Monday, 26 January 2009

Afghan Biscuits


Description:
Taking advantage of the cooler weather I decided I felt like baking tonight. I had tracked down a favourite recipe a few days ago on the NZ Womans Weekly site.

They are dead easy to make!

Ingredients:
200g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1¼ cups flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1⅓ cups cornflakes
Chocolate icing, recipe follows
½ cup walnut halves, to decorate

Icing:
2 cups of icing (powdered) sugar
3 heaped tablespoons of cocoa
25 gms butter, melted
boiling water

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 180°C and line two baking trays with nonstick baking paper.

2. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until pale and creamy. Sift flour and cocoa powder over creamed mixture and stir to combine. Lastly, stir in cornflakes.

3. Place tablespoonfuls of mixture on prepared baking trays. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

4. Combine icing ingredients, adding a little boiling water at a time until your mixture is a good consistency to spread, but not too runny. If you do add too much water then just add a little more icing sugar until you correct it. Ice the cold biscuits with chocolate icing and decorate with a walnut half.

Note: To convert ingredients and/or cooking temperatures go to :
http://www.onlineconversion.com/

17 comments:

  1. Mmmmmmmmmmm I'm having one right now amd they are very yummy lol

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  2. These look well fattening, oh btw why do they call them Afghan?

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  3. I love chocolate, those do look yummy !

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  4. Have you recovered yet you stonehead?

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  5. Lol I wish they did have hashish in them, I might have aced that quiz!


    Alli, I found this explanation on a web site called "the Cookie Tin"

    In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Alice Springs in the centre of Australia relied on camel trains to supply it's needs. There was none but rudimentary road and no railway. Alice Springs was an important telegraph relay station. Camels (Dromidary single humped) were imported of course from the Middle Eastern countries. Many camel drivers were imported also. They came from both Afghanistan and Pakistan but were all called "Ghans" short for Afghan. The trainhat runs between Adelaide in South Australia and Alice Springs is also called The Ghan in memory of those drivers. In the 1940s a cook book called "The Edmonds Cook Book" was published. It was a very popular book throughout Australia and New Zealand. One of it's recipes was a biscuit (cookie) called "Afghans". An afghan cookie was a thickish chocolate cookie base onto which a rich dark chocolate icing was spread just over the top of the base. On top of this dark chocolate icing a half walnut kernel was placed. I never questioned why they called afghans, afghans until I learned about the Ghans. The cookie base is the dark tanned body. The dark chocolate icing the darker hair. And the walnut kernel was the turban.

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  6. OMG I made racist cookies!

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  7. Looks just like a Taleban now you mention it...

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  8. Thanks for explaining the name,should have read the recipe properly lol, Walnuts (im allergic to!).

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  9. You can make them without, I didn't top with the walnuts because Lee doesn't like them

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  10. Ok now this sounds good... I'm printing this recipe.... If it turns out good I'll let you know, if it turns out bad I'll tell everyone YOU gave me the recipe. LOL

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  11. It's finely ground sugar, in some parts of the world it is sold under the name "superfine sugar"

    You can substitute with regular sugar, but not normally with powdered confectioners sugar (icing sugar)

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