ANZAC biscuits (gluten & dairy-free)

With ANZAC Day fast approaching on Wednesday, it's a good time to remind everyone that oats - the main staple in Anzac biscuits, are NOT classified as gluten-free or Coeliac friendly. Under the Australian Food Standards they cannot be labelled as gluten-free as gluten is actually a composite name for proteins found in wheat, rye, barely & oats. This covers:

* Gliadin in wheat
* Hordein in barley
* Secalin in rye
* Avenin in oats

All of the Coeliacs in my family react to oats. Even if there are no outward reactive symptoms after eating oats, it may still be causing issues internally. (See Coeliac Australia's Position Statement on Oats)

So, all that means is I had to find an alternative.

I've tried rice flakes, and while they worked ok, they were a little hard and chewy, and not overly palatable. And then a friend introduced me to quinoa (well before it became a 'superfood' lol), and it was an almost perfect substitute for oats in our much loved Anzac biscuits. It took a few years of tweaking to get this far, but a batch never lasts very long around here, particularly if I add dairy-free chocolate chips!

ANZAC biscuits (Gluten & dairy-free)

Makes approx. 40 biscuits

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa flakes
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup brown rice flour
½ cup sugar *
125g Nuttelex dairy-free margarine
2 tbsp golden syrup
1tsp bi-carb soda

Instructions:

1.       Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (or 160°C for fan-forced oven)
2.       Line 2-3 trays with baking paper. 
3.       Combine quinoa, coconut, flour and sugar in a large bowl. 
4.       In a microwave safe jug, combine Nuttelex and golden syrup. Microwave on high in 30 second bursts until the margarine is melted. 
5.       Quickly add the bi-carb to the margarine & syrup mixture, stirring quickly. It will “fizz” up (this is the kid’s favourite part). 
6.       Add margarine mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. 
7.       Place ½ tablespoon sized balls of mixture onto prepared trays, allowing room for spreading. Flatten slightly if you wish. 
8.       Bake for 15-16 minutes. 
9.       Let the biscuits cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

* Different types of sugar will get different results. White caster sugar will give you a crisp biscuit whereas brown sugar will give you a darker, slightly chewier result.

Chocolate chips – you can add dairy-free chocolate chips (we use Sweet William brand). But you will need to cool the mixture in the fridge for about 10 minutes after adding the warm margarine mixture or else the chocolate will melt before you get it in the oven.

Also note: Australian measurements are used:

Cup	Metric	Spoon	Metric
¼ cup	60ml	¼ teaspoon	1.25ml
1/3 cup	80ml	½ teaspoon	2.5ml
½ cup	125ml	1 teaspoon	5ml
1 cup	250ml	2 teaspoons	10ml
		1 tablespoon (2 teaspoon)	20ml