Soft, chewy or crunchy? With or without coconut? There are a few ways Anzac biscuits are made and sold — and some definite mistakes.
For Country Women's Association (CWA) Victorian president Pam Mawson, one of the biggest affronts is calling them cookies.
"Oh! That's a no-no," she says sternly.
Anzac biscuits are linked to World War I, although their exact origins are contested. The first recipes are found as far back as the late 1910s.
Early recipes were varied and could even include things like eggs, cinnamon, rice flour, jam and mixed spices. But in the decades since, the bickies have become much more uniform.
The essential ingredients are items that were readily available in Australia during the war years: butter, flour, rolled oats, sugar, golden syrup, bicarbonate soda and boiled water.
"They were made to be sent overseas to the soldiers," Ms Mawson says.
"And they keep so well because of that. They can sit in a tin for months."
The CWA makes thousands of biscuits in the lead-up to every Anzac Day.
Kaye Ashe is among the bakers, and her kitchen smells of warm syrup.
"You can smell if an Anzac biscuit is good or not," she laughs between trays coming in and out of ovens.
The CWA recipe includes one ingredient that some might find controversial because it wasn't readily available during World War I — coconut.
"We did try one year making them without coconut, with very little success, because someone thought it was the historical way to make them," Ms Mawson says.
"But they really need the coconut to keep their shape."
Luckily for the CWA, the Department of Veterans' Affairs agrees, and coconut is included in the ingredients for their "generally accepted" recipe.
However, adding chocolate, raisins, nuts, or any other ingredient is not allowed.
"That's a chocolate chip biscuit then, isn't it?," Ms Mawson says.
What about taste and texture?
Anzac biscuits need to have a specific type of flavour, making balancing the ingredients all the more important.
"You've got have that lovely taste of golden syrup in background," Ms Mawson says.
"You must have the slight golden taste, and buttery-ness, real butter."
Explaining as she bakes, Ms Ashe issues a warning.
"Be careful about the amount of bicarb soda. If you put too much it can take away the sweetness, make them salty," she says.
"I also like them a bit chewy."
But Ms Mawson, who judges baking competitions, says texture and size can vary — especially between states.
"In New South Wales they like them a bit soft, but generally in Victoria they like them a bit crunchy," she says.
"If you ask my son, they just need to be big.
"We tend to make them roughly 4 centimetres [in diameter], but there is no definite size for them.
"It should take 20 minutes [in the oven]. It should be simple. Baking is a science."
And when questioned if there is a scientific difference between a biscuit and cookie, the CWA president laughs.
"No, not really," she says.
"But cookies are an American term. Anzac biscuits are as Aussie and as New Zealand as it comes.
"We need to keep it that way."
CWA Anzac biscuit recipe
Ingredients for 24 biscuits:
- 125gm butter, chopped
- 1 cup plain flour
- ½ tsp bicarb soda
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 2 tbs golden syrup
- 2 tbs boiling water
- ¾ cup desiccated coconut
Method:
Combine butter and golden syrup in a pan, stir over heat until butter is melted. Stir in combined soda and water, then remaining ingredients. Mix well. Drop rounded teaspoons of mixture about 4cm apart on greased over trays and flatten slightly.
Bake in a slow oven for about 20 minutes or until slightly brown. Cool on tray.
