Hemp Seed Anzac Biscuits (Paleo, Gluten-free)

Made with protein-rich, healthy fats filled hemp seeds, these paleo Anzac biscuits are as good as the originals minus the grains and dairy. Perfect as a nutritious treat or a snack! These are gluten-free, vegan-friendly.


Paleo Anzac Biscuits (gluten-free, grain-free)
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While I’m not a huge cookie eater, I do have a soft spot for Anzac biscuits. Slightly chewy, nutty and almost toffee tasting, the Anzac biscuits are very popular in Australia and New Zealand and are sometimes called the rolled oat biscuits.

Back in the day, these biscuits were used for fund-raising to support the military and are now commercially manufactured and enjoyed as an everyday cookie.

What’s In The Anzac Biscuits?

In a traditional recipe, the key ingredients in an Anzac biscuit are rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup, and desiccated coconut (optional). They’re pretty sweet and buttery, and certainly not something to be indulged in on a daily basis.

I wanted to make a slightly healthier version using paleo-friendly ingredients, including hemp seeds, which have a lovely nutty flavour and are full of fibre, plant-based protein and healthy fats. I thought they would work really well in place of oats and would give the biscuits a lovely texture too.

Paleo & Gluten-Free Hemp Seed Anzac Biscuits
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How To make Paleo Anzac Biscuits

You only need a handful of ingredients and less than 15 minutes in the oven, so these are great to whip up if you’re short on time and need something baked for guests or a party.

Paleo Anzac biscuits ingredients
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I like to use almond flakes for texture and flavour, but you can make a nut-free version with pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds instead. You can also reduce the amount of maple syrup used or replace it with honey or coconut syrup, although I think that the maple syrup will keep the flavour more true to the original.

Making paleo cookies with hemp seeds
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Do note, they still contain a fair bit of maple syrup (1/4 of a cup for the whole batch) and are a sweet treat, so consume mindfully. Having said that, there are worse things to eat, right?!?

Paleo cookies mixture
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Once you’ve mixed the dry and wet ingredients together, make sure to shape the biscuits into small circled and to leave enough space around each cookie on the baking sheet as they will spread out and flatten during baking.

Paleo biscuits recipes - Anzac cookies
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Let the biscuits cool slightly and then store in an air-tight container for up to a week.

Baked paleo biscuits with hemp seeds
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Finished product! These were lovely and crunchy on the outside with a slightly soft centre. The flavour was really lovely and quite similar to the real Anzac biscuits but not as sickly sweet. And of course, you get the health benefits of the hemp seeds!

Gluten free anzac biscuits with hemp seeds
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Full Recipe 

Find the full list of ingredients, instructions, and a nutritional breakdown below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments, and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.

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Gluten free anzac biscuits with hemp seeds
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Hemp Seed Anzac Biscuits (Paleo, Gluten-free)

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Author: Irena Macri
Servings: 10 biscuits
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: Australian
Print Pin Save
4.50 from 12 votes
Calories: 216kcal
These gluten-free, paleo Anzac biscuits are made with protein-rich hemps seeds, almonds and maple syrup for that unforgettable sweet and slightly chewy cookie experience.

Ingredients 

  • 1/2 cup hemp seeds I like this brand
  • 1/2 cup desiccated coconut unsweetened, like this
  • 1/2 cup almond flakes or silvered almonds
  • 1/2 cup cassava flour or tapioca flour, I like Otto's Cassava flour
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil melted
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup can be less

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 170 C / 335-338 F.
  • Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl: hemp seeds, coconut, almonds and cassava flour.
  • Add the melted coconut oil and maple syrup and mix through really well. The mixture should be thick and sticky.
  • Line a flat baking sheet with parchment/baking paper and grease with some coconut oil.
  • Shape the mixture into small, round biscuits and place on the sheet, allowing some space between each cookie. You can use a spoon and your hands (wetting them in between batches). When baking, the biscuits will spread and flatten, so they need that space around them.
  • Place in the oven, middle shelf, for 12 minutes. Keep an eye on them at a 10-minute mark, to make sure they don't burn. They should be golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the sheet for 5-10 minutes.
  • Store in an air-tight container for up to a week or so (longer in the fridge).

Nutrition

Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 52IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 2mg
Keywords: Cookies, Sweets, Anzac, Biscuits, Hemp Seed
Tried this recipe?Mention @cookedandloved or tag #cookedandloved

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Hemp Seed Anzac Biscuits (Paleo, Gluten-free, Vegan)
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Irena Macri
By Irena Macri

About the author: Hi, I’m Irena Macri. I share delicious recipes that I have cooked and loved. I am a published cookbook author, have been food blogging for over 10 years and have a Diploma in Nutrition. You will find many healthy recipes as well as my favourite comfort food. More about me here | Subscribe to my newsletter and freebies

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4.50 from 12 votes

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Comments

31 Comments
  1. Hi Irene, How do you get your recommended brand of Hemp seeds from Amazon if you are in Australia. Amozon does not ship to Australia.

    1. Hey Beryl,

      I am an Aussie but I actually live in London at the moment (well right now I am travelling in Spain) and I have 50% of my audience in the U.S. so Amazon is the easiest online link to provide (it also takes my UK and Canada readers to their country’s Amazon stores). I thought my Aussie readers would easily be able to Google where to get hemp seeds there, but I will find a link for my preferred store in down under and add it to the post. Appreciate your feedback!

  2. 5 stars
    These remind me of a type of tea cake made with sesame seeds in Asia. I have fond memory of them ! I can’t wait to try these biscuits ! YUM !

  3. 2 stars
    Seems like there is too much coconut oil in the recipe. I followed it to the letter and they were very oily and took 25 minutes to cook. Typo maybe?

    1. Just checked and the ingredients amounts and the timings are as I made them. I’ve seen pics of others making these and they turned out fine but troubleshooting it in my head …it could be that the oven temperatures can differ and sometimes people don’t preheat it enough before starting to bake…maybe that’s the cause? Mine would have been burnt after more than 15 minutes, so not sure what’s going on there. Oil wise, I didn’t think they were too oily, but it might be a personal preference as well. You could definitely try adding less, I was afraid they would come out too dry.

      1. 5 stars
        Sorry, didn’t realise it would automatically rate one star, delete the last comment please. I was just mentioning Lisa above may have used fractionated coconut oil which is liquid at room temperature. Looks tasty! Could I sub normal flour or coconut flour for the cassava/tapioca?

        1. Yes, you can definitely use any flour here. If using coconut flour, use less than stated as it’s pretty moisture hungry and might make things a little dry if used too much.

  4. So…okay. Okay, okay.

    Okay.

    *breathes*

    Okay.

    I’ve made three batches of this, two of which are variations, and I just…I…oh, sweet, merciful LORD. I’ve also eaten a good third of all three batches. Yeah. I’m not exaggerating.

    These are just…I was so surprised.

    So, the original recipe is DA BOMB DOT COM. I actually made really tiny tiny ones, and they were ADORABLE. I used sugar-free maple syrup and added a little pretentious crack of Himalayan salt, and I…oh, my. They blew me away! Truly! Crunchy-crispy on the outside, chunky-chewy on the inside. Truly wonderful.

    I also made two variants: cacao-orange and vanilla-goji. For the cacao orange, I replaced the shredded coconut with cacoa powder and 2 tsp chia seeds, added the zest and juice of a tangelo + orange, and swapped the almonds for hazelnuts.

    For the vanilla-goji, I replaced the almonds with goji berries and replaced the tapioca with vanilla protein powder.

    …I’m sorry, I hope this doesn’t look like I’m bellowing “OH LOOK HOW I IMPROVED THIS” because that’s not what I intended – I just got so enthusiastic with the original, and I was so completely surprised at the texture alone!

    Irena, as a fellow Aussie, let me just say, “Onya, tiger!”

    For everyone else, there’s Mastercar–I mean, GO MAKE THESE IMMEDIATELY! GO! GO GO GO! GO!

    p.s. Aussies looking for hemp seeds – ALDI! I’m serious!

    1. Thank you so much and I think you – hands down – win the best comment of the month award!!! I love all those variations too.

  5. 4 stars
    ALSO – anyone having issues with the amount of coconut oil in this – I found the same thing, and you can try two solutions – both worked for me.

    1. Refrigerate the dough BEFORE you roll out the cookies. Once you’ve baked them, as SOON as you take them out of the oven, plonk them straight onto a cooling rack that you’ve put paper towel over – the excess oil will absorb REALLY quickly into the paper towel (pro tip: also gently press some paper towel over the top)

    2. Reduce the amount of coconut oil to 1/4 cup, add a couple of tablespoons of milk of choice, AND up the tapioca by an extra tablespoon or so, OR a little protein powder.

    1. I would say yes but I am not sure how that might affect the texture. One main thing to consider is that coconut flour takes in a lot of the moisture so you need to use half the amount.

  6. Good morning. I just got this in my email and I’m intrigued! They look very good and I’m interested in trying them. Just a question…is there a substitute for the maple syrup? Splenda or Truvia or something like that? Thanks for your help!

    1. Hey Polly. The natural sweetener like maple syrup or honey gets sticky during baking and then hardens when cooled and it helps to keep the cookies together (that and the egg). I’ve not tried with artificial/zero-carb sugar replacements so not sure if they would bind the mixture during baking in the same way. You could try making a smaller batch and see how they turn out.

  7. 5 stars
    Hi Irena, I made these last year and they are delicious. Will be making them again for this ANZAC Day. Just to let you know that I just tried to print the recipe using your button and it came up with an error. Cheers Karen

  8. 4 stars
    Well, they were too crumbly to eat as a cookie. Fortunately, they make a great granola-like cereal with a bit of coconut yogurt. I am an experienced baker, and followed the recipe, using the cassava flour option. Okay, I did add 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Four stars for the wonderful flavor and crunch. Any suggestions for making these firmer? Thanks!

  9. 4 stars
    Delicious, though greasy and they spread out too much. I used tapioca flour, will try it again and use cassava flour instead and adjust the coconut oil. Perhaps it will give it more form.

  10. Is it possible to replace the cassava flour with a different type such as almond or coconut? I recently discovered that I seem to be sensitive to cassava/ tapioca and feel much better eliminating it from my diet. The recipe sounds delicious, and I would love to try it.

    1. Yes, you can add any other flour you like. I think coconut flour might make them a little dry so only add a small amount. You can also add regular gluten-free flour or quinoa flour. Almond meal should work too.

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