How has an everyday, humble oat biscuit become the biscuit of a nation? As we approach ANZAC Day in 2026, I thought I would dig into the history of this simply delicious food. I wrote many moons ago about ANZAC Day, back when my kids were little and I baked more often. I decided it was high time I also painted the iconic ANZAC biscuit, placing them with red Remembrance Day poppies and sweet fairy wrens, a part of my “Stories From An Australian Table’ series. Prints are available here. The original is available, please email for details.
ANZAC DAY - 25th of April - is a day that is part of my Australian heritage and is, without doubt, Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of one of the first and most bloody military actions involving the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during the First World War, when the ANZACs landed on Gallipoli and suffered horrendous losses at the hands of the Turkish defenders.
Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed during the eight-month campaign. The loss, and the news of the Gallipoli campaign, had a deep and lasting impact on the Australian people. The 25th of April soon became the day on which Australians remember the sacrifice of those who died in the war, which eventually numbered 60,000. It became a national public holiday in 1927 and now has many rituals associated with the day, such as dawn vigils (it was dawn when the first soldiers landed on the beaches of Gallipoli), marches and memorial services to honour fallen soldiers and to thank our service men and women, past and present.
On a more personal level, ANZAC Day has also become a time for family reunions, neighbourhood gatherings, BBQ breakfasts, and the greatest culinary memorial… the baking of the ANZAC biscuit.
ANZAC biscuits stand for something so much more than a darn good biscuit. They represent the founding of a nation, the landing of our soldiers at Gallipoli, the ANZAC legend, and the powerful link to a woman’s role on the home front. ANZAC biscuits have become one of Australia’s most enduring and endearing forms of public memory and are firmly embedded in Australian traditions and culture. If made commercially, it is even illegal, yes, you read that correctly, illegal to “substantially deviate” from the traditional recipe or accepted shape or even to call them cookie’s— that is how protective we feel about our biscuits.
It is said they are the recipe of the Australian woman… the worried and heart broken mothers, daughters and sisters of the soldiers; possibly developed from a Scottish oatcake recipe. The original biscuits the soldiers received were called “soldiers’ biscuits” or “hard tack”, a true ration item that was both nutritious and durable…and tasted like cardboard. The ANZAC biscuit that we now know and love appears to be a domestic development of this original recipe in the 1920s, though the true origin of our favourite sweet biscuit is often contested. They do not contain egg, which is similar to the Scottish oatcake, but the Australian originality lies in the use of golden syrup. For those of you outside of Australia, golden syrup is a sweet, amber coloured syrup, similar to honey, but with a thick, delicious toffee flavour. It’s fabulous on pancakes and pikelets, another childhood after school treat possibly for a future ‘Letter From My Art’.
Back to the ANZAC biscuits…egg was not included to help the biscuits keep longer. While they didn’t have the shelf life of the original hard tack ration biscuits, they lasted long enough to be included in parcels of food and other comforting items sent from families to their ‘boys’ overseas, often on the front lines of Gallipoli and the Western Front.
These packages of biscuits could take several months to arrive. With the inclusion of golden syrup as a binder, their freshness could be maintained over the many months it took them to reach the soldiers. Oats were used to create a biscuit with as much nutritional value as possible, something easy to make, economical and tasty, and able to survive the long journey. Today’s ANZAC biscuits are a powerful reminder of our past and a link through the generations, but I wouldn’t recommend hoarding them for months! Try saving for a week, tops, though I am sure they will be eaten long before the 7 days is up.
My great-grandfather was a World War I soldier. We do not know if he was at Gallipoli as I am yet to find exact paperwork from the records. He sadly died of the Spanish Flu whilst on active service in 1915. He left behind a wife and a three-year-old daughter — my grandmother. Mum still has his World War I Memorial Plaque, known as a “Dead Man’s Penny”, which was given to the next of kin, the wives and families of fallen soldiers.
Each year my husband has gently encouraged our girls to join him at the dawn service to honour our fallen soldiers and the men and women who have served our country. It has become a family tradition now spanning more than two decades, and one we look forward to each year, even with the extra early wake-up. The girls, now adults, will seek out a dawn vigil when they are away from home.
Though they are traditionally baked for the 25th of April, ANZAC biscuits are delicious all year round. They are even available in Australian supermarkets these days, but nothing beats home made. My girls loved them when they were little. All the original motivations are still there for making these biscuits…they travel well in a lunchbox or picnic basket, make a beautiful gift, and have better nutritional value than most biscuits found on our supermarket shelves.
Crunchy or chewy? The debate continues! Just cook them slightly more for crunch.
I hope you enjoy the recipe, and perhaps find a quiet moment to enjoy a few with a cup of strong ‘Australian Afternoon’ tea, whilst offering hope and prayer for peace in our world.
