I’m on a baking roll right now. I love baking, always have. Biscuits, cakes and breads. It’s in the blood I think. I blame my grandmother, my mum’s mum. She filled the biscuit jars once a week. Peanut brownies were a weekly affair and then there was the yo-yos, queen cakes, kisses, lamingtons, melting moments and little plain sugar sprinkled biscuits. My nana and two of her daughters (my aunties) and some of their kids, grandkids lived in one of those big long state houses in Avondale. It was a corner section with a massive lawn and nana had the most amazing garden. That garden was one of my favourite places and hanging out with nana and my aunties and cousins was the best. It was endless cups of tea, playing cards and bingo together, betting with matches and watching the carry-ons of the other state house residents from the top floor windows of the house.
Here is my favourite anzac biscuit recipe. It’s straight out of the old Edmonds cook-book and I’ve been making it for years now. My Edmonds copy is 40 years old this year. It’s more like a bundle of pages held together by many years worth of splatters of cake batter. I doubled the recipe last week for an event at the marae. Doubled made 50 regular sized biscuits. There were a lot of compliments and they quickly disappeared.
Ingredients;
(1) 250 gms flour, 300 gms sugar, 2 cups coconut, 2 cups rolled oats.
(2) 200 gms butter, 2 Tbsp golden syrup.
(3/) 1 tsp baking soda, 4 Tbsp boiling water
Method;
Prepare 2 lightly greased oven trays. Preheat oven to 180C
In a large bowl combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, coconut and oats)
Melt butter and golden syrup together. Combine boiling water and baking soda and add to the butter mix.
Add the wet mix to the dry ingredients. With your hands shape into balls then firmly press into a fat biscuit shape before placing on the tray.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown in color and smelling delicious. Enjoy!