Easy Ginger Anzac Biscuits

A small introduction of these cookies first. Anzac cookies or biscuits are popular biscuits from Australia and New Zealand. Stories say that these biscuits were initially made during the World Wars by wives and women of the family of soldiers and sent to them. The ingredients used do not spoil easily and were meant to last the long travel those days.

These biscuits are made with oats, flour, coconut, butter, sugar and are traditionally eggless. I love cooking with local ingredients and so the version of cookies that you will find here uses local ingredients. But you are welcome to replace these with things locally available to you.

I love these cookies because these are healthy and so very delicious. When I was making these cookies, I had some candied ginger lying around in my cupboard and I decided to use these in my cookies. (Did I tell you guys, I love ginger nut cookies 🙂 ). I absolutely loved the beautiful flavour and aroma that ginger brought to these cookies. I am never making them without ginger!

Here are the main ingredients:

Wholewheat Flour forms the base for this cookies. It holds the cookie together with all the additives. These cookies are traditionally made with regular all purpose flour but fine milled whole wheat flour (gehu ka aata) works really well here too.

Rolled or Instant Oats either will work in this recipe. You can make these cookies with what variety you have handy.

Desiccated Coconut is traditionally added to these cookies. It provides a beautiful texture and flavour to these cookies.

Jaggery provides sweetness and a beautiful caramel notes to the flavour of these cookies.

Honey though used in a very small quantity in this recipe, provides a wonderfully unique flavour and texture to these cookies.

Ginger brings a beautiful flavour and warmth to these cookies. Candied ginger pieces add a pop of ginger flavour and a contrast in texture as well, that works really well in these cookies.

Butter or Ghee either will work in this recipe. They bring a richness and buttery flavour to the cookies.

If you love cookies with Oats, you may also like these cookie recipes:

Eggless Wholewheat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Eggless Wholewheat Oat Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Now that we have gone through all the ingredients in detail, here is the detailed written recipe for you!

Wholewheat Ginger Anzac Biscuits

Serves: 15-18 cookies Prep Time: 15 mins Cooking Time: 20 mins 20 mins

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

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Ingredients

1 cup (100 g) - Rolled or Instant Oats

1 cup (130 g) - Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup (80 g) - Desiccated Coconut

3/4 cup (100 g) - Powdered Jaggery

1/2 cup (90 g) - Unsalted Butter

100 gm - Candied Ginger

1 tsp - Dry Dinger Powder

1 tbsp (15 ml) - Honey

2 tbsp (30 ml) - Water

1 tsp - Baking Soda

1/4 tsp - Salt

Instructions

1. In a bowl, take whole wheat flour, oats, desiccated coconut, dry ginger powder and chopped candied ginger. Give this a good mix and set aside.
2. In a sauce pan, take powdered jaggery, butter and add water to it. Heat this gently so that the jaggery dissolves and the butter melts completely.
3. Take the sauce pan off heat and add the honey and baking soda. Mix this thoroughly until the baking soda starts to froth.
4. Add this liquid to the dry mixture and mix it with a spatula until it forms a uniform dough.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Scoop 1.5 tbsps of the dough, form it into a round and flatten it using your palm or a spoon.
7. Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake these in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for about 15-20 minutes until the cookies turn golden brown.
8. Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack and store these in an air tight container for upto 2 weeks.

Notes

1. Depending on your wholewheat flour, you may need 1-2 tbsp more water. If the dough feels really tough and crumbly, add 1 tbsp water at a time and mix until the dough comes together.
2. If you do not want to use candied ginger, you can grate some fresh ginger into the pan with jaggery.
3. When you add the baking soda, stir only to combine it into the wet ingredients. Do not over-mix and loose the froth. It tends to make the cookie more dense.
4. If you like soft Anzac biscuits, bake them for slightly lesser time, around 15-18 minutes depending on your oven. When you lightly tap on the top of the cookie, it should still feel soft. It will firm up slightly as it cools.
5. For a crispy texture, bake it for around 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven. The cookies should be nicely golden and the top should feel firm to the touch.

Did You Make This Recipe?

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