We love a chewy oatmeal cookie. We don’t love that their flavor is often flat and their texture gummy—which is why we were intrigued by a recipe from the Southern Hemisphere with a different spin.

So-called Anzac biscuits are made from oats and coconut. Named for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, they were first popular during World War I, when they were sold to raise money for the war effort.

We liked the way the shredded coconut added texture without weighing down the cookie. We also liked that baking soda is added to the warm, wet ingredients, which activates it earlier, producing a lighter cookie.

With golden syrup, a sweetener not common here; honey and dark brown sugar were good stand-ins. To punch up the flavor, we added coffee and orange zest. And baking the cookies for just 10 minutes resulted in a pleasant chew even after cooling.