There’s a lot of history weighing on a batch of Anzac biscuits. Do you honour the recipe of the first ones sent to WWI troops as a token of love and support from home? Or play with the base mixture of oats, syrup and coconut to make something altogether new?
For Black Star Pastry’s group head chef Arnaud Vodounou, working with the traditional rolled oat biscuit recipe is how you’ll achieve that perfect balance between a soft, syrupy centre and crunchy, nutty bite at the edges.
“The Anzac biscuit recipe is not particularly challenging to make, however we need to make sure they’re impeccably made,” says Vodounou. “This means the oats and coconut can’t be over-toasted and they need to be baked to find that balance of chewy and crunchy.”
Though there are only eight ingredients, the trick to making the perfect batch is all in the baking, Vodounou says. “It’s very easy for them to burn if left in the oven even a minute too long. My tip is to make sure your biscuit mix has cooled before you weigh it out.”
At Black Star Pastry bakeries, they use Pepe Saya cultured butter to give the biscuits a velvety, buttery taste. Another mustn’t-skip step is adding a pinch of salt. “My favourite ingredient, for the effect it has on the flavour, is a pinch of salt that we add to offset the biscuit’s sweetness,” says Vodounou.
“The quality of ingredients in our recipe – from the toasted oats and caramelised golden syrup – is the basis for biscuits that ooze with flavour and are both chewy and crispy at the same time.”
Black Star Pastry’s Anzac biscuits
Makes 22 biscuits
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
300g butter
120g golden syrup
5g bicarbonate of soda
300g plain flour
340g brown sugar
160g desiccated coconut
140g rolled oats
A pinch of salt
Method:
Melt butter and golden syrup together in a pan over low heat. Add bicarbonate of soda, stir and let the mixture cool slightly.
Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the brown sugar, desiccated coconut, rolled oats and salt to the flour. Mix to combine.
Add the cooled butter and syrup mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Using your hands, measure out balls of the mixture (around 60gs per ball) onto a lined baking tray. Press each ball flat before baking. Leave space between the balls as the biscuits will flatten and expand during baking.
Bake at 160°C for 15 minutes.
Allow to cool a little before eating.
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