94. Anzac Biscuits (p. 666)

A few weeks ago, when my wife was in the hospital with our new baby, I wanted to make something to bribe the nurses thank the nurses for all their hard work. I picked this recipe* because it looked good and pretty easy.


This recipe, like so many other traditional favorites, has a great story behind it. According to food lore, these biscuits (I refrain from calling them "cookies" for reasons that I will explain in a minute) are named for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and were first made by Australian wives and mothers to send in care packages to their loved ones fighting overseas in World War I. The texture and ingredients in these biscuits are such that they could withstand the time and turbulence of overseas travel from Australia to the boys fighting at Gallipoli. This quality appealed to me since I wanted to make these treats a few days before we went to the hospital, and still have them be fresh. (Giving the nurses stale cookies, er biscuits, would have had the opposite of the intended effect.)


So, it is with some hesitation that I even use the name "Anzac Biscuits" in this post, since it appears that the Austrailian government is pretty protective of the Anzac name and frowns upon unauthorized use of the term. In 1994, recognizing that the name "Anzac Biscuit" has been in general use in Australia for many years, the government instituted a policy of approving most applications for the use of the term, so long as "the product generally conforms to the traditional recipe and shape, is not advertised in any way that would play on Australia's military heritage, and is not used in association with the word 'cookies,' with its non-Australian overtones." Chocolate-covered Anzac Biscuits, according to the Austrailian government's website, are apparently an abomination with "non-Austrailian overtones" and would not be approved, so don't even think about it.


To make these cookies, I combined some flour, rolled oats, sweetend flaked coconut and salt. Then I stirred together some baking soda and boiling water (watch it fizz!) and mixed that into some melted butter and Lyle's Golden Syrup. (No eggs ... they were scarce during WWI.) Then I combined the wet and dry ingredients. The Book says that the dough will be crumbly, and it is. I put packed tablespoons of the dough onto cookie sheets and baked until golden.

These biscuits are great! They are crisp without being hard. They are buttery and sweet with a nice salty note. The oats and coconut give them a great texture an substance. The nurses were thrilled when I brought these biscuits to the nurses' station on our second day at the hospital. My wife and son received excellent care, and were even discharged a day early. Did the cookies have anything to do with it? I'm sure they didn't hurt.

Date Cooked: December 27, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: A

* The recipe in The Book is nothing at all like the one on epicurious.com. Soybean margarine? Really? But The Book's recipe is very similar to this one from the Australian War Memorial website, and which supposedly comes from an ANZAC present at the Gallipoli landing.

76. Coconut and Macadamia Nut Banana Bread (p. 599)

Like a lot of home cooks, when I find myself with a bunch of overripe bananas, I automatically think of one thing ... banana bread. But after a while, the old standby banana bread recipe gets a little tired, and you're ready for something new. This recipe* takes banana bread back to its tropical roots by including macadamia nuts and toasted coconut.

The first thing I did was to toast some sweetened, flaked coconut. OK, that was the second thing I did. The first thing I did was to scorch some sweetend, flaked coconut. Note to self, coconut cooks very fast. I scraped the burned coconut off the pan, fanned the acrid smoke out of the kitchen, and started over again. It worked out much better the second time.

The rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward. I sifted together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). I creamed the butter and sugar until fluffy, and then added the eggs, vanilla extract, lemon zest, mashed bananas and sour cream until well combined. Then I added the flour mixture. Finally, I folded in the chopped macadamia nuts and toasted coconut.

Like a lot of the other quick bread recipes in The Book, this recipe makes two loaves. Because I only have one loaf pan, when I made the Pumpkin Apple Bread, I cut the recipe in half and made one loaf. This time, I got a bit smarter, and even though I still only have one loaf pan, I poured half of the batter into my loaf pan, and put the rest in the refrigerator while the first loaf cooked. Once it was baked and cooled enough to remove from the pan, I took it out, washed the pan, and cooked the second loaf.

I liked this bread a lot. The addition of the coconut and macadamia nuts gives the bread a nice tropical flair ... this is the banana bread that Jimmy Buffet would make. The lemon zest and sour cream gave the bread a brightness and zip that your usual banana bread lacks. I'd make this again if I didn't already have a loaf stashed in the freezer.

Date Cooked: October 26, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: B+

*The recipe on epicurious.com is the same as the one in The Book, except it makes five mini-loaves, The Book's recipe makes two regular-sized loaves.