Brown Butter and Sea Salt Anzac Biscuits
Anzacs with deeper flavour: nutty browned butter and toasted coconut, a short rest for extra chew, and a few flakes of sea salt on top.
Method
Put the coconut in a dry 18 cm frying pan over medium-low heat and stir constantly for , until light golden and smelling nutty, then tip it straight into a large bowl. Left in the pan, it keeps cooking and burns quickly.
Add in this stepDesiccated coconut 20 g
medium-low heatAdd the oats, flour, brown sugar and fine salt to the coconut and mix well, squashing any lumps of sugar.
Add in this stepRolled oats 30 gPlain flour 50 gBrown sugar 60 gFine salt 1 pinch
Melt the butter in a light-coloured 16 cm saucepan over medium heat. Keep swirling the pan for : the butter foams, then the milk solids on the bottom turn hazelnut brown and it smells of toasted nuts. Take it off the heat at that moment. If it turns black and bitter, start again.
Add in this stepUnsalted butter 45 g
medium heatStir the golden syrup and vanilla into the hot brown butter. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the boiling water in a cup, pour it in and stir: it will foam up high and turn a pale caramel colour.
Add in this stepGolden syrup 2 tspVanilla extract ¼ tspBicarbonate of soda (baking soda) ¼ tspBoiling water 1 tsp
While it is still foaming, pour it over the dry ingredients, mix well, cover and rest for . The oats soak up the butter and syrup, so the biscuits are chewier and spread less. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160°C (fan-forced; 180 °C conventional) and line a tray with baking paper.
ovenWeigh the dough into 25 g portions and roll 8 balls. Set them 6 cm apart, press each to 1.5 cm thick and press a few flakes of sea salt onto the tops. Equal weights mean they all bake evenly in the same time.
Add in this stepFlaky sea salt 2 pinch
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for , one tray at a time (1 tray(s) in total), turning the tray around halfway. They are ready when the edges are deep golden and the centres have only just set.
ovenHot biscuits break easily, so cool them on the tray for before moving them to a wire rack.
Cook's tip
Browned butter turns from brown to burnt in about 30 seconds, so do not walk away, and use a light pan so you can see the colour. They keep for a week in an airtight tin, and the brown-butter flavour is best the next day.
Cooking it at camp
You can brown the butter on a camp stove, but with the resting and baking it is more reliable to bake at home and bring them. To bake at camp, use a paper-lined cast-iron Dutch oven, 4 or 5 at a time over low heat with a few coals on the lid for 13 to 16 minutes, checking the bottoms often.