Vegan Anzac biscuits

Vegan Anzac biscuits

vegan anzac biscuits close up

Even though I was born in Australia and lived there for 23 years, it has been a full 15 years since I moved abroad and I’m occasionally prone to a bout of homesickness. Now that I’m living in Greece, and previous to that I lived in London, my old life in Australia feels a very long way away.

I have a few things that I still follow that connect me to home, the first being cricket (which, according to Ania, is a sport based on standing in a field where everything is called a wicket) and the second being these delicious vegan Anzac biscuits.

As many Australians will know, the 26th of January is Australia day, which I’m always bittersweet about celebrating as it is the day that Australia was effectively taken from the aborigines by the British settlers. When I lived in London, Australians celebrated it by drinking copious quantities of Fosters (which is brewed in the UK) and dancing to Crowded House (which is founded by a New Zealander) in the Walkabout chain of Australian-theme pubs (owned by a British company). Naturally, I never saw the point of this, but making Anzac biscuits was a tradition I did enjoy every Australia day.

The word Anzac refers to the ‘Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’ and the reason the biscuits have adopted this name is because the legend has it that they were sent to the troops during World War I. As the biscuits don’t contain eggs or other ingredients that spoil quickly, they were perfect to ship to troops because they would still be intact on arrival. I remember once being sent a piece of my cousin’s wedding cake that I didn’t receive until 2 months after it was sent and I have seen firsthand why sending a vegan Anzac biscuit would be a better idea!

Normally these biscuits are made nearer to Anzac Day (which is a war remembrance day – April 25th), but I like to make them for Australia day as well because they are soooo good.

Whether you are sending these biscuits to a family member in a war zone or just making them so you can eat them all by yourself on the couch, these biscuits are rich, oatey and delicious. So if you are missing Australia, bake a big batch of these and even people that don’t come from Australia, don’t care about Australia, and don’t have any idea what an Anzac is, will be happy that you did…

vegan anzac biscuits tray

vegan anzac biscuits stacked

makes
20
PREP
15 min
COOKING
20 min
makes
20
PREPARATION
15 min
COOKING
20 min
INGREDIENTS
  • 100 g / 1 cup oats
  • 85 g / ¾ cup (slightly heaped) desiccated coconut
  • 100 g / heaped ¾ cup AP wheat flour
  • 100 g / ½ cup caster sugar
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 2 tbsp water, hot
  • 100 g / 3.5 oz vegan butter, margarine or refined coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup or golden syrup
METHOD
  1. Preheat the oven to 180° C / 355° F.
  2. Put the oats, desiccated coconut, flour and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and mix well.
  3. Melt the vegan butter in a small saucepan over a low heat, add the maple syrup and stir until combined.
  4. In a small bowl, dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the 2 tbsp of hot water and add to the melted butter mixture.
  5. Add the melted butter mixture to the dry ingredients and stir gently until it is mixed well. At this point the mixture should stick together easily, but you may need to add a touch more hot water if you are having with that. Please be careful – add it very gradually, in small amounts.
  6. Roll mixture into balls with your hands (it should make 20 at 25 g each), flatten each ball so that you have 1 cm / 0.4″ high cookies, and place them 2 cm / 1″ apart on a paper lined baking tray.
  7. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
114
6%
sugars
6 g
6%
fats
6 g
9%
saturates
3 g
16%
proteins
2 g
3%
carbs
13 g
5%
*per biscuit
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4.9
29 reviews, 54 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
AuntyPizza:
I'm going to use honey instead of caster sugar
    Ania
    Ania:
    Sure thing.
Kaur Prabhjot:
What could I use instead of golden syrup?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi,
    You could use another liquid sweetener like rice syrup or maple syrup. Hope this helps. Ania
Jess:
soooo good. I used light brown sugar instead of caster sugar and they were delish. so quick and easy to make. so quick and easy to eat!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thanks Jess, so glad you enjoyed them! x Ania
Tammy:
Made this recipe on a whim last night & it came out perfectly!
Super simple, quick and easy to follow & most importantly so delicious!
I'll be making then again soon! 😋
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thanks so much, Tammy! So happy you enjoyed these and found the recipe easy to make too. Thank you so much for taking the time to review - I really appreciate it. x Ania
Blitzo:
Hello there, let me say I use your recipe. We baked these vegan anzac biscuits. Thanks!
    Ania
    Ania:
    My pleasure, I am glad you enjoyed them! x Ania
Cecily:
These are fantastic! After reading about the sugar, I opted for coconut sugar, maybe someone could enlighten me about the processing of that?Not fond of 'cookies' with soft centres, these are crunchy to the last crumb!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Glad you enjoyed them, Cecily and thanks for taking the time to leave this lovely review - very appreciated. As for the sugar, I am not sure if you are familiar with fantastic Dr Greger who analyses peer-reviewed research and relays them to us mortals in a bid to help us make decisions for our health but I trust his expertise and this what he has to say about various sugars. Hope this helps! Ania
Grace:
Thank you for this recipe. I make this regularly for friends and family. I follow the recipe to the t! Thank you!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Grace! I'm really happy to hear that this recipe has been serving you so well and thanks so much for taking the time to let me know. x Ania
Matt:
Whilst I'm not vegan but don't really eat meat anymore, for the pure vegans that have made and eaten this maybe an alternative to castor sugar would be recommended. I haul sugar cane during the harvest and can guarantee that a lot of animals including wild dogs, pigs and native animals end up in the bin with the cut cane... Food for thought.... Good recipe by the way...
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Matt,
    I am glad you enjoyed these. I hear what you are saying, but this is very tricky. Veganism is about minimising needless animal suffering and exploitation and most vegans recognise that in today's world, no one is able to live a life that is 100% cruelty free and attempting to do so will make you go insane (especially in the face of everybody else's indifference!). What you describe happens when it comes to any type of vegetable/fruit harvest and while it is horrible and we obviously wish it didn't happen we do have to eat something so most people draw the line at not eating foods that are animal derived (like meat, dairy, eggs but also honey or sugar purified using bone char). Hope it makes sense. Ania
    joni:
    Matt,
    Thank you. Great info
Deb:
Great recipe and super flexible. I used some left over untoasted muesli I bought for a guest, replacing the oats and coconut and they worked out fine. I did have to add a little extra flour because the muesli was quite dense and didn’t soak up as much liquid. I then discovered a pack of coconut hiding up the back of the cupboard and so made the recipe as written and that also worked well - although the different batches have slightly different textures as you’d expect. Now the only problem is what to do with all these biscuits!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Deb, glad you enjoyed them and I am sure there will be many takers if you don't want to keep them all for yourself :) x Ania
Moonchild:
Just made the Anzac biscuits which are now my favorite cookie. I did not have coconut, so I used an equal amount of almond flour. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly, using the maple syrup choice. Easy to make! Beware of eating all of the dough raw (tasty!). The cookies are just the right crunch - not too hard and not too delicate. Sweet enough but not overly sweet. Yum, yum, yum - thank you for another wonderful vegan recipe, Ania.
    Ania
    Ania:
    My pleasure, I am glad to hear that you enjoyed these and thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review - much appreciated. x Ania
Rony:
Hi Ania!
Looks fantastic as usual!
Can I replace the coconut with something?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Rony,
    I have not tried but I recon ground almonds will also be nice. Ania
Lucy:
🍪Love the biscuits! I loved how crunchy and chewy they were!
Thanks for making this recipe! YUM!🍪
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Lucy! I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed them and many thanks for taking the time to leave this review - I really appreciate it. x Ania
Riah:
This is an excellent ANZAC bikkie recipe! I was missing home this week and they hit the spot. I added some Grape Nuts for extra crunch and malty goodness, but the original recipe is delicious on its own too. Thanks so much for posting!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Riah! I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed these and that they brought back the taste of home :) Ania
Rashmi:
I was browsing to find a vegan cookie and so pleased I came across this recipe. I used coconut oil instead of vegan butter as I had it on hand and they turned out fab, thank you so much.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Rashmi! I'm really happy to hear that! Ania
Melissa Bokelman:
These cookies are AMAZING! How can I make them pumpkin flavored? Just add pumpkin? Or replace some butter with pumpkin?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Melissa,
    That's great to hear. I think you could replace some of the fat with pureed pumpkin and use pumpkin spice, but it will make the cookies less crunchy I think. Ania
kath:
I would just like to say these biscuits are bloody awesome , i also added some dried cranberries from a packet mmmmmm yom yom will be making more a staple to our diet lol
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Kath! I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed them so much. Cranberries sounds like a great addition too! Ania
Anita:
Ohhh goodness!! Absolutely delicious! After reading all the fantastic reviews I decided to half the recipe because I knew the possibility of eating too many would be my reality! I used brown sugar and quick oats as that’s what was in the cupboard and they turned out amazing! Thanks for the recipe, will definitely be making and sharing this one many times.
    Ania
    Ania:
    I’m delighted to hear that you enjoyed it so much, Anita ! And thank you for taking the time to review and for sharing this recipe with your friends! Ania
Emily:
I made these hoping to keep some for a few days but they were devoured in one night! My husband loved them too much. I did add choch chips to half of them.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear that, Emily. Thanks for letting me know that you both enjoyed them! Ania
Felicity:
These are magical!
Soft, pillowy, but with a slight crunch.
Great job!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks, Felicity! I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed them.x Ania
Tara:
These are so delicious! Currently living abroad and these were the perfect cure for my home sickness! Gave a batch to some Aussie neighbours and they were a hit!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear, Tara! Thanks for letting me know and sharing the love! Stay well. Ania
Trish:
Thanks for the recipe, they turned out perfect😊 I used coconut oil, maple syrup and only 1/4 tspn of bicarbonate Soda after reading previous comments. Will be making these again and again. Thank you
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear, Trish! Thanks for taking the time to let me know! Ania
Georgia:
Yum! I just made these using coconut oil and golden syrup. The two didn’t come together in the saucepan but I added it anyway and was fine once stirred through the dry ingredients. Would make again!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear, thanks! Ania
Made these today on ANZAC day, it’s warm here about 28 deg Celsius so I needed a tiny amount water as suggested. Turned out great, we melted some vegan chocolate over the top and bam 💥 delicious
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm delighted to hear that, thank you for letting us know that you enjoyed them! Ania
Lachy:
Unfortunately my batch were really crumbly and wouldn’t shape into balls either, but pliers on with half the batch then decided to add an egg to the other half as mix wasn’t binding. Defeats the purpose of vegan cookies I guess but didn’t see the suggestion for adding extra hot water to mix until it was too late, maybe add that note into the recipe as I see looking at the comments a lot of people have had the same outcome.
    Ania
    Ania:
    I am sorry you had trouble with this recipe, I will amend the recipe as you suggest. Stay safe! Ania
Lyubov:
I made these and the dough was falling apart and hard to shape. I figured it might have been because I used large flake oats. I see in the comments now that you wrote that adding hot water might have been helpful to bind them. When baked they were very crumbly but more or less kept their shape - and were very delicious!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear that they worked out well in the end and that you enjoyed them. x Ania
Netsanet Amare:
Made these a second time. So delicious. Thank you!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you!! I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed them so much! x Ania
Jesse:
I wish all recipes had the measurements in grams... some things are just really annoying to measure out in cups and a kitchen scale is so cheap. Thanks for using grams! :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks, Jesse! I'm glad it's helpful. I am with you, I only ever use cups for liquids or when the ratios do not matter as much (in soups and stews), but baking without scales is a risky business, I agree! Ania
Biscuit Packing Machine:
WOW! Looks yummy thanks for the recipe good work keep posting like this always love your recipes :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks! :)
ally:
ARRRR..cups, or any measuring can seem confusing...as like for like is really a brain mush...suddenly I see the light...big thank you...honest without your recipe I would not have got started at all....XX I have left only two reviews like this in a great many years and do thank you :-))
    Ania
    Ania:
    I know, I am not a fan of cups myself unless it's a recipe like a soup or curry where you don't need to be that exact, but people want them so I try to provide them when I can. Glad it all ended up well and my pleasure :) Ania
Ally:
Hullo
With a friend coming over who loves a good munch I had a quick trawl for a quick biscuit recipe.. she's not vegan but trying to be more plant based...many suggestions inc: how not to die has seen many changes in her lifestyle and I am encouraging her with my vegan food/plant based diet.
So using what I had at home I have to tell you how amazing these worked out. I only had spelt flour and my baking soda was dead, so I added baking powder. I also had a mix of vegan Marg and coconut butter...it all worked...I also added 70g of muesli, which I blitzed in a food processor and 15g of spelt to make up for the desiccated coconut ...only other adjustment was 2 extra tablespoons of hot water as the spelt flour need more moisture to enable the dough to be doughy!!!
So I really messed with your recipe and guess what they were still brilliant and that is priceless, sometimes I find that internet recipes can be hit and miss ...
I was also worried as your recipe says 100g = 1 cup!! So i ignored the cups and stayed with the 100grams as a cup I think is normally 240grams... Ho HUM
Thank you again for a great biscuit recipe that worked even tho I tweaked it a awful lot!!!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Ha, thanks, Ally, but it does not sound like I can take any credit for these in this case :) I'm glad you and your friend have enjoyed them and what a great problem solving prowess! Ania
    PS: A US cup has 240 ml not grams. As for grams, it depends what is in it - a cup of oats is about 100 g, a cup of flour is 126 g etc.
Justine:
Hey just wondering what the extra tbsp of caster sugar and Flour are for...as I see it in the ingredient list but it doesn't get mentioned at all in the recipe.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Justine,
    They are not extra per se, it's out attempt at converting grams into cups. 100 g of flour is over 1/2 cup so adding another tablespoon makes up for the difference. Hope that makes sense! Ania
Aleksandra:
I just made it with coconut oil but it was really crumbly. I measured everything in grams. I added more oil, about 60 g extra, because I couldn’t roll a ball of this original mixture. I baked it in 180 degrees and it was done in 10 minutes. It turned out greasy and crumbled a lot. The taste is goed though.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Aleksandra,
    I'm sorry to hear that you've had trouble and I will be honest I cannot figure out why. I made these cookies several times myself and many of my readers have too and no one else reported similar problems. As for greasiness and crumbliness that would be too much fat in the final product (60 g extra oil is over 50% more of what we used). If you decide to give these another go, I would allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes after you've mixed everything together. If it's still too dry then, try adding a tiny amount (teaspoon or a couple) of hot water to bind it. Hope that helps! Ania
Andrea:
Made them today and they are the best vegan cookies I've ever tried! As I had some mixture of grinded hazelnuts, I put these instead of coconut and they are amazing.. looking forward though to try also with coconut. Thank you very much for this delightful variation of anzac 🍪 😘
    Ania
    Ania:
    That's great to hear, Andrea! You can't go wrong with adding hazelnuts to cookies in my opinion (see my latest recipe ;) ) Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment too! Much appreciated! Ania
Pax:
Made lovely cookies but despite following recipe closely the mix was too dry to shape into balls so I added coconut milk. I used solid raw coconut oil not refined - would that be why it was too dry? Everyone enjoyed them and they have only lasted one evening! Highly recommend this delicious and easy recipe to all. :) Also wondered what adding sultanas would be like...
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Pax,
    I'm sorry to hear that your cookies didn't quite stuck together, but glad to hear you enjoyed the taste. Using raw coconut oil should have no bearing as long as it was melted before adding dry ingredients. Did you weigh dry ingredient or used cups for measuring? Is it possible that the measurements were a touch out? Ania
Mrs Fam:
Hi, the recipe looks great, actually tasted awesome in the cooking bowl before I added the baking soda, I tried it after cooking, unfortunately the batch had to be thrown out, the baking soda was really bitter, too overpowering. I believe this recipe you are using is half of the standard dry ingredients, so maybe for this amount of ingredients, it needs to be adjusted to half a teaspoon of baking soda? I just went to another recipe site and pulled up their ingredients, and its double the dry ingredients to 1 tsp of baking soda. Just thought id add this comment in here, incase others have a similar experience, maybe best to halve the baking soda for this recipe.
Excellent vegan recipe's though, I would love to try some of your dinners, they look amazing.
Jesus bless you :-)))
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Mrs Fam,
    We had no trouble in our numerous test batches but I have taken it down to half a teaspoon just because I think that will minimise risk whilst having no affect on the quality of the cookies!
Gail Bogiatzis:
These Anzacs are amazing! So crunchy and delicious! Best vegan biscuit I've made. Thank you Duncan
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you so much for your comment Gail! They are one of my homesick favourites so I'm glad that you like them too! :-)
Erica:
For me the cookies came out tasting too strong of baking soda. Next time I might halve the amount. But overall still good!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Erica,
    1 tsp is a pretty standard amount of baking soda to the amount of dry ingredients if you have a look at non-vegan Anzacs and we didn't detect any funky flavour during testing but feel free to adjust to your liking, of course. Ania
Kai-Lei Samchuck:
These turned out so well! I made them gluten free by using GF oats and subbing 1 cup store bought GF blend plus 2 tbsp almond flour. Yummy!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much for a lovely comment, Kai-Lei! So glad to gear they were such a success! Ania
Lynsey || One More Slice:
These look so good! I recently made some oaty vegan cookies this past weekend, that i'll soon share on my blog but I LOVE the idea of adding coconut. Can't wait to try! xx
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks, Lynsey! That's great to hear! Ania
Nikki:
Love your blog. Thanks for all the great ideas as I am new at the plant based eating lifestyle. Warms my heart as a Kiwi to see ANZAC biscuits featured. Kind regards Nikki
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks, Nikki! So lovely to hear!! Ania
Micky:
Hi, how can this recipe by changed to be gluten-free, but still vegan? I suffer from wheat intolerance and I'm very new to GF baking (finding it very challenging).
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Micky,
    What I would do in this case is simply substitute 100 g of flour with your usual gluten-free flour mix (I tend to use a homemade mixture of buckwheat flour (about 60%), rice flour (30%) and a bit of corn starch (10%)). To mimic gluten in GF goods, you typically add small amount of xanthan gum, but as gluten isn't necessary in cookies (as opposed to bread or pasta), I would do the first batch without it (unless your gluten-free flour mix contains some already) and see how you like them. Good luck! Ania
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