Not Quite Anzacs

Not Quite Anzac Cookies .. wholesome, eggless oat & walnut cookies. Sweet, chewy inside, crisp on the outside, deliciously addictive biscuits… have I tempted you yet? This eggless cookies recipe is a variation on the immensely popular Anzacs, cookies that originated sometime during World War I, and are associated with the Australia New Zealand Army Corps.

I began making Anzac cookies years ago almost similar to the celebrated and much loved Anzacs but for the coconut. The cookies have been made over and over again, just so many times that the eggless cookies recipe has evolved into something else. There’s another version you see below, the Eggless Wholegrain Almond Jaggery Oat Cookies.

Eggless Wholegrain Almond Jaggery Oat Cookies

Most of my twists to the recipe have seemingly lost the characteristic Anzac Cookie-ness … no coconut for one, yet they are deliciously addictive bites. They disappear fresh out of the oven, calling your name as you pass by!

It has been claimed the biscuits were sent by wives to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation. You can read more about their origin and history here. A point of interest is the lack of eggs to bind the ANZAC biscuit mixture together. Because of the war, many of the poultry farmers had joined the services, thus, eggs were scarce. The binding agent for the biscuits was golden syrup or treacle.

This current version of eggless Anzac Cookies is nom nom nom good, a little guilt free too! I can have nibble them all day long. They are nice, chewy if you like them them that way, and crisp if you bake them longer! I love the flavours trapped within – brown sugar and butter create some delightful butterscotch like magic.

Walnut meal adds yummy taste, while whole rolled oats roughly ground make for great texture. Any cookie recipe that uses loads of walnuts is one I love because walnuts are my favourite tree nut and you’ll see me use them often!

More COOKIE recipes here, recipes that use WALNUTS here, and recipes that use OATS here!

Do tag me on Instagram at passionateaboutbaking if you make this, or any other recipe from the blog. I’d love to see it!

This eggless cookies recipe of Anzac Cookies is nom nom nom good! They are nice, chewy if you like them them that way, and crisp if you bake them longer! I love the flavours trapped within – brown sugar and butter create some delightful butterscotch like magic, while walnuts and oats lend it great texture!

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Servings 15 cookies

Equipment

1 blender/nut grinder
1 stand mixer or large bowl and electric hand mixer
1 Oven
2 cookie tray2
1 cookie scoop or tablespoon measure

Ingredients

100 g clarified butter/ghee room temperature
85 ml golden syrup
1 tsp baking soda
50 g castor sugar
50 g brown sugar
115 g plain flour
100 g walnuts
100 g whole rolled oats

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150C
Run the walnuts in the processor with the flour until you get a fine-meal. Turn into a bowl, then grind the whole rolled oats roughly. We aren’t looking for flour, just a small grind. That gives you good texture.
Add the butter, golden syrup and sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer {or a large bowl} and whisk until fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. The dough will be a little stiff.
Drop a tablespoon or cookie scoop of dough on parchment lined cookie sheets, flatten with the tines of a fork. {I rolled the dough into balls, flattened them slightly with the palm of my hand, and then further flattened them by pressing down with a fork.}.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Leave to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes {they are quite tender when they come out of the oven}, shape them gently if you'd like to {see below in Q&A}, and then transfer on racks to cool completely.

Is clarified butter you use the same as ghee, the staple Indian kitchen ingredient?

Yes, absolutely. Use the brand that you like, else use a home made ghee. It might not be a normal baking ingredient, but trust me with this. I love the flavour it adds, and I find ghee easier to use than butter, especially in summer. For me, that it is stable at room temperature and doesn’t soil is one less thing to store in the fridge.

Can I use butter instead of clarified butter/ghee?

Yes of course.

How do you get the cookies round and uniform?

Use a round cookie cutter to shape the cookies while warm and soft , swirling the cutter around the cookie to gently bring it into shape. This takes a few seconds but is a great hack for uniform cookies.