Gluten free ANZAC biscuits

Posted: April 21, 2022 Updated: October 19, 2024

Gluten-free ANZAC biscuits made with gluten-free oats. April 25, is ANZAC day in Australia, it’s the day that remembers and commemorates the sacrifice and the courage of Australian and New Zealand men and women who served their country in times of war.

These biscuits are ANZAC biscuits, and while accounts vary they are associated with the time of the first wold war, that families would sent them to those serving on the front line. The name is an acronym, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. I learned a few years back that it was coined by an army clerk who wanted to abbreviate it so he could use a rubber stamp and save time. Very classic Aussie abbreviation right there.

These are ANZAC biscuits suitable for those with access to gluten-free oats and Aussie coeliacs who have passed the oat challenge. They taste just like a regular ANZAC biscuit, you can’t tell the difference. If you need an oat-free gluten-free ANZAC check my recipe.

So how do they taste? Well for my UK followers I would say it’s like if a flapjack became a biscuit. To my US followers, it’s an oatmeal cookie! The recipe is below and it’s super easy. They work really well gluten free, there’s no doubt about that.

You can substitute brown sugar for regular sugar but you’ll get a different outcome – still tasty of course! The brown sugar gives more of a sticky gooey edge, white sugar I believe is a bit more dry crumbly. Let me know if you try it, I’ve only used brown sugar recently.

Troubleshooting gluten-free ANZAC biscuits

ANZAC biscuits can be a pain, very often your bake won’t look anything like the recipe you followed. Let me tell you now that is absolutely fine. So long as they taste good, ANZAC biscuits can look very different. In fact, there are two main types of ANZAC biscuits. One is the super thin, very chewy, very dark biscuit, almost like a brandy snap in consistency. The other is a thicker, drier, more crumbly biscuit that looks more like a cookie. Both are good, and a few tweaks can help you edge closer to the type you prefer.

A wet mix will generally give you the thin flat chewy biscuits and a dry crumbly mix will give you the other.

Mixture is too dry

Quinoa flakes are super dry so if your dough is so dry it won’t even stick together don’t fret. Add one teaspoon of water at a time to improve the consistency. Remember, this is gluten free so a crumbly dough is fine and totally normal. It might not stay together after spooning out but should stay together after pressing in your hands.

Mixture is too wet

If you’re concerned the mixture is too wet you can do a few things. My first instinct is to test the batch. Spoon out and shape one biscuit and cook it in the oven. If it’s a spreading disaster bigger than the palm of your hand, then add some flour. Add in five grams of flour at a time, sprinkling it across the mixture so you can mix it in more easily.

Wet ingredients didn’t froth up

If your mixture of butter and syrup didn’t froth up when you added the bicarbonate of soda this is most likely because the bicarb soda is out of date. If you’re got a spare packet open that up and try with a new batch of butter and syrup. Otherwise, run down the street and grab a fresh one.

Gluten-free ANZAC biscuits

ANZAC biscuits are a year-round Australian biscuit but hold special meaning on ANZAC day, 25 April every year.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Baking

Cuisine Australian

Servings 15 biscuits

Equipment

• 1 Mixing bowl
• 1 Spoon
• 1 biscuit tray
• 1 small saucepan

Ingredients

  

• 75 g Plain gluten free flour (half a cup)
• 45 g gluten free oats (half a cup)
• 42 g desiccated coconut (half a cup)
• 80 g brown sugar
• 60 g butter non-dairy also works
• 1 tbsp tablespoon golden syrup
• 1/2 tsp teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tbsp tablespoon of water

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 160°C or 140°C fan-forced. If you don't have a good biscuit tray line your tray with non-stick baking paper.
• In a bowl combine the flour, oats, coconut and brown sugar.
• In a saucepan put the butter, golden syrup and water and heat gently until melted and combined. Add the bicarbonate of soda – at this point it will bubble and become frothy!
• Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined.
• Using a tablespoon scoop out the mixture into balls. Place on the trays, about 5cm apart (my tray fit 6 biscuits). Press with a fork or your fingers to flatten slightly.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Important! Once they're out of the oven set them aside on the tray for 5 minutes, this will allow them to harden up. After five minutes transfer to a wire rack to cool completely – or just eat them like I did!

Notes

Note, depending on the accuracy of your measurements and the flour you use you will end up with either a slightly wet or slightly dry mixture. Don’t fret, both work! A slightly wetter mixture has more butter and syrup and will result in a thinner flatter biscuit with a chewy texture. A slightly drier mixture will give a more compact, crumbly biscuit. 

Both are great so it’s very much to your preference. If it looks too wet just add a little more flour gradually and mix through thoroughly.  

Keyword ANZAC, biscuits