Anzac Biscuit

The army biscuit, also known as an ANZAC Wafer or an ANZAC Tile, is essentially a hardtack biscuit, a long shelf-life biscuit substitute for bread. Unlike bread though, the biscuits are very, very hard. Some soldiers preferred to grind them up and use them as porridge. (Add water and sugar, cook, serve with generous dollop of jam.) These cookies were made during the war because they used fewer ingredients and they shipped well due to the fact that the cookies were harder.
New Zealand and Australia share a tradition of Anzac Biscuits. Both countries claim to have invented them, but Anzac Biscuits are similar to many other older biscuit recipes that are designed to produce crisp, hard and nutritious biscuits that keep well.
One of the food items that women in both countries sent to soldiers during the First World War was a hard, long-keeping biscuit that could survive the journey by sea, and still remain edible. These were known as Soldiers' Biscuits, but after the Gallipoli landings in 1915, they became known as Anzac Biscuits. Soldiers themselves may have made a similar form of biscuit from ingredients they had on hand: water, sugar, rolled oats and flour.
The traditional Anzac Biscuit is hard and flat - ideal for dunking in tea and then eating. During the First World War, some soldiers used broken biscuits to make a form of porridge to add some variety to their diet.
Over the years, softer and chewier versions of the biscuit have appeared. There are many recipes for Anzac Biscuits. Common to most is the inclusion of rolled oats, coconut, butter and golden syrup. Eggs almost never feature. This may be because eggs were in short supply during the First World War. Many varieties of biscuit do not have eggs, however, and like Anzac Biscuits rely instead on chemical rising agents such as bicarbonate of soda (baking soda).

ANZAC Biscuits

Ingredients
· 1 cup margarine or butter
· 2 Tablespoons corn syrup
· 4 Tablespoons water
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· 2 cups oatmeal
· 2 cups sugar
· 1 cup white flour
· 1 cup whole wheat flour
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Combine oatmeal, sugar, white flour, and whole-wheat flour in a bowl.
3. Melt margarine and add corn syrup and water in a small pan over heat.
4. Add the baking soda to pan and stir until fizzy.
5. Pour contents in pan into the bowl with dry ingredients and stir well.
6. Shape dough into balls and flatten with a fork on a tray.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes about 4 dozen biscuits.