Vegan Anzac Biscuits
This recipe is a delicious dairy-free version of an Australian classic, from The Eczema Diet book. The recipe is vegan-friendly and contains less sugar and more wholemeal goodness than the conventional recipe. I'm not a big consumer of sweet foods but I love having an Anzac Biscuit with a cup of carob tea.
My mother makes these every time we visit her in Queensland. She is now 80 and she even uses spelt flour, which she keeps in the cupboard for when we visit.
The biscuits can be eaten at any time of the year, not just on Anzac day (on April 25th) and you don't have to be an eczema sufferer to enjoy them.
As as sugar is acid-forming in the body, I tend to negatively react to sugar. So when I bake sweet foods I add alkaline fine calcium powder to give the recipe acid-alkaline balance. I find I don't react to sugar when I have the calcium powder at the same time.
This is also a low salicylate recipe so it's ideal for people with skin inflammation such as eczema, dermatitis, TSW (red skin syndrome) and psoriasis.
Although this recipe is wheat-free, note that spelt and oats contain gluten. So if you are gluten intolerant you can use an alternative gluten-free flour and choose gluten-free oats. Enjoy!
Anzac Biscuits (Cookies)
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F).
- Line two baking trays with baking paper.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, spelt flour and maple sugar.
- Place a small saucepan over a high heat, then add the rice bran oil and maple syrup, and heat and mix until the syrup begins to bubble (ensure it does not burn). Promptly add the bicarbonate of soda and mix with a spoon until it foams.
- Quickly remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the hot foaming liquid onto the dry ingredients and mix well.
- The cookie dough should be slightly wet and stick when pressed into shape. If the mixture is too dry, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water and mix.
- Using a dessert spoon and your hands, form the dough into approximately 20 small balls (about 2cm/1 in wide) and place them on the trays (they will expand so allow room between the cookies).
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Note: If you cannot find maple sugar use organic sugar (ideally only use sugar for special occasions such as Anzac Day and birthdays, as sugar is highly acid-forming and not good for eczema). Raw sugar contains salicylates. Other alternatives include rice malt syrup which is the only alkalising sweetener.
Products
At Eczema Life, we recommend nutritionist Karen Fischer's low food chemical program (The Eczema Detox) along with additive-free supplements for skin health and wellbeing. Click on the images to view more details:
