Anzac biscuits are undoubtedly an Aussie and NZ classic, and they're ridiculously easy to make - whether you're marking our National Day of Remembrance or you just want to bake something quick with ingredients you already have in your pantry.
While one might think the ultimate Aussie biscuit is the beloved Tim Tam, but it was the humble Jatz that took out this year's top spot. Click through to see them all.
Origins. The origin of Anzac biscuits is contested between Australia and New Zealand, similar to the dispute over pavlova. The actual recipe for the biscuit has been found long before the formation of the ANZAC Corps, and many of the first recipes for Anzac biscuits differ from the modern version.
The number one spot for Australia's most popular biscuit we easily give to Tim Tam because everyone who has any knowledge of Australia's culture knows that Tim Tams are a prototype of the country's sweet treats. This biscuit is beloved in Australia and is actually the world's most popular biscuit per capita.
In the case of Australian slang, words are clipped, and then a diminutive suffix is added to the clipped word. In this case, bikkie (the colloquial Australian word for a cookie), is clipped slang for biscuit (the British English word for a type of cookie), and it uses the -ie diminutive suffix.
Here in Australia (and as a hang-over from our UK forefathers) we seem to define 'biscuits' as smaller, crunchy, baked items to have alongside a hot cuppa, whereas a 'cookie' on the other hand, is typically larger with a softer, chewy middle.
The use of the word 'Anzac' in the commercial production and sale of Anzac biscuits is usually approved, however the biscuits must not substantially deviate from the generally accepted recipe and shape, and must be referred to as 'Anzac Biscuits' or 'Anzac Slice' (not 'Anzac Cookies').
He put the sweet snack in a Kodak photographic envelope complete with the original note, which stated ''Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912''. ''It is the world's most valuable biscuit,'' auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said.
Belvita is the most popular breakfast biscuit in the world, while the Oreo is the number one cookie. First sold 1912, the Oreo has become the world's top selling sandwich biscuit.
You've probably seen Parle G from your childhood to your children's, which is why it's not only the most popular biscuit brand in India but also the world, and its legacy is growing all the time. In our country, memories of pairing it with chai, milk, or even plain water make this biscuit an emotion.
The recipe for Anzacs is legally protected by the Australian and New Zealand governments, and Aussies and Kiwis alike seem to go up in arms (hopefully not literally) when their national recipe is tampered with, or when the biscuits are called 'cookies' (by pesky Americans, no doubt).
“Referring to these products as 'Anzac Cookies' is generally not approved, due to the non-Australian overtones,” the guidelines state. The Department says on its website: “No person may use the word Anzac, or any word resembling it in connection with any trade, business, calling or profession.”
A point of interest is the lack of eggs to bind the ANZAC biscuit mixture together. Because of the war, many of the poultry farmers had joined the services, thus eggs were scarce. The binding agent for the biscuits was golden syrup or treacle.
Tim Tam went on the market in 1964. They were named by Ross Arnott, who attended the 1958 Kentucky Derby and decided that the name of the winning horse, Tim Tam, was perfect for a planned new line of biscuits.
The case was settled out of court. Pepperidge Farm, a sister company of Arnott's, began importing the Tim Tam to the United States in 2008. The Tim Tams are still “Made in Australia” and packaging in the US bears the slogan “Australia's Favorite Cookie.” (“Cookie” being the American word for a biscuit.)
Digestives, malted milks and Maryland cookies are among the least favoured biscuits. There's a resounding theme emerging here, and it's that these biscuits are plain AF, which is probably why they didn't hit it off with our impassioned biscuit munchers – all gaining just one vote each.
Pizzelle, also known as Italian wafer cookies, in The Complete Collection of Biscuit Types are the oldest known biscuits. Pizzelles are the oldest known cookie and originated in the mid-section of Italy.
Explanation: British biscuit consumption is the highest in the world, higher than all major European countries and even 35 per cent higher than the US. Biscuits are bought by 27 million households and eaten on 6 billion occasions a year.
Iced biscuits contain the most amount of sugar at 43.5g per 100g, and shortbread had the least at 17.5g per 100g. The average calorie content of 100g of biscuit was 484 kcal. The Fox's range of biscuits had the highest level of calorie content.
The Earliest Evidence
The Romans certainly had a form of biscuit, what we'd now call a rusk and, as the name suggests, it was essentially bread which was re-baked to make it crisp. It kept for longer than plain bread, and was useful for travellers and soldiers' rations.
“The Anzac biscuit recipe evolved in both countries around the same time. While New Zealand may have the first published recipe in a cookery book, recipes often take a few years to filter into published books.”
Ms Reynolds has traced the first printed 'Anzac biscuit' recipe to a 1917 Australian publication called the War Chest Cookery Book.
In reality, the biscuits were more often made at home to sell for fundraising, or to serve at fetes and other events held to raise money for the war effort, and it's this connection between the biscuits and the war that led to the use of the name “Anzacs”.