Last December, I took the opportunity of RBA's cash-for-miles promotion to swing myself a cheap ticket to New Zealand, to visit a friend who was studying there. I had meant to blog about the food there, but never got around to it. Which was a shame, really, because it seems as though New Zealanders like their food. Especially the chocolate. Mmmm, the chocolate! I visited the Cadbury World there, which had free samples (yay!), a gorgeous chocolate smell wafting through the halls and a chocolate waterfall. But even in the supermarkets, I saw chocolates (especially from Cadbury's) that I had never seen before in the UK, let alone in Brunei!
Naturally, most of my "souvenirs" for the family back home consisted of chocolate, chocolate and yet more chocolate. My more thoughtful friend decided to send over some gifts for them of her own, though she decided more on biscuits and cookies rather than chocolates, haha. All of them were delicious, but Babah particularly liked the ANZAC biscuits, since he's a pretty big fan of oats. Click here to read up a little bit on its history, courtesy of Wikipedia. =) He wondered if it were possible to make it at home, so after looking up a recipe, we were good to go. So... here we go!
What you need:
1 cup rolled oats *
1 cup plain flour, sifted *note, see below
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
150g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
Note: In the end, my dough was a bit too soft (and greasy to make nice biscuit piles, so I added more oats and flour to make it firmer. Not sure if you would have to do this, but just thought I would let you know)
What you do:
- Combine oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut in a large bowl. Melt butter and golden syrup together in a small pan.
- Mix boiling water and soda together. Blend into butter mixture. Pour over dry ingredients; mix well.
- Place spoonfuls (I used about a flat tablespoon's worth per biscuit) onto greased baking trays, allow room for spreading.
- Bake at 150 C for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Loosen while warm. Cool on trays. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Not being a fan of coconut, I was a bit leery at using coconut in this recipe, but decided to put it in anyway. Was almost glad, as it smelled fantastic during the baking. Since it was already puasa, I couldn't have them straight away... I bet they would be awesome warm from the oven.
But that's not to say that they're not good once cool either. Babah enjoyed them, and so did my brothers, it seemed. Although it wasn't quite as popular with the younger ones as our normal chocolate chip cookies, it still wasn't a bad contender, I must say. Personally, I loved it. A nice change from chocolate chip cookies. The coconut and golden syrup imparted a very nice flavour to the biscuits, kind of ... toffee-ish, somehow. Yet not quite. Delicious, in any case.
As usual with cookies containing oats, be sure to keep this in an absolutely air-tight container. Otherwise, they will lose their crispness. And I love crisp cookies. =) Of course, if you prefer them a bit softer and more chewy, underbake them very slightly and maybe ease up on the air-tightness, haha. But mind you, these biscuits are apparently meant to be very sturdy cookies. According to that wiki article, they actually have baking competitions where they see whose biscuits can withstand the highest drop without shattering. Sounds interesting, haha.
Anyway, this being Ramadhan, look out for more sweet treats, coming soon. Gotta practice for Raya!
Quote of the day: Once we sowed wild oats, now we cook them in the microwave.
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