ANZAC Day Biscuits

It's a good thing Earth Day is now stretched into Earth Week. It gives me a few more days to put up my posts that tie in with Earth Day.

Today my post commemorates an entirely different day - ANZAC Day.

ANZAC Day is commemorated in Australia on April 25, which is today in my part of the world. I'm not certain what day it is right now down under, but it's close! I want to get the recipe up now so I make sure the post gets made on (or close to) the appropriate day. The explanation of WHY this recipe is relevant to this blog will come shortly, but for now, LET THERE BE COOKIES!!!!

ANZAC Biscuits
reprinted from the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs

The following is an original recipe provided by Bob Lawson, an Anzac present at the Gallipoli landing.
Ingredients
1 cup each of plain flour, sugar, rolled oats, and coconut
4 oz (125g) butter
1 tbls treacle (golden syrup)
2 tbls boiling water
1 tsp bicarbonate soda (add a little more water if mixture is too dry)

Method

1. Grease biscuit tray and pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Melt together butter and golden syrup. Combine water and bicarbonate soda, and add to butter mixture.
4. Mix butter mixture and dry ingredients.
5. Drop teaspoons of mixture onto tray, allowing room for spreading.
6. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on tray for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

This recipe is lacto-vegetarian if dairy butter is used. To veganize it simply use a vegan margarine or other equivalent. The most widely available brand of golden syrup - Lyle's - is vegan. 

Samp Pudding

This post is part of the Food Bloggers Against Hunger project. I only found out about the project this morning so wasn't able to plan ahead and integrate it seamlessly into the structure of this blog, which is why you're seeing the recipe before the history. Don't worry. The history is coming!

 Please take a few moments to send a letter to congress asking them to support anti-hunger legislation. There is more information on taking this important action at this link. You can learn more about the issue of hunger at Share Our Strength's website.

The recipe as printed:

Boil the samp well till dry, add good milk, a little sweetening, and a good quantity of sweet apples sliced thinly, well baked, eaten with molasses, sugar, or without.

My adaptation:

SAMP PUDDING
Adapted from Nature's Own Book by Asenath Nicholson (1835)

2 1/4 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk, divided
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup coarse corn meal
1/2 cup apple, very thinly sliced

Heat 2 cups of the milk and the sugar together over very low heat. Gradually whisk in corn meal, stirring thoroughly to avoid lumping. Continue to cook mixture, stirring until thickened. Arrange apple slices in bottom of a well-greased baking dish and pour pudding over the apples. Pour 1/4 cup of milk over the pudding, do not stir it in. Bake at 300 degrees for about 2 hours.