These anzac biscuits, made with rolled oats, desiccated coconut and golden syrup, are soft, chewy and so delicious. I promise you wouldn’t know that they are a healthier vegan and gluten-free take on the typical anzac biscuit!
Every year on April 25th, we celebrated ANZAC day to commemorate the Australia and New Zealand soldiers who fought and died in the war. During this time of year, it has become a tradition in both countries to make and eat Anzac biscuits.
Where did Anzac biscuits originate from?
If you’ve never heard of an Anzac biscuit, they are biscuits typically made from rolled oats, flour, dessicated coconut, butter, golden syrup, and sugar. They originated during WW1, when the wives of soldiers would send over this crisp biscuits as the ingredients did not spoil easily and they travelled well by boat.
With Anzac day around the corner, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to develop my own recipe for Anzac biscuits. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love making very indulgent desserts (like my Biscoff Carrot Cake Cheesecake). However, I also love creating healthier takes on sweet treats.
For these healthy vegan anzac biscuits, I swapped all-purpose flour for oat flour, regular butter for plant-based butter, and white sugar for coconut sugar. I’ll be honest, I was actually surprised by how well these substiutions worked. In my opinion, this healthy anzac biscuit recipe tasted virtually the same as regular anzac biscuits. Don’t believe me? Trythem out for yourself!
Ingredients for Vegan Anzac Biscuits
- Rolled oats– To make sure these anzac biscuits are gluten-free, make sure you used certified gluten-free oats.
- Oat flour- Instead of buying oat flour, you can just blend up rolled oats in a blender into a very fine flour texture. You can also sub for gluten-free flour.
- Coconut sugar– I used coconut sugar to make these anzac biscuits a little healthier/ lower in refined sugar. You can sub for any sugar of your choosing.
- Golden syrup– I used golden syrup in my anzac biscuit recipe as I feel this ingredient is what gives the biscuits that lovely caramelized flavour. However, if you want to keep the anzac biscuits refined sugar-free, sub for maple syrup.
- Plant-based butter– If you don’t want to make these vegan, sub plant-based butter for the same amount of any normal butter.
How to make Vegan Anzac Biscuits
These vegan Anzac biscuits are seriously so quick and easy to make! They take only 10 minutes of preparation time and 16 minutes of baking time.
- Pre-heat oven to 150°C bake. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oat flour, rolled oats, desiccated coconut, coconut sugar and salt.
- In a small saucepan, combine plant-based butter, golden syrup and water over low-medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Add immediately to dry ingredients and combine with wooden spoon.
- Roll 2 tablespoons of mixture into a ball and place on lined baking tray. Use your fingers to flatten cookies till they are 1cm thick. Repeat with remaining mixture, spacing each cookie 5cm apart.
- Bake for 16 minutes, remove from oven. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and serve.
Try these other vegan treat recipes:
- Vegan Coconut Tarts
- Vegan Bliss Balls with Chocolate, Date, and Almonds
- Mahalabia: A Layered Chia Pudding Dessert
Want to try another typical Australian recipe? Make my vegetarian sausage rolls next!
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