ANZAC Day (25th April) is a nationwide day of commemoration for Australians and New Zealander's of the lives lost at war, especially the ANZAC’s (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp) of WWI.

The sweet ANZAC biscuits that we know and love today, originating from World War I, are in fact a derivative of the hard-tack soldier’s biscuit that was consumed in the battlefields (which is commonly confused) . They are thought to have been carefully created by a team of women on the home-front who were searching for a solution to a biscuit that could be easily transportable to their men on the front line in care/comfort packs. The sweeter and more palatable biscuit recipe It was important that the biscuits and its carefully selected ingredients didn’t spoil in the long voyage, were readily available and delivered nutritionally, hence the inclusion of golden syrup and the exclusion of eggs and butter traditional used in biscuit cookery. The biscuits were then packed into tins, sometimes billy tea tins, to keep them airtight as is done with the Emu Bottom ANZAC Biscuits with Wattleseed.

It is also believed that the sweeter biscuit recipe is celebrated and shared as the ‘ANZAC biscuit’ due to the love and compassion from the home-front that is associated with them and the care packs they were and still are a part of today. To this day they represent more than a biscuit and a recipe as they are an iconic tradition that is passed down through the generations of Australians and New Zealanders, i.e. from mother to daughter as was done with ours, where the stories of our past are shared, and of the gentle reminder of the ANZAC legacy and spirit that is never to be forgotten – lest we forget.

For more information visit: www.awm.gov.au