{"id":8424,"date":"2026-10-19T23:31:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8424"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:26","slug":"anzac-biscuit","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/anzac-biscuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Anzac Biscuits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sweet biscuits of rolled oats bound with butter and syrup appear on tables of remembrance on April 25. These are Anzac biscuits, baked in Australia and New Zealand. The name \u201cAnzac\u201d\u2014that is, ANZAC, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps\u2014carries memories of the First World War, but these biscuits are distinct from the hard military rations issued to soldiers. Oat-based methods close to today’s biscuit also survive in cookbooks published to raise funds for various activities.<\/p>\n

A warm syrup that binds the oats<\/h2>\n

In a typical method, rolled oats, flour, sugar and, if desired, desiccated coconut are mixed, and melted butter and golden syrup are added. Baking soda dissolved in hot water is added to the warm syrup, and the mixture is stirred into the dry ingredients while it is still foaming. Unlike doughs made by whipping eggs, the oat flakes and flour come together through mixing with the syrup and fat.<\/p>\n

The dough is divided into small portions and placed on a baking tray with space between them, because they spread as they bake. Fresh from the oven they are soft, and they become easier to handle once cooled. Depending on the baking time and thickness, they can be made with crisp edges and a chewy center, or thin and dry throughout. Military hardtack is a dry biscuit baked hard so that it keeps for a long time, but this sweet biscuit can turn out hard or soft depending on the recipe and how it is baked.<\/p>\n

\n\"Amber\n
Golden syrup in a tin (2008, location unknown). One of the ingredients that binds the oats and flour. Photo: Londonsista \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Image obtained from the source. No content alterations or cropping made for this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Soldiers’ hard biscuits and sweet home baking<\/h2>\n

The \u201cAnzac tiles\u201d and \u201cAnzac wafers\u201d issued to soldiers at Gallipoli were very hard, dry-biscuit-like military rations made to keep well. They were eaten soaked in water or crushed into porridge, and actual examples with words or pictures written on them and sent to family members survive at a war memorial.<\/p>\n

The name \u201cAnzac\u201d already appears on sweet baked goods during the war. The \u201cAnzac Ginger Biscuits\u201d in a 1916 Perth newspaper used molasses and ginger, with the dough rolled out and cut with a cutter. In 1917, the War Chest Cookery Book, published to raise funds to support soldiers, included a recipe for \u201cAnzac Biscuits\u201d by Alice Anderson. Two biscuits baked with eggs, wheat flour, rice flour and spices are sandwiched with jam and iced. Both looked different from today’s eggless, single-layer oat biscuit.<\/p>\n

Oat biscuits appearing in cookbooks<\/h2>\n

In Dunedin, New Zealand, church women began publishing the St Andrew\u2019s Cookery Book in 1904 to raise funds for relief, missionary work and other activities. Editions from the late 1910s to the early 1920s include near-modern oat biscuits called \u201cAnzac Crispie\u201d or \u201cAnzac Crispies.\u201d Unlike the biscuits sandwiched in pairs with jam, biscuits baked one at a time also came to carry the name \u201cAnzac.\u201d<\/p>\n

The method in the fourth edition (1923) of the Edmonds Cookery Book held by Auckland Museum combines flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats with melted butter, golden syrup and baking soda dissolved in hot water. By contrast, a recipe published in an Australian newspaper in 1926 contains no coconut, while a 1933 cookery calendar from a women’s organization includes both. In the 1920s and 1930s, methods with and without coconut existed side by side.<\/p>\n

\n\"Anzac\n
Freshly baked Anzac biscuits (April 14, 2006, location unknown). According to the photographer, no desiccated coconut was used in this batch. Photo: pfctdayelise \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 2.5<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping made for this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Remembrance through baking and the use of the Anzac name<\/h2>\n

On Anzac Day, baking these biscuits at home or at school is also an occasion to think of those who served. Among the activities introduced by Australia’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs is an example of students baking several thousand biscuits and delivering them to local facilities. It is an activity in which those who served are remembered while sweet biscuits are baked and shared. In New Zealand, commercial products also contribute support. According to the Royal New Zealand RSA, which supports veterans and their families, a donation is made to the organization every time a bag or tin of AFM Group’s Anzac biscuits is sold, and donations in 2024 exceeded NZ$50,000. Both handing out biscuits baked at school and donating from the sales of commercial products link remembrance with support for local people and veterans.<\/p>\n

Both countries have official conditions on the commercial use of \u201cAnzac.\u201d According to guidance from Australia’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs, permission is required to use the name in commercial sales. New Zealand’s Ministry for Culture and Heritage lists biscuits that follow the traditional recipe and shape as an example of use that is normally accepted, but it does not extend accepted use to cookies, slices, loaves or muesli bars. The handling of a word of remembrance when it is attached to products also differs from country to country.<\/p>\n

\"Anzac<\/p>\n

Anzac biscuits sold in a jar at a French bakery. Photo: TCY, 2023-11-17 (Exif), Vichy, France. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downscaled version from the source; no further modifications.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

ANZAC<\/strong>: Abbreviation for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps of the First World War. For the biscuits and the day of remembrance it is also commonly written Anzac<\/em>.<\/p>

Gallipoli<\/strong>: A peninsula in present-day Turkey. ANZAC units also fought there in the First World War.<\/p>

Hardtack<\/strong>: A very hard, dry-biscuit-like food made for long-term storage.<\/p>

Rolled oats<\/strong>: Oats that have been steamed and pressed thin.<\/p>

Golden syrup<\/strong>: A thick, amber syrup made from sugar.<\/p>

Royal New Zealand RSA<\/strong>: An organization that supports New Zealand veterans and their families. It receives donations from the proceeds of biscuit sales.<\/p>

Alice Anderson<\/strong>: The person who contributed a recipe for Anzac biscuits made with eggs and rice flour to the 1917 War Chest Cookery Book.<\/p>

Anzac Day<\/strong>: April 25. A day on which Australia, New Zealand and other countries remember those who served and those who died in war.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. Australian War Memorial \u201cAnzac biscuits\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Actual examples of military rations, and the uncertainty about the origin of the sweet biscuit.<\/li>
  2. Dianne Rutherford \/ Australian War Memorial \u201cANZAC Biscuits but not as you know them\u2026\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Explains different 1916 and 1917 recipes from historical sources. They are not treated as recipes directly continuous with today’s home-baked versions.<\/li>
  3. Joanna Cobley \u201cThe idea of the Anzac biscuit recipe\u201d Women\u2019s Studies Journal 30(1), pp.62\u201370<\/a> \u2014 Analyzes cookbooks and fundraising culture. The 1919 eighth edition mentioned on p.64 is based on information obtained from Helen Leach.<\/li>
  4. Presbyterian Research Centre \u201cA Fund Raising Experiment: Recipe for Success\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The organization that published the book, and a description of the 1921 ninth edition. Not a collation comparing original copies of the editions.<\/li>
  5. Auckland Museum \u201cShort Reads \/ Bake some Anzac biscuits\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The 1923 edition of the Edmonds cookbook in the museum’s collection, with its recipe and method.<\/li>
  6. Australian War Memorial \u201cAnzac biscuit recipes\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The 1926 version without coconut, the two 1933 versions, and the modern baking-soda step.<\/li>
  7. Australian Department of Veterans\u2019 Affairs \u201cAnzac biscuits to make for Anzac Day\u201d<\/a> \u2014 School remembrance activities, a reprint of Anderson’s recipe, and current guidance on commercial use in Australia.<\/li>
  8. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage \u201cUse of the word \u2018Anzac\u2019 guidelines\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Checked October 23, 2026. Item 1 of Accepted uses covers biscuits following the traditional general recipe and shape, and excludes cookies, slices, loaves and muesli bars. Treated separately from Australia’s permission guidance. Not a legal determination on any individual product.<\/li>
  9. Royal New Zealand RSA \u201cAFM Group donates over $50,000\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Sales-linked donations in 2024 and the amount donated. Not a source for total sales or for similar arrangements in Australia.<\/li>

  10. Editorial note (Japanese re-edit)<\/h3><\/li>

  11. The St Andrew\u2019s Cookery Book was published from 1904 to raise funds for the church’s relief, missionary and other activities; it was not a book dedicated to wartime fundraising. The supervising editor rechecked the church source already cited and Cobley’s paper. Cobley’s paper (p.64) records \u201cAnzac Crispie\u201d in the 1919 eighth edition based on information from Helen Leach, while the church source records \u201cAnzac Crispies\u201d in the 1921 edition. Collating the original copies of each edition to establish the first appearance has not been done. The first year in which coconut was added is also unconfirmed. The main text does not assert invention or first appearance in any specific year, and instead describes the periods documented in records and the differences in recipes.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Anzac biscuits are oat biscuits popular in Australia and New Zealand. Made with golden syrup and butter, they are baked into round, flat shapes. Flakes of rolled oats show on the surface, and each bite brings the chewiness of grain and the aroma of sugar. They are a biscuit closely tied to Anzac Day remembrance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7430,"menu_order":195,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Anzac biscuit","subtitle":"A biscuit of remembrance bound with oats and syrup","topics":"A dough bound with syrup, not eggs\uff0fDistinct from hard military biscuits\uff0fLinking home baking with remembrance","country":"Australia and New Zealand","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["butter","coconut","grain"],"texture":["moist"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[151],"class_list":["post-8424","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t