Writer’s Block

Well, when we left for our spring break adventures, I certainly didn’t intend to take such a long hiatus from the blog. Little did I realize how busy we would get upon our return. I’ll be back in a few days to share our adventures, give a few updates and then we’ll launch into some cooking around the world again. For today, however, I figured I would provide a little flashback to our first year of blogging. You see, I was reminded by Charlie Louie at Hotly Spiced that today is ANZAC Day, a day of remembrance for Australian and New Zealand veterans. She shares a fabulous story of her grandfather in WWII, so in honor of him and all veterans, here’s our ANZAC post from three years ago. Cheers!

 

As promised, we have one more delicious recipe from New Zealand. I think that to-date this has been my favorite cooking destination on this adventure and I know that many of these recipes will become part of our regular rotation. Earlier this week, Mr. N and I baked up these little gems – ANZAC Biscuits.

They are a traditional treat from both Australia and New Zealand and were often sent to soldiers in the Great War; thus the name Australian and New Zealand Army Corp or ANZAC biscuits. The traditional recipe is easy to make and the biscuits last for weeks without perishing.

Mr. N and I baked these up in about an hour. First we combined the flour, oats, coconut and sugar into a bowl. Next we melted the butter into the golden syrup. Golden syrup is absolutely crucial to this recipe and difficult to find. We ordered this can on Amazon. (I have since been able to source this at local groceries.)

We then dissolved a teaspoon of baking soda in very hot water and added it to the melted syrup/butter. Mr. N enjoyed watching it froth and bubble-up. (Look how young he was!!!)

Next we made a well in the dry ingredients and added the wet ingredients, mixing them together completely. Finally we placed teaspoon sized balls onto a greased cookie sheet and depressed them with a fork.

The ANZAC biscuits baked at 350F for 10 minutes. We highly recommend sneaking little tastes of the batter and eating several of these little cookies straight from the oven.

The ANZAC biscuits are divine when freshly baked. Mr. N really enjoyed these cookies fresh, but his enthusiasm waned the next day. Dad, Miss A and I on the other hand, have been eating these up all week (and that’s after giving several away). The recipe makes about 45 cookies. Once again, New Zealand gives us a tasty recipe! Cheerio mate!

Print this recipe: ANZAC Biscuits

17 thoughts on “Writer’s Block”

  2. Charles says:
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    Snap – I have a can of syrup here too! (Imported from England -> France -> Sweden, haha). Love ANZAC biscuits – there’s something so great about oaty syrupy cookies isn’t there (sorry – biscuits!… wouldn’t want to annoy any Aussies).

    You know what I’ve always wondered – why on earth do they sell it in cans of “454g”?
    Ah… never mind, I just looked it up. 454g is pretty much exactly 1lb (1.00089867lb to be precise). A throwback to the pre-metric days in British packaging and I guess they decided to never change their traditional can design.

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  4. ChgoJohn says:
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    Mr. N really was young — not that he’s an old man now. 🙂 You’ve a dozen irons in the fire, Kristy. We all certainly understand if you need to spend time away from blogging. I’ve never tried these cookies but they sure look good. In fact, i was staring at the opening photo and reached for the last of the Girl Scout cookies. Tagalongs. They haven’t the meaning behind them that your biscuits carry, nor are they homemade but they have chocolate. 🙂

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  6. sallybr says:
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    Glad to see you back, looking forward to the adventures, as you know.. 🙂

    Mr. N looks so young that my heart missed a beat. Looking at his change, I realized that I changed too. But on a downhill slope, I am afraid. More wriinkles? Check. More gray hair? Check. But happier too. So there!

    I am intrigued by these cookies – I do have golden syrup. hummmmmm….. I should bake a batch

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  7. spicegirlfla says:
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    Hi Kristy, It’s just always nice to see you pop up every now and then, keeps us all connected! Mr. N does look so young – its amazing how when looking at children, the years seem to go by so quickly! Enjoy your busy, family time. I agree, always sneaking a taste of batter and that first warm cookie!! After that, I give all my cookies away! (i.e., out of my kitchen!)

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  8. Bam's Kitchen says:
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    Hello Kristy take your time as you know things just get busy with a family. I am glad you guys had a fun day baking together. Fresh out of the oven sounds like a great plan to me. Until your writer block clears just eat lots of cookies and I am sure that will be the perfect cure… I can’t wait to read about your trip. Take Care, BAM

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  10. hotlyspiced says:
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    Thanks for the lovely mention, Kristie and I’m glad you’ve made your own ANZAC biscuits. What’s incredible is that they’re made without eggs as these were so scarce during the war. You’ve made our Aussie treasures extremely well xx

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  11. Three Well Beings says:
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    It’s so nice to “see” you tonight! I’m really pleased you’re back to share with us, but it’s also nice to hear that you’ve been really busy, with family and fun and school, no doubt. It will be very nice to hear about your vacation, when you can. I love this recipe. I have a very easy source for golden syrup, and notice it quite often in a section in our grocery devoted to British imports. I also notice it and didn’t have any reason to purchase any. But this biscuits definitely call my name! LOL! Have a wonderful weekend, Kristy. I hope it is just full of spring! 🙂

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  16. Dawn says:
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    Kristy – I hope things settle down for you soon. I am still not there yet, but hoping that this weekend I can fully catch up. Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

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