Afghan biscuits

Ingredients

• Butter — softened200 g
• Sugar100 g
• Flour180 g
• Cocoa powder30 g
• Cornflakes60 g
• Icing sugar200 g
• Cocoa for the icing20 g
• Hot water3 tbsp
• Walnut halves16
• Salt1 pinch

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Beat the softened butter with the sugar until pale, about four minutes.

   6 min

2. 2

   Sift the flour with the cocoa and salt and fold it in with a spatula to an even dough.

   6 min

3. 3

   Add the cornflakes and fold them through in one movement, trying not to break them.

   3 min

4. 4

   Drop the dough onto a tray by the spoonful and press each one down lightly.

   8 min

5. 5

   Bake at 180 °C for eighteen minutes; the biscuits stay soft to the touch and firm up as they cool.

   20 min

6. 6

   Cool them completely on the tray, without trying to lift them hot.

   25 min

7. 7

   Whisk the icing sugar with the cocoa and hot water into a thick icing, coat the biscuits and press a walnut half into each.

   12 min

About the dish

The cornflakes are folded in last and in one movement. Every extra stir crushes them to crumbs and the texture they are there for disappears.

There are no eggs and no raising agent in the dough. The biscuit stays dense and does not rise — that is its defining feature rather than a flaw in the recipe.

The name has nothing to do with Afghanistan, and no convincing explanation exists. The biscuit appeared in New Zealand cookbooks in the 1930s already under it.

Worth knowing

• — The biscuits should not spread. If the dough is too soft, chill it twenty minutes before spooning it out.
• — The icing goes onto completely cold biscuits. On warm ones it runs off and never sets.
• — Press the walnut in immediately after icing. A minute later the surface dries and the nut will not stick.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

240 kcal

Protein

3 g

Fat

13 g

Carbs

29 g

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