Vegan Anzac Biscuits

This sweet, crispy vegan Anzac biscuit recipe is a healthier version of the popular Anzac biscuits made with less sugar, no golden syrup, and no butter!

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What are Anzac biscuits?

Anzac biscuits are popular New Zealand and Australian cookies mainly made of rolled oats, coconut, butter, baking soda, golden syrup and flour. They are sweet crispy cookies served on the Anzac-day weekend in April.

How to make vegan Anzac biscuits?

A classic Anzac biscuit recipe is not vegan because it contains butter. To make vegan Anzac biscuits, you can replace the butter with vegan butter or coconut oil. Also, to add nutrients to your vegan Anzac biscuits, I recommend using an unrefined liquid sweetener like maple syrup or date syrup, or coconut nectar.

Let’s have a look at what you need to make crispy Anzac biscuits:

• Flour – all-purpose wheat flour or spelt or all-purpose gluten-free flour.
• Rolled oats – not instant oats, you need jumbo rolled oats.
• Unsweetened dessicated coconut 
• Brown sugar – this is the secret to make crispy cookies on the outside but still chewy in the inside. You can also use white sugar but you won’t have a chewy Anzac biscuit inside.
• Maple syrup – the classic recipe is made of golden syrup, maple syrup is a refined-sugar-free option that adds a delicious flavor to the cookies.
• Baking soda
• Boiling water
• Coconut oil – or melted vegan butter.

So basically, an Anzac biscuit is an egg-free oatmeal cookie with coconut. It tastes like oat breakfast cookies, and you don’t have to wait for Anzac day to make some. They are great vegan breakfast cookies for any day.

Why are they called Anzac biscuits?

They are called Anzac biscuits after the name of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) that was established at the beginning of World War I. It is believed that the wives of the soldiers were sending them cookies from Australia and New Zealand. But because of the very long trip from Downunder to the Western and Mediterranean fronts, they needed a recipe that keeps well.

The making of Anzac Cookies became a tradition, particularly to celebrate Anzac Day, a public holiday on 25 April in New Zealand and Australia. This date commemorates the landing in Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.

The Anzac soldiers were missioned to secure the Gallipoli peninsula to control the access to the Black Sea. This date is now in Australia and New Zealand, a day to remember all the men and women who served and lost their lives in all wars.

How to make them chewy?

There are two teams when it comes to Anzac biscuits. Some people love them thin and crispy, and others like them, chewy.  Let me share my tips to make them match your favorite texture.

The key to making your Anzac biscuits chewy is to use brown sugar, slightly more liquid sweetener than the classic recipe, and flatten the cookies a bit thicker.

If you follow these 3 steps, you will have a chewy cookie on the inside. On the other hand, if you love yours crispy and thin, use white sugar, reduce the liquid sweetener by 2 tablespoons and flatten your cookies thinly before baking. This will make crispy Anzac biscuits.

A healthy Anzac biscuit recipe

This recipe contains 30% less sugar than a classic Anzac biscuit recipe and uses coconut oil instead of butter. In fact, coconut oil has great antibacterial properties due to the high amount of lauric acid, and it doesn’t contain vegetable oils like you would find in most vegan butters.

Also, coconut oil’s flavor is amazing, and the texture of the cookies is crispier on the border. However, if you prefer to use vegan butter, you can. The cookies will spread more on the baking sheet, and the texture will be softer.

More vegan oatmeal cookie recipes

If you love oatmeal cookies but you want something different, try some of the vegan cookie recipes below.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies - 4 Ways

Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Don’t forget to share a picture of your Anzac biscuits with me on Instagram! 

Your friend,

Carine

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Anzac biscuit recipe

A healthier Anzac biscuit recipe, egg-free, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free.

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 12 mins

Total Time: 22 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Australian, New-Zealand

Servings: 12 cookies

Calories: 241 kcal

Author: Carine

4.87 from 273 votes

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

• ▢ 1 cup Rolled Oats
• ▢ 1 cup All-purpose Flour - or spelt flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour
• ▢ 1 cup Desiccated Coconut
• ▢ ½ cup brown sugar - or coconut sugar
• ▢ 3 tablespoons boiling water
• ▢ ¼ cup Maple Syrup
• ▢ ½ cup Coconut Oil - melted
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Baking Soda

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, desiccated coconut, brown sugar.
• In another bowl, combine boiling water with maple syrup, coconut oil, and baking soda.
• Pour the liquid ingredients onto the dry ingredients.
• Combine with a spatula until it forms a cookie batter.
• Shape 12 cookie balls of the same size and place each ball, 1 thumb apart, on the prepared cookie sheets.
• Slightly flatten each cookie with your hand palm. Thinner will make them crispier. For chewy cookies, keep them thicker. Smoothen the edge if it cracks.
• Bake 12-14 minutes in center rack.
• Remove from the oven and cool 5 minutes on the tray before transferring on a cooling rack.
• The cookie firms up after about 1 hour.

Storage

• Store them for up to 2 weeks in a cookie jar or freeze in ziplock bags.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Sodium: 98mg | Potassium: 101mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg