Vegan Anzac Biscuits
Vegan Anzac biscuits with crispy edges and a soft chewy centre. They’re packed with oats, coconut and have a hint of caramel. This recipe has been tested with several allergy-friendly ingredients!
What are Anzac biscuits?
They originated in WW1 around the formation of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs). These days, it’s a tradition for Australians to enjoy Anzac biscuits, around Anzac Day (25th April).
Anzac biscuits are buttery golden oatmeal cookies and aren’t traditionally vegan. However, they’re usually eggless so are easy to veganise!
Pantry ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
Plain flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour. Alternatively, you may also use whole wheat (wholemeal) or spelt flour.
Regular sugar gives the cookies crispy edges while still being chewy in the middle. If you prefer biscuits that are chewy throughout, you can use light brown sugar, dark brown sugar or coconut sugar.
Vegan butter. This recipe works well with vegan block butter, spreadable vegan butter and even coconut oil. I tested this recipe with Naturli (block) and Nuttelex (spread), which are both available in Australia.
Desiccated coconut, otherwise known as finely shredded coconut. If you don’t like coconut, check out my vegan oatmeal cookies.
Golden syrup adds a hint of caramel and helps the ingredients stick together. Alternatively, you can use any other liquid sweetener such as maple syrup, rice malt syrup or agave nectar.
How to make vegan Anzac biscuits
First, combine all the dry ingredients (except the baking soda) in a large bowl. Make sure there are no lumps of flour!
Next, melt your dairy-free butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Once it’s hot, add the baking soda and mix. Your mixture may or may not foam up – don’t worry because your biscuits will work either way!
Heating baking soda ensures that it is evenly distributed in the dough and so the flavour isn’t too strong in the final biscuits.
Pour the hot butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
The Anzac biscuit dough should be slightly crumbly but buttery and moist. You should be able to shape the mixture into balls without it breaking or sticking to your hands.
If your dough is too crumbly, add a tablespoon of water or milk and mix again. If your dough is too wet, add a tablespoon of flour and mix again. All brands of oats, flour and butter absorb differently, so we need to flexible!
Shaping tips
Due to the high amount of oats in Anzac biscuits, the dough is more delicate than regular cookie dough.
Some tips for easier shaping:
- If your hands are slightly damp, the dough won’t stick as much to your hands.
- Squish and gently roll the dough into balls. Don’t vigorously roll the dough like regular cookie dough.
- Flatten the cookies using your hands or the bottom of a jar. My cookies were around 5 cm (2 inches) wide and spread a lot.
Soft or chewy biscuits?
For soft and chewy biscuits, bake them for 12 minutes.
For crunchier golden biscuits with a chewy centre, bake them for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
Regardless of how long you bake them, your vegan Anzac biscuits will be very soft when they’re hot from the oven. Don’t worry as they’ll firm up as they cool!
How to store these biscuits
These vegan Anzac biscuits keep well for around 1-2 weeks when stored in an airtight container. These biscuits actually soften over time, rather than harden up.
For chewier or crunchier biscuits, reheat leftover biscuits in the oven at around 100°C (210°F) for around 5-10 minutes. Allow them to fully cool and enjoy.
If you want extra crunchy biscuits, enjoy the biscuits frozen (as strange as it sounds). The biscuits will ‘snap’ which you can see in the video in the recipe card.
Ingredient substitutions
Yes, these biscuits work well with gluten-free all-purpose flour. I tested this recipe with a few brands and they all resulted in a stickier dough and I often had to add an extra tablespoon of flour for a workable mixture. Even though the dough is stickier, the biscuits end up crunchier!
Yes, use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar and maple syrup instead of golden syrup. I haven’t tested this recipe with stevia, monk fruit sweetener or other sugar replacements.
Anzac biscuits made with vegan block butter have crunchy edges and a soft centre. Biscuits made with spreadable vegan butter are softer, spread more and brown quicker.
In contrast, coconut oil makes the biscuits extra crunchy, more pale and lack some depth of flavour. If you use coconut oil, add an extra pinch of salt to the dough for more flavour.
Check out my vegan versions of other Australian bakery classics such as my vanilla slice, lamingtons and custard tart.
More easy vegan cookies
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Vegan Anzac Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose plain flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour (note 1)
- 1 cup (120g) rolled oats, gluten-free, if needed
- 1 cup (80g) desiccated coconut / fine shredded coconut, unsweetened
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar, brown sugar or coconut sugar (note 2)
- ⅔ cup (150g) vegan block butter, vegan spreadable butter or coconut oil (note 3)
- 2 tablespoons (43g) golden syrup, (note 4)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2-4 tablespoons (30-60g) water, or dairy-free milk, as needed
Instructions
Making the vegan Anzac biscuit dough:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line 2 large baking trays with baking (parchment) paper.
- Add the flour, oats, coconut and sugar to a large mixing bowl, and mix until combined.
- Add the butter and golden syrup to a small saucepan over low heat and mix until melted. Add the baking soda and mix again. The mixture may or may not bubble up (either is fine).
- Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The dough should be slightly tacky. If you grab and pinch some dough, it should stick together. If your dough is too dry, add a dash of water or milk and mix again. If your dough is too sticky, add a little flour and mix again.
Shaping and baking the vegan Anzac biscuits:
- Using damp hands, grab heaped tablespoons of dough. Roll and squash the dough into flattened patties that are around 5cm (2 inches) wide. Arrange the patties on your prepared baking trays with around 5 cm (2 inches) between each (the biscuits will spread).
- Bake for around 12 minutes (for soft and chewy biscuits) or 15-18 minutes (for crunchier and chewy biscuits). When you take the biscuits out of the oven, they will continue baking on the trays!
- Enjoy the biscuits warm or at room temperature.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months. The biscuits will soften over time. If you'd like to refresh the biscuits, reheat them in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 100°C (210°F) and allow them to cool.
Video
Notes
- The gluten-free version often results in a stickier dough. If needed, add an extra tablespoon (10g). Your final dough will still be stickier than the original version, but your final biscuits will be crunchier!
- If you use brown sugar or coconut sugar, your vegan Anzac biscuits will be chewier and darker in colour.
- If you use spreadable butter, omit the water/milk. If you use coconut oil, add an extra pinch of salt. You can also customise the texture of your cookies by adjusting the amount of butter. Use 125g butter for softer cookies, or up to 165g butter for crispier cookies. You will need to adjust the amount of water/milk accordingly.
- Instead of golden syrup, you can use maple syrup, rice malt syrup or agave nectar. Some of these are runnier than golden syrup so you may need to use less water in the recipe
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Hi, if using coconut oil, do I still need to heat it up ? Also can I honey as the only sweetener (I.e no sugar, maple syrup or golden syrup)?, If yes at what point can I add the honey?
Thank you!
Hi Promise, yes you will still need to melt the coconut oil if you’re using it. I don’t recommend using a liquid sweetener instead of sugar unless you make other tweaks the recipe. Honey is a very different consistency to sugar so the biscuit dough will be a different texture and the biscuits will spread differently (they may completely melt or you may need to flatten them completely). Perhaps test it with just a few cookies and see what works best? Hope that helps!
Just made these for ANZAC Day! Turned out great, thank you.
Aw that’s wonderful to hear!! Thanks for letting me know and I hope you enjoyed the long weekend!
Just made them and they are delicious. I used little less than 1/2 cup sugar and they are just right. Thank you
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them with reduced sugar! Thanks so much for your feedback 🙂
If I use honey instead of golden syrup. Should i use same amount?
I don’t know for certain as I only use vegan ingredients, but I would guess so. Give it a try, and let me know how you go!
So yummy and so easy to make! A favourite in our home
Aw, that’s great to hear! Thanks Tami!
Hola Anthea feliz tarde, quería preguntar si en vez de mantequilla uso el aceite de coco, como tu misma dijiste en las sustituciones, pero ¿igual tengo que calentar o no es necesario?
Hi Angela, the coconut oil still needs to be melted. I hope that helps 🙂
I’m getting an insane amount of spread. Like the edges almost look like Brandy snaps, they’ve spread and oozed so much. Do you think it’s a wet to dry ratio issue? Should I either decrease the butter or add flour? I e tried twice now and I’m pretty experienced with baking so I know I followed the recipe correctly. I used a vegan block butter and brown sugar. Thx!
Hi Heather, by any chance are you using measuring cups or weighing your ingredients? I found that weighing the ingredients produces more consistent results. With the spread, it’s due to a lack of dry ingredients (which could be flour, oats or coconut). Another thing is that all brands of flour, oats and coconut absorb differently so you may need to add a little more of those ingredients to get the right consistency. Hope that helps!
People, do yourself a favor and make these biscuits. They are simply delicious, I cannot explain how yummy these are. BTW I used honey and regular butter because I am not sure if I can find vegan butter or golden syrup where I live (Dominican Republic in the Caribbean). I made them yesterday with what I have in my kitchen 🙂 and the result is this lovely crunchy biscuit on the outside and a bit soft and chewy in the center, and the delicate balance of flavors is amazing.
I’m so happy you loved these biscuits Claudia!! And I’m glad that they worked with the ingredients you had on hand. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your thoughtful and kind feedback :).
I made these today for ANZAC day and they worked out great. Really delicious with just the right amount of crunch – seems like a pretty failsafe recipe.
Aw that’s great news Ema!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the biscuits :).
Hello,
These cookies look amazing. I would like to make these but I have a question, what exactly is golden syrup?
Hi Mirella! Golden syrup is a syrup made from cane sugar and water, and is runnier than honey but thicker than maple syrup. Some countries may call it light treacle. I hope that helps!
I made these today but forgot to cook the sugar and butter…not great at reading instructions. They still turned out amazing. Any reason the butter and sugar needs to be cooked or is it okay just to cream them together?
I’m glad that you enjoyed these biscuits Naomi! It’s just a tradition for Anzac biscuits to use melted butter and golden syrup. From a baking perspective, melted butter normally makes cookies chewier and melting the golden syrup helps it combine more easily with the flour/sugar. The recipe would still work if you just add all the ingredients in the bowl, with melted butter. Alternatively, creaming the butter and sugar results in slightly more aerated cookies. Hope that helps!
Made a double batch from the get go LOL they are soooooo good! Added extra butter for crunchiness as recommended, used Naturli. Plus, a table spoon of coconut oil because why not haha Had them in for 12min at 180C w/fan. Saved for many many more bakes ahead!
So happy doing this recipe! I made these amazing biscuits today and my family was so happy also of what I’ve prepare to them.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these biscuits! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
They smell incredible look gorgeous. Made 12 big biscuits less sugar more golden syrup lovely simple recipe 15 minutes fan forced and turned tray around as well
Aw that’s wonderful Carol! Thanks so much for your comment and feedback 🙂
I made these amazing biscuits today! I made them with a gluten free flour blend, brown sugar, and maple syrup. I used parchment paper on one sheet pan and a silicone baking sheet on the other. I baked at 350F for 14 minutes and switched (top to bottom and bottom to top) the pans half way through baking. They turned out beautifully- the biscuits on the parchment paper were softer and did not spread as much as the biscuits on the silicone baking sheet, but that could have been due to the initial position in the oven. Regardless, they are delicious! Thank you for another fabulous recipe! I will be making these on a regular basis!
Aw, I’m so glad you enjoyed these biscuits Jane! Thanks for all the info on how you customised them – it’s interesting to hear how they turned out!
As I sit here waiting for these delicious biscuits to come out of the oven, the smell of golden syrup and coconut wafting through the house. A couple of notes. I added a pinch of pink salt, i used an ice cream scoop size 16 makes about 10…. Ok update they are just out. I have a fan-forced oven might watch temp (reduce). Cooked for 12 minutes. Perfect! Thank you for sharing. This is my first time to your site (thanks to Harris Markets referral on insta) and I’m looking forward to trying others on your site.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these biscuits Cameron! Now I want to make them again haha. Thanks for all the tips and I hope you enjoy browsing my other recipes! 🙂