Apricot Anzac Cookies

One of the things that I enjoy about reading foodie blogs is discovering new ingredients. A while back I came across a post from 1o1 Cookbooks about Anzac Cookies that were made using golden syrup. ( " Anzac " comes from Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - these cookies were made by women from Australia and New Zealand for their soldiers during WWII.) I had never heard of golden syrup before, but I was able to find some at Holiday Market (in the maple syrup section).


This recipe interested me because they baked the cookies in a cast iron pan. Well, I have this antique cast iron pan that I seldom use because everything sticks in it. I thought maybe this recipe would work better - wrong!! When the cookies were warm they fell apart when I tried to remove it (oh, better eat the poor deformed cookie) and then when they were totally cool they stuck as I tried to pry them out (better eat the pieces of that one, too). I was able to successfully get a few out of the pan after they had cooled for about a half hour - they were still warm but had started to firm a bit, so I was able to use a knife to gently go around the edges and lift them out. They look oh so cute, but way to0 much work! I did bake a few just on parchment paper like regular cookies, which worked fine, but it didn't quite get the same chewy interior.


Nevertheless, this is recipe is a keeper! Crunchy outside, chewy, and sweet. The golden syrup and the lack of eggs in the recipe adds a sightly different taste and texture than typical oatmeal cookies (and no eggs means that the buttery raw dough is safe to eat - haha). I added same apricots and walnuts to the mix -mmmm. This is my new favorite cookie recipe and I plan to experiment with it a little more to figure out a good easy way to bake them.

Apricot Anzac Cookies

1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup coconut
1/3 cup chopped apricots
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoon golden syrup (or honey)
zest of one orange
1 tablespoon boiling water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugars, coconut, apricots, walnuts, and salt. Set aside.

Over low heat, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the golden syrup and orange zest. In a small bowl stir the boiling water and baking soda together and add to the butter mixture. Then pour the butter mixture into into the dry ingredients and combine. (Your hands work best to mix it together.) Form into balls and either press into a well buttered pan or bake on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. It will take about 12 minutes on the cookie sheet or about 20 minutes for the cast iron pan. (I will post any updated information about baking next time I try this recipe.)