An Auckland company has produced what’s believed to be the country’s first commercially available gluten-free Anzac biscuit.
Kea Cookies, based in St Johns, had been striving to perfect a gluten-free version of the beloved treat for several years.
Success finally came with the arrival of new head baker Lucy Alexander, with a fresh perspective leading to a biscuit breakthrough.
“I said, ‘we’ve been trying for a couple of years and can’t quite get it right’,” said factory manager Julie Shew.
“She thought about it, substituted ingredients from one of our other recipes, and played around with it until she got it spot on.”
Alexander said it took around five different trials to nail the perfect texture and flavour for the gluten-free treats.
The key challenge was reimagining the traditional biscuit without its key ingredient, as oats contained gluten, she said.
“In the original Anzac recipe, it’s obviously mainly oats and coconuts, but we can’t use oats because they contain gluten, so it’s been substituted with rice flakes and coconut.”
The resulting bickie was crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and safe for those with gluten intolerances.
“It’s nice for people to enjoy Anzac biscuits when they usually can’t because they contain gluten,” Alexander said.
The biscuits were available at the factory shop in St Johns, via the company’s website, and at select FreshChoice supermarkets in Auckland and the South Island.
Shew said Auckland Council had purchased some for Anzac Day commemoration events at RSAs and that New Zealand Blood use Kea Cookies to give to people who have donated blood.
“We haven’t quite decided if we’ll do [the gluten-free Anzac biscuit] as a one-off or whether we’ll keep it going.”
