ANZAC biscuits with milo and white chocolate

I didn't have the energy for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service this year so instead I baked bread and ate a fresh loaf with butter and honey at a friend's house.  Then I left Sylvia there to play with the kids while I went grocery shopping.  I wheeled my trolley around the aisles, laughing at all the Aussie products on prominent display: ANZAC biscuits, Tim Tams, BBQ shapes.  Then I fell for the patriotic hype anyway and purchased a tin of milo to make a quirky take on the traditional ANZAC biscuits.

I must remember not to add choc chips to ANZAC biscuits.  When you add the hot butter and golden syrup mixture the choc chips melt.  I've done that before.  I took out a little flour to compensate for the milo but it make the biscuits flatter and crispier.  Especially the first batch.  I left them in too long (12 minutes).  They spread so much that they came out of the oven as one big biscuit.  I spaced the second batch (in the photos) far more generously.  I took them out earlier (8-9 minutes).  They had more chew than crunch.  However I have changed the flour back to 1 cup rather than the 3/4 cup I used as I want them less flat next time. 

I really liked these biscuits.  They weren't really chocolatey but I liked the little extra flavour and the occasionally marbling from the white choc chips.  (Milo is quite a mild chocolate malt powder and doesn't add heaps of flavour.)  Just don't tell the traditionalists that I messed with their recipe.  I don't want them to throw me in prison before I have a chance to experiment more.

I am sending these bikkies to Choclette for We Should Cocoa.

More patriotic Aussie baking from Green Gourmet Giraffe:
ANZAC biscuits with cranberries and chocolate
Cheeseymite scones
Damper (v)
Lamingtons
Marshmallow weetbix slice
Pumpkin scones 

And for more, go to my list of Aussie recipes

Milo and white chocolate ANZAC Biscuits
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe
Makes about 36 biscuits

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour (I used half wholemeal)
1 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milo
3/4 cup white choc chips
1 desstertspoon cocoa

125g butter (I used Nuttalex margarine), chopped
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp boiling water

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Melt the butter and golden syrup together in a small saucepan. When melted take off the heat. Mix the hot water and bicarb in a separate bowl and add to the golden syrup mixture. Mix and watch it froth up.

Once it is frothing, pour the golden syrup mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Roll into walnut sized balls and press down slightly with a fork on a lined baking tray.  Leave plenty of room around them as they will spread quite a lot.

Bake in 160 C oven for about 10 minutes. (Or 6-7 minutes at 180 C).  Your nose will tell you when they are cooked. Leave to cool on tray for 5-10 minutes because they are really really soft but will firm up.  Cool on a wire rack.

On the stereo: 
Molly: Do Yourself a Favour: soundtrack to the television series