Sunday 12 January 2014

Afghan Biscuits

Months ago I bought a biscuit at a coffee shop in London. I took its photo & tweeted it, an act that as any woman can tell you, immediately nullifies all calories and is the only reason for doing it.

It's called an Afghan biscuit, traditional in New Zealand and popularised by the influential Noel Edmonds Cookery Book. Nobody knows why they are called Afghan biscuits or why Noel hasn't published his book in the UK. It contains no raising agent and not much sugar, giving it a soft dense texture, just on the right side of seeming slightly stale like a Tunnock's caramel wafer or a Twirl chocolate bar.

Yesterday out of nowhere I craved the same biscuit, googled the recipe & baked some. 


Here is the recipe:

makes 6 large biscuits or 12 small ones

For the biscuits:
200g softened unsalted butter (or dairy free margarine if you want a vegan version)
75g caster sugar
175g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
50g cornflakes

For the topping: 
60g double cream (or coconut milk if you want a vegan version)
120g dark chocolate
walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease an oven tray
Cream the butter and sugar, then add the flour and cocoa.
Add the cornflakes & try not to crush them too much
Place spoonfuls of the mix on the oven try and bake for about 15 minutes
Leave to cool

To make the topping, bring the cream to boiling point, them remove from heat.
Add the chocolate and stir.
Spoon some chocolate mix into each biscuit and place a whole walnut on top.

Enjoy!