These “biscuits,” popular in Australia and New Zealand, are soft and chewy in the middle with crisp edges. They are packed with oats, coconut and in this case tart dried cherries. Some recipes call for cranberries, hence the name Cranzac biscuits. Others call for sultanas (golden raisins), and many omit dried fruit. The three things they all seem to have in common are oats, coconut, and Golden Syrup. I first learned of these delightful cookies via David Lebovitz’s blog. David’s explanation of how wonderful these cookies are, convinced me to order some Golden Syrup from Amazon so that I could make these as quickly as my order arrived. And I did, two days in a row.
Lyle’s Golden Syrup (also known as “light treacle”) is made from cane sugar and has a wonderful caramel flavor. It is quite thick and sticky. I used sweetened coconut flakes the first time I made the cookies (biscuits) since that was all I had on hand. They tasted great. But I wanted to try the recipe with unsweetened coconut so I bought a small bag at our local health food market. I found that the coconut flavor really shines when using the unsweetened version. So for a more detectable and bright flavor, use unsweetened shredded coconut.
These tasty cherries are good addition to one’s pantry. They are a nice snack served with nuts and cheese or baked in cream cheese scones.
After baking two batches of these cookies I had a lot to share with family and friends. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed them.
- ⅓ cup (35g) old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup packed (100g) dark brown sugar
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (88g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ c (30g) unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (55g) tart dried cherries
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1½ tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons (30g) Earth Balance Buttery Sticks melted (or regular butter)
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) Lyle's Golden Syrup
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees with oven rack positioned in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, flour, coconut, dried cherries, baking soda, and salt. Add the water, melted Buttery Sticks and golden syrup. Stir until everything is well combined.
- Shape dough into 14 small balls and place them evenly spaced apart (about 1") on the baking sheet. Use your hand to slightly flatten each ball so they are about half as high as they originally were.
- Bake cookies, rotating the baking sheet half way through, until the cookies are lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.
