With a momentous Anzac day almost upon us, it only seemed fitting to bake up a batch of the good old traditional Anzac biccies for the kids lunch boxes this week. In true The Food Werewolf form and with the help of our darling creative daughter, we decided to make our favourite Anzac biscuits recipe with a little twist (and gluten free of course!). It may only be one day away, but these biscuits are so quick and easy to whip up, you still have time to make a batch for the weekend :-).
First up, click here for the recipe.
Now a few tips to help you out.
The Ingredients
As always, the most important first step is to make sure you have quality ingredients, free from additives (they can mess with your family’s health and behaviour – click here for more info on additives).
Oats – Because these biccies are gluten free, it’s important to look for gluten free oats – which are essentially oats that aren’t processed in the same facility as products containing gluten. Gluten free oats help eliminate any issues with gluten sensitivity for most people. If you are gluten free and reactive to oats, I recommend avoiding this recipe or trying a substitute such as amaranth or quinoa flakes instead of oats.
GF flour – I usually make my own gf flour mix, but I’m am currently short on gluten free organic potato starch, so for this recipe we used Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 flour mix, which worked a treat!
If you are after more information about gluten free baking and gluten free flour/mixes, I have oodles of information and tips, product recommendations and recipes in my new eBook Going Gluten Free Permanently – enough to get you mastering gluten free baking in no time! Click here to learn more about my new eBook.
Shredded Coconut & Dried Apricots – Shredded coconut and dried apricots most often contain preservatives, which can cause unwanted health and behaviour issues, so be sure to look for organic coconut and apricots for this recipe.
For more info on the effects of additives/preservatives and which to avoid, click here.
Butter – As always, we used organic butter, but for the dairy free folks out there, I am planning on experimenting with the use of coconut oil instead of butter to see how that works. I’ll let you know how it goes! 🙂
Rice Malt Syrup & Dark Muscovado – Anzac biscuit recipes usually call for a fair whack of golden syrup and brown sugar. I am in the process of experimenting with replacements for these, with an aim to eliminate the refined sugar and reduce the sugar/fructose content. Whilst dark muscovado is still a more refined sugar (compared to rapadura), it does contain a molasses content that I think helps make Anzac biccies more ‘traditional’. So to compromise and decrease the sugar content, I went with the fabulous Pureharvest Rice Malt Syrup instead of golden syrup. In future experiments I am going to keep the rice malt syrup and try substituting the muscovado for organic rapadura/panela with a dollop of organic molasses – stay tuned!
For more information about different sugars and fructose, check out the I Quit Sugar website here and this Quirky Cooking blog post here.
If you love Pureharvest Rice Malt Syrup as much as we do, check out The Food Werewolf Pureharvest Gluten Free Giveaway Competition I am running to celebrate the release of my new eBook Going Gluten Free Permanently. You could win a hamper full of Pureharvest gluten free goodies including their fabulous Rice Malt Syrup! Click here for entry details!
Baking Tips
There are no major tricks or difficulties with this recipe. It’s pretty much one of those fabulous ‘toss everything in a bowl and mix it’ recipes 🙂
My only tips would be to make sure you fully stir in the bicarb of soda to the liquid so there’s little aftertaste and ensure the mixture is well combined before rolling into balls (we had a few clumpy bits of sugar we had to deal with :-)).
Our kids love the chewy dates and apricots and the crunchy almonds that add an extra twist to these delicious Anzac biscuits. One of the true comfort foods from our wonderful country, I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Happy baking!
Loren x
PS: Gluten free baking doesn’t mean you’re making anything less than fantastic! If you’re new to the gluten free journey or struggling with gluten, check out my new eBook Going Gluten Free Permanently here!
