With ANZAC Day drawing near, its time to unveil a slice of culinary history: the genuine ANZAC biscuits provided to soldiers as part of their rations. These aren’t the familiar treats we enjoy today or the ones sent from home; rather, they’re the sturdy hardtack biscuits that have sustained troops throughout centuries of warfare.
Australian War Memorial Collection
Hardtack, also known as ‘Ship’s Biscuits’ or ‘Sea Biscuits,’ has been a staple in military diets, made simply with water, flour, and salt. Despite their basic ingredients, these biscuits could last for years if kept dry, though they were prone to mold and weevil infestation. The Australian Defence Force dubbed their version ANZAC Wafers or ANZAC Tiles, maintaining the traditional recipe that had nourished troops for generations.
Remarkably durable, hardtack biscuits from the First World War era are preserved in the Australian War Memorial’s collection. These biscuits served not only as sustenance but also as mediums for creativity. Their texture and toughness allowed soldiers to inscribe messages on them, sending heartfelt sentiments to their families, friends, and loved ones over long distances.
Ingredients sufficient for six biscuits
- 200 gm/1.5cups/300 mls flour
- 400 gm/3 cups/600 mls wholemeal flour
- 40 gm/5 tbls sugar
- 20 gm/3 tbls milk powder
- 1.5 gm/good pinch salt
- 220 mls water
Use self-raising flours. If self-raising flours are not available, sieve 10 grams of baking powder together with plain flour before adding other ingredients.
Method
Place flour, sugar, and milk powder in a large bowl and blend with finger tips. Form into pile and scoop out a hole (well) in the centre. Add all of the water in which the salt has been dissolved. Thoroughly work the flour from the inside of the well into the water until the whole is a mass of lumps of flour and water. Once the dough is formed, transfer it to a table top or pastry board. The dough should now be torn apart, rubbed into balls, and thrown together, and the
process repeated until the mass is well mixed and in the form of a hard dough. The dough is then rested for about half an hour. Now roll the dough in 8 mm–thick sheets using a rolling pin and two 8–mm thick guides (wooden slats are ideal), the dough being rolled down between the two guides until the rolling pin rests on the guides during each traverse.
The rolled sheet of dough is then cut into 90 mm squares, preferably by pressing with the edge of a steel rule rather than slicing with a knife. The pressing action helps to join the top and bottom surfaces and will improve the lift on baking. A cardboard square, 90 mm on each side, can be used as a pattern to ensure uniformity in your tiles.
Next, the biscuit squares should be docked by having a regular horizontal and vertical pattern of holes pushed into them at about 18 mm spaces with a flat-ended pin or rod. Push it in until it bottoms, twist slightly, and then withdraw. Repeat at the next position. Each biscuit should have five vertical and five horizontal rows of docker holes, 25 holes in all. There are those at the Memorial who argue for 49 holes (7 x 7) as the authentic number of docker holes. Place on a lightly greased steel baking sheet, with the biscuits about 6 mm apart, and form a wall around the load with scrap dough to avoid burning the edges of the biscuits. Bake at about 200 degrees centigrade for 30 to 40 minutes on a low shelf in the oven. Take care not to burn them. To achieve a suitable hardness in your biscuits, store for a time in an air-tight container.
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MORUYA and District Historical Society Blog 
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