25 June 2008

[Make: ANZAC Cookies]


I have duel citizenship with Canada and New Zealand. My mom's a Kiwi, and although I was born in Canada, I was able to get citizenship through her. New Zealand has filtered through my life from the very beginning. My parents had met in Canada, wed in New Zealand, lived there for a few years, had my brother, then returned to Canada and had me. But up until the last few years, I had returned to NZ every 12-24 months to visit family and vacation in the beautiful sun. So NZ is "home away from home" for me.

Obviously, NZ cooking was a normal affair in our home. Instead of roast beef, we had roast lamb with mint sauce. Instead of apple pie, we had pavlova. Instead of mashed potatoes, we had crispy, roast potatoes and yams. And I thought everyone lived like that. It wasn't until I got married that I realized how each home is it's own culture - and even though my husband and I were both from Canada, our ethnic roots had a lot of baring on what we ate.

All that to say, I'm trying to continue some of that tradition of NZ cooking in my home. I've recently purchased 4 cookbooks from Sophie Gray (the Destitute Gourmet ... www.sophiegray.com ). My cousin has these books and they are INCREDIBLE. They are urban, easy, impressive and contain ingredients that you would normally have in your home. They are full of tips and clever ideas. I can't get them soon enough ... but will have to wait for the delivery. I couldn't find them anywhere in Canada or the States (stores or online) - so I ordered them off of the website.

That leads me to this recipe. Now - for obvious copyright reasons, I want to be respectful of recipes that are NOT my own. However, I searched this recipe of Sophie's and found it everywhere. It is not an original recipe. And since I'm giving a MASSIVE "shout out" to her fantastic books, I'm hoping that she won't mind me sharing this one with you.

ANZAC cookies are Australian New Zealand Army Corps biscuits. They are crunchy on the outside and yummy on the inside. They have no eggs in them and are full of coconut. SO GREAT. Even my Italian father-in-law ate them with his espresso the other night *wink*.

So they HAVE to be good!

ANZAC Cookies

3/4 cup flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1 1/3 cups coconut
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

- Combine flour, rolled oats, coconut and sugar. Make a well.
- Melt butter and syrup in a small saucepan.
- in a separate bowl add boiling water to baking soda, then pour into butter/syrup mixture. It will foam.
- pour into dry ingredients.
- place tsp sized balls onto a cold, greased cookie tray.
- bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, until dark golden brown.
- while still warm, remove to a cooling rack.

3 comments:

Shawna said...

Thanks for the recipe Tawn, I love your recipes. They are always SO good!

natasha said...

I love ANZAC cookies! They're a tradition in my home too (dad's an Aussie) :)

Thanks for sharing!

CanuckinIdaho said...

Ok, I know this an old post. But I was cracking up at your description of a family dinner because that is EXACTLY what my mum would make too. I guess I didn't realize how traditional NZ that was until I read your blog. I still request lamb with mint sauce when I am home for a visit. Thanks for posting.