Apparently, the history and original Anzac biscuit recipe is up for debate! Before they got their name, they were known as ‘Surprise Biscuits’, ‘Crispies’, ‘Red Cross Biscuits’ and ‘Soldiers Biscuits’. After the Australians landed on Gallipoli they became known as Anzac Biscuits.
The first mention of the Anzac biscuit was in June 1916 when The Sunday Times in Perth published a recipe for “Anzac Ginger Biscuits”. This recipe used oats, sugar, plain flour, melted butter, golden syrup, and bicarbonate of soda. Then the Country Women’s Association published another recipe in 1933, which had the same ingredients except for the new addition of coconut.