Buttery, coconutty, caramelly, chewy and crispy Anzac biscuits are a New Zealand and Australian classic. This version, using brown butter, delicate spices and dipped in rich dark chocolate is an elevated twist on a delicious favourite. Plus, they take just 25 minutes, use no eggs and no special equipment.
All Kiwis and Australians will have their own recipe for – and their own memory of – Anzac biscuits (aka. cookies). Whether that’s the teeth-breaking, super crunchy version, or the soft chewy cookie, their lovely caramelly flavour is always deliciously moreish and reminds me of being home.
Anzac biscuits are synonymous with Anzac Day, marked every year on 25 April. This is a day of national remembrance in New Zealand and Australia, to commemorate those who served and gave their lives during war. Given their wartime origins, the base ingredients for Anzac biscuits are simple cupboard staples and don’t use any eggs.
Because of this, I basically always have the ingredients for these lovely biscuits on hand, and you probably will too! This recipe mixes things up a little to maximise flavour – we’ll brown the butter and use some warming spices – with the option to dunk them in rich dark chocolate to finish. Browning butter is a simple process but adds SO much to these cookies – it takes just a few minutes longer than melting butter in a pan and gives you a gloriously caramelly, nutty result which pairs perfectly with the other ingredients here.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Quick and easy – you’ll enjoy the biscuits in just 25 minutes.
- Uses everyday store cupboard ingredients.
- You need no special equipment – simply mix your dry ingredients, add your wet ingredients and bake.
Ingredients
- Oats. Go for rolled or porridge oats as they tend to be finer and will mix in better with the other ingredients.
- Golden syrup. This is a thick, golden sugar syrup with a caramelly flavour. It’s very common and easy to find in New Zealand and Australia but can be a little trickier to find elsewhere. If you can’t find it, you can use maple syrup or honey.
- Dark chocolate. I love using 70% dark chocolate to cut through the sweetness of the biscuits, but you can use whatever chocolate you like. I always use Whittakers when I’m in New Zealand, or Green & Blacks in the UK.
- Spices. We’re using a little ground cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg here. This isn’t traditional, so you can skip them if you like, or just use cinnamon.
How to make them
Mix all your dry ingredients in a large bowl, then start your brown butter. That’s as simple as melting butter over medium heat until it starts to look very foamy and smells BEAUTIFUL and nutty. At this point, pour in your golden syrup, vanilla and baking soda mixed with a little water.
Pour it into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix to combine well.
Scoop up a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball in your hands, place it on a prepared oven tray, repeat with the rest of the mixture, then bake.
PRO TIP: Anzac biscuits tend to spread in the oven as they are buttery biscuits, so if you have time, I recommend popping the trays into the fridge for at least 15 minutes before baking. Chilling them means the butter will firm up and won’t melt as quickly in the oven and the flour will have more time to absorb the liquid. Essentially, it means they won’t spread as much.
If you have a cookie cutter, you can ‘scoot’ the biscuits into perfect circles as they come out of the oven (but this is totally optional). Once they’ve cooled slightly, if you’d like to, you can dunk them in the chocolate. Either way, they’re gorgeous.
Got a question?
The short answer is both. The traditional biscuit was hard and crunchy, but recipes vary now (especially as soft, chewy-centred cookies become more popular). This recipe is a good mix – a lovely soft centre, with a crunchy outside.
Anzac biscuits keep really well – at least 1 week, stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Make sure your oven is at the right temperature – some ovens run hotter than others and it’s often this reason that cookies spread. These biscuits do spread a bit anyway, but if you really want to mitigate this, I recommend chilling your cookies on their trays for about 15 minutes before baking.
Baking is all about precision and accuracy, and grams are the best way to make sure you’ll get the same result, every time. Cups vary massively – both the way different people pack the ingredients in and the actual volume differences in different countries. I use a simple, cheap digital scale and I highly recommend picking one up too, you’ll use it so much! But, if you really want cup measurements, just press the ‘US’ button at the top of the recipe below and it’ll convert the ingredients for you.
Watch how to make them
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Chocolate Dipped Anzac Biscuits
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 14 cookies 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Buttery, coconutty, caramelly, chewy and crispy Anzac biscuits are a New Zealand and Australian classic. This version, using brown butter, delicate spices and dipped in rich dark chocolate is an elevated twist on a delicious favourite. Plus, they take just 25 minutes, use no eggs and no special equipment.
If you’d like cup measurements, just click ‘US’ under the ‘Units’ section below.
Ingredients
For the Anzac biscuits –
- 150g plain flour
- 150g rolled/porridge oats
- 50g desiccated coconut
- 120g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 160g butter
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 tablespoons golden syrup (or use maple syrup or honey)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the topping –
- 100g dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup desiccated coconut (optional)
- Flaky sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients. Heat oven to 160C/320F fan. Line two oven trays with baking paper. Add 150g flour, 150g oats, 50g desiccated coconut, 120g brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a large mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix the ingredients together well.
- Brown the butter. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of warm water with 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Set a large pot over medium heat, then add 160g of diced butter. Use a spoon or spatula to stir as the butter melts, then keep it over the heat, stirring, as it starts to foam up and smell lovely and nutty. At this point, remove the pan from the heat.
- Combine the wet ingredients. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of golden syrup and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the brown butter and stir to combine. Then, pour in the water/baking soda mixture. Be careful as the butter may bubble up when the baking soda is added.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Pour the brown butter mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients, then mix to combine into a thick dough. Use an ice cream scoop or a large dessert spoon to scoop up a heaped tablespoon of the mixture, then roll it into a ball in your hands. Place on the prepared tray, then repeat with the rest of the mixture, making sure to leave a couple of inches between each ball.
- Bake the Anzac biscuits. Transfer the trays to the oven and bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until the biscuits look golden brown. PRO TIP: Anzac biscuits tend to spread out in the oven (which is why it’s important to leave space in between them). If you have time to pop the trays into the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes before you bake them, I recommend it.
- Dip the biscuits in chocolate. Once the biscuits look golden brown, remove them from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes. Then melt the dark chocolate in the microwave in 20-second blasts, stirring in between, until melted. Dunk the front half of your biscuit into the melted chocolate, spooning over more if needed to create a smooth, thin layer. Set it back on the tray, and repeat with the rest of the biscuits. Scatter a little extra coconut on top if you like, or some flaky sea salt. Leave to set, then enjoy!
Notes
HOW TO GET PERFECTLY ROUND BISCUITS: If you have a large cookie cutter (or just use a glass), you can use it to ‘scoot’ the biscuits into perfect circles right after they come out of the oven. Just place the cutter around the biscuit and shimmy it around the cutter. As you do this, it will shape itself into a circle (the biscuit is still quite soft as it comes out of the oven – it’ll harden up as it cools).
INGREDIENT NOTES: Golden syrup can be a little tricky to come by in certain countries. If you can’t find it, you can use maple syrup or honey.
SUBSTITUTIONS: You can play around with the spices here – if you don’t have cardamom, just leave it out. You could also use milk or white chocolate, rather than dark chocolate if you like. Instead of dunking the biscuits in chocolate, you can mix the chocolate into the dough to make chocolate chip Anzac biscuits. Just chop the chocolate well before adding it to the mixed dough and giving it a quick mix to combine. Baking time is the same.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: They’ll last for at least 1 week, stored at room temperature in a sealed container.
- Prep Time: 12
- Cook Time: 12
- Category: baking
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: new zealand
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 380
- Sugar: 16.1g
- Sodium: 360.8mg
- Fat: 25.2g
- Saturated Fat: 16.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 34.3g
- Fiber: 3.1g
- Protein: 3.6g
- Cholesterol: 49.8mg
Keywords: anzac cookies, oat cookies
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