Thursday, September 29

Sweet NZ....a Chocolate Biscuit by any other name.....




Let me start by saying I don’t know why this biscuit is called an Afghan. Extensive research (i.e. me surfing numerous websites when I should have been working) has proved fruitless, except that maybe Afghan rolls off the tongue a little easier than Yummy Chocolate Cornflake Biscuit with a Walnut on Top? Whatever you want to call them they are simply a great sweet treat.
Easy to whip up (I made these while cooking dinner), universally adored , they are like the sweet version of a sausage roll,you wont win prizes for originality, but sometimes originality is over rated. I'll have another biscuit while I think about it........

The homemade version is a million time better than brought, even the fancy ones. Such a simple recipe, but it does require a couple of things. Use real butter. Use good dark cocoa. Don’t use sweetened cornflakes.

Ok, enough of my bossiness, on with the show…..

This recipe is courtesy of the Edmonds Cookbook, I have tried others, but I like this one best

Afghan Biscuits
200gr butter, softened (I use unsalted, and add a pinch of salt)
75gr sugar
175gr plain flour
25 gr cocoa
50 gr cornflakes

Pre heat the oven to 180C/350F

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter & sugar until light & fluffy. I do this in my Kitchen Aid but a hand held beater also works fine..

With the beater speed on slow add the sifted flour & cocoa, and beat until combined.

Lastly add the cornflakes, beating in until they are just combined, but not crushed to nothing
Put teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto a greased baking tray & cook for 12-15 minutes. They will still be soft when you take them out of the oven, but crisp up on cooling.
Ice with the following mixture, and top with a walnut (obviously optional, but traditional) You may notice I have used Pecans instead, I still have no idea what I did with the bag of walnuts I thought I had in the freezer....

Icing
1 ½ cups icing sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
½ tsp butter
Boiling water

Mix together the icing sugar & cocoa. Pour approx ¼ cup of boiling water over your knob of butter & let melt. Add the water to the icing sugar cocoa mixture, stirring until you have a thick spreadable icing. The butter adds a slight sheen to the icing.

The result is quite short, with a slightly crumbly texture. The actual biscuit is not overly sweet, but the icing more than compensates. Two of my sisters also make Afghans, one makes a biscuity version, another a slightly more cake type variation, they actually had an “afghan off” to decide which was best. Really. Obviously I was Geneva in these proceedings, I actually think my version is the best, but we won’t tell them that……


This is my entry into Sweet NZ this month, which I am really happy with, cant wait to see what everyone else has entered:) Check out Alli over at Pease Pudding who is hosting this months event.


11 comments:

  1. I would/nt have a clue either about the name;)But those cookies are yummy as;)

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  2. I don't know about the name or history either, but great entry for Sweet New Zealand :-).

    Ciao
    Alessandra

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  3. I've just found your blog and I love it!
    I've been looking for a good afghan recipes so will definately be giving these a try.

    I did tell you

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  4. Yes, where on earth did that name come from? I think the pecan is a worthy substitute for walnuts, which are gorgeous but go bitter quickly. Taking part in an afghan-off sounds like great fun :)

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  5. Once, when I was working in a particularly uninteresting temping job, some workmates and I had a thing called 'afghan o'clock' which involved going around to a different cafe each time and sampling their afghans. Usually around 3pm, usually mid-week, when attention spans were flagging... anyway, we became quite the afghan connossieurs, and I can tell yours would've been well received! They look fantastic.

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  6. @milliemirepoix Thanks, sounds brilliant, def make the afternoon a bit more fun:)

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  7. @hungryandfrozen It might have been more fun if they were not quite so competative...?!

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  8. The afghans look fab and I agree Edmonds is best. Though do you find you always have to double the recipe as it requires quite a bit of quality control to make sure the mixture is quite right before the biccys are cooked! Sarah (Annie's friend)p.s. I love your blog

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  9. Thanks for sharing your recipe! Wussshuuu guess I found a new favorite!

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  10. Thank you for another essential article. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such a complete way of writing? I have a presentation incoming week, and I am on the lookout for such information.kitchens manchester

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