Anzac Biscuit

The Anzac biscuit is a sweet biscuit, popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter (or margarine), golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water and optionally desiccated coconut. Anzac biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I.

It is thought that these biscuits were sent by wives and women's groups to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation.

Anzac biscuits should not be confused with hardtack, which was nicknamed " ANZAC wafers" in Australia and New Zealand.

Anzac biscuits are an explicit exemption to an Australian ban on commercial goods that use the term "Anzac", so long as they are sold as "biscuits" and not "cookies".

Origins

The origin of Anzac biscuits is contested between Australia and New Zealand. The first known recipe for the biscuit significantly predates the formation of the ANZAC Corps, and many early recipes differ from the modern version. For example, historical recipes have variously included nontraditional ingredients such as eggs, fruit, and jam.

The earliest known recipe combining the words 'Anzac' and 'biscuit' is a recipe from 1916 for "ANZAC ginger biscuits" which was published on 4 June 1916 in the Perth edition of ''The Sunday Times''. However, this recipe contains no mention of oats, which are present in modern Anzac biscuits. The first recipe for "Anzac Biscuits" appears in an Australian publication, the ''War Chest Cookery Book'' (Sydney, 1917), but this recipe was also for a different biscuit. The same publication also included the first two recipes for biscuits resembling modern Anzac biscuits, under the names of "Rolled Oats Biscuits" and just "Biscuits". The first recorded instance of the combination of the name "Anzac biscuit" and the recipe now associated with it was found in Adelaide dating to "either late 1919 or early 1920". Another early recipe for the Anzac biscuit dates back to 1921, published in an Australian newspaper called '' The Argus''. These early recipes did not contain desiccated coconut, which is present in many modern Anzac biscuits. The first recipe for an Anzac biscuit containing desiccated coconut is recorded to be from the city of Adelaide in 1924.

In New Zealand, a 1919 recipe for Anzac Crispies in the eighth edition of the St Andrew's Cookery Book had similar ingredients to modern Anzac biscuits.

Current popularity

Today, Anzac biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale. Because of their historical military connection with the ANZACs and Anzac Day, these biscuits are still used as a fundraising item for the Royal New Zealand Returned Services' Association (RSA) and the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL). Special collectors old-style biscuit tins with World War military artwork are usually produced in the lead up to Anzac Day and sold in supermarkets, in addition to the standard plastic packets available all year. The official RSL biscuit is produced by ''Ital Food Group'' under licence.

A British (though still Australian-produced) version of the Anzac biscuit, supporting the Royal British Legion, is available in several major supermarket chains in the UK.

Legal issues

Similarly to the use of the term Anzac, the Anzac biscuit is protected by regulations that restrict commercial production of the product. Primarily, such regulations pertain to the name and recipe. They must be referred to and sold as Anzac "biscuits" or "slice" and never as " cookies". While it is legally acceptable to substitute ingredients in a recipe to cater to dietary requirements, there is a commercial disallowance for any substantial modification of the recipe such that they deviate too far from traditional Anzac biscuit recipes. Variations of recipes posted on social media or written in cookbooks that merely include Anzac biscuits are excluded from regulations.

As a result of the restrictions on the recipe, the Subway chain of restaurants dropped the biscuit from their menu in September 2008. After being ordered by the Department of Veterans' Affairs to bake the biscuits according to the original recipe, Subway decided not to continue to offer the biscuit, as they found that their supplier was unable to develop a cost-effective means of duplicating the recipe. In April 2025, the biscuit returned to the Subway menu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anzac biscuit
Biscuits
Australian cuisine
Australian desserts
Australian snack foods
New Zealand desserts
New Zealand snack foods
ANZAC
Coconut desserts
Oat-based dishes
Military food