.  They don't have them.  They have scones.  If you hail from Utah, not Utah scones either.  Those really should be called Fry Bread.
Golden Syrup:  Syrup.  But, a kind we don't have much here.  It's more complex than corn syrup, but not as gnarly as molasses, think...caramalized sugar.  Very delicious.  I bought mine through Amazon.  But I also found it at my local grocery store.  Look around, you'll have to do some searching, but you can find it.  It is going to cost a grundle though.  Be prepared.
Mum:  Mom.  Mummy (mommy) can also be used.  Not sure about mumu (momma)...I mean, a mumu is a giant dress my mum used to lounge about in the house in the 80's.
Celsius:  0 is actually freezing and 100 is boiling vs. 32 and 212 in Fahrenheit
Grams:  Metric system.  Learn it people.  It's good...except when you have to use one stick of a butter and the bittiest smidge of another stick in order to get to 125 grams.
Bicarb Soda: Baking soda.
Dessicated Coconut: Regular, sweetened coconut
Kiwi:  Somebody from New Zealand

This is Mel from Mellywood's Mansion's, recipe.  Click here for the goodness.

Here's what I learned making these...

170 C. is 338 F.  Well, okay then.  So I used 345 F., I think.  Now because of this, I needed to cook my cookies for a shorter duration than Mel calls for.  She cooks hers for 15 minutes.  I cooked mine for about 12.  They are going to come out of the oven soft and a bit squishy, but that's what you want, as long as they're golden brown, they'll firm up.

Store your golden syrup in the fridge, according to Nat, from Northshore Days, who is a South African/Kiwi hybrid She says if you don't...the ants will get in it.  Gross.

Oh, and once you've added the baking soda to the melted butter/syrup combo, that's when you add the dry ingredients.

My Oldest gives them the thumbs up.

My Youngest also gives likes them...a lot!....and this is what she's doing for smiles these days.  sigh  Did your kids go through a phase where they wouldn't just smile, but grimace, thinking they are smiling.

Me.  Dunking mine in milk...because, well, that's what I do.  So yummy!

 

Making these cookies is a must.  You are almost guaranteed to have the ingredients on hand, they're quick and easy and so, so good!  Thanks Mel and Nat for introducing me to these Southern Hemisphere delights.

Thanks for reading!

Heather