Chewy Anzac biscuits

(makes approximately 30 medium biscuits)

I have no idea how so many Anzac days have passed since the beginning of this blog and I have not made this old (but basically perfect) recipe i have lying around! Not sure where i came across it, it's essentially the basic, no-frills version but i guess that's how it was always meant to be! These biscuits are soft and chewy with an outer crunch ~ amazing!

The unique aspect of Anzac biscuits is that they don't need any ingredients that are perishable (e.g. milk or eggs) so that they could be shipped over to the men serving in the army far far away. Unfortunately it means that they are rather high in sugar as that helps to preserve it, but nonetheless a great Australian tradition!

NB. These biscuits expand to double their raw size ~ so beware and space them out, otherwise you will end up with a biscuit pie :P

Prep time: 10 min
Cooking time: 8-10 min per batch

Ingredients
1 C plain flour
1 C desiccated coconut
1 C caster sugar
1 C rolled oats
125g butter, melted
3 T golden syrup (or 1.5 T honey)
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 T hot water

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Measure out the flour, desiccated coconut, caster sugar and rolled oats into a large mixing bowl.
3. Combine the melted butter, golden syrup, bicarb soda and hot water in a separate bowl.

4. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine.

5. Form the mixture into small 2cm balls and gently squash until it is about 3.5cm wide x 1cm  thick. Place them on a tray lined with baking paper with about 3-4cm gap between each as they will expand to about double the size.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let it cool on the tray for 2-3 minutes as the sugar takes time to harden and the biscuit will be very soft initially. Then transfer to a cooling rack.

7. Best served fresh, but they are good to keep in an air-tight container for a couple of weeks.

Random note to self: 
Attempts to make this healthier ~ tried using 2/3 C brown sugar instead of caster, and half the bicarb soda - end result was that they didn't expand as much, also less chewy and less sweet. 
Also tried reducing the butter and golden syrup in the original recipe, however ended up not having enough moisture to combine the dry ingredients. So, my conclusion was that it can be made healthier but not really worth it. Just make more and give them away!