The 25th of April is such a special day for Australians and a day when we can take time to reflect upon and appreciate our fallen 
soldiers. It is a day when medals get polished, two up coins are buffed and shiny, and proud Aussies celebrate this National holiday. My family has always had the tradition of making a couple of batches of Anzac biscuits. I remember my Mum would proudly present her biscuits and we would happily tuck in, but when I became a healthy person I decided to re-vamp this high fat recipe and put my own healthy spin to it. In Symply Too Good To Be True 3 I have a fabulous recipe called Golden Oat Crunches. Now I know it isn’t an Anzac biscuit but it’s as close as I could get and keep it suitable for those watching their weight and for people with diabetes. At only 2g of fat a biscuit it really is the perfect recipe for Anzac Day celebrations.
So how did Anzac biscuits come about? Well my research has found it all started back in World War One when they were looking for something to sustain the soldiers while in battle. There are several stories on how these biscuits started; one of the popular stories is how the women would send soldier’s boxes of these biscuits as they were cheap to make and the ingredients were easily found. We know for sure that a biscuit of sorts was sent to troops, and they had to be non-perishable as they needed to be transportable and non-refrigerated. They were made from rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, butter, golden syrup, baking soda and boiling water. They never used eggs as they wouldn’t last long enough and also eggs were scarce. That’s why they used golden syrup as it proved to be a suitable way to help bind the ingredients together. They would pack the biscuits into used tins which were sealed to be airtight so that they stayed dry.
My father was a returned soldier and said that food was a real challenge. I remember one story he loved to share was when his troops were marooned on an island for several months and all they had to eat was canned Spam. He was a butcher so he really suffered without his fresh meat and for the rest of his life if someone even said the word Spam he would start to feel ill, but he never had trouble enjoying Anzac biscuits. Lest we forget.
If you are interested in finding out more about Anzac Day go to: www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac and www.anzacsite.gov.au
Annette’s cookbooks SYMPLY TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE 1-6 are sold in all good newsagencies. Visit Annette’s website www.symplytoogood.com.au for more tips and recipes. You can also join Annette’s page at Symply Too Good FACEBOOK.
Recipe to use GOLDEN OAT CRUNCH (Book 3)
