An Afghan is a traditional

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

biscuit made from flour,

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

cornflakes Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). The cereal, originally made with wheat, was created by Will Kellogg in 1894 for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked with his broth ...

, sugar and cocoa powder, topped with

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

icing and a half

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

. The recipe has a high proportion of butter, and relatively low sugar, and no

leavening In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...

(rising agent), giving it a soft, dense and rich texture, with crunchiness from the cornflakes, rather than from a high sugar content. The high butter content gives a soft melt-in-the-mouth texture, and the sweetness of the icing offsets the low sugar and the cocoa bitterness.

Name

Despite its name, the biscuit's place of origin is thought to be

. A recipe in ''

The Timaru Herald ''The Timaru Herald'' is a daily provincial newspaper serving the Timaru, South Canterbury and North Otago districts of New Zealand. The current audited daily circulation is about 14,500 copies, with a readership of about 31,000 people. The pap ...

'' for "Afghans" (minus the icing and walnut) dates from 1934, and an otherwise identical "Chocolate Cornflakes" biscuit recipe, complete with icing and walnut, was in the same publication of the previous year. There are many theories in circulation about the origin of the name "Afghan", ranging from the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession d ...

to the biscuit's texture and colour being likened to the landscape of Afghanistan, while one theory suggests it was named after the traditional Afghan hat, the

pakol Pakol ( khw, پاکول, scl, پاکول, ps, پکول ur, ) is a soft, flat, rolled-up, round-topped men's cap, usually worn in northern South Asia. It is typically made of wool and found in a variety of earthy colours, such as brown, black ...

. In the wake of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...

, the manufacturer of the biscuit,

Griffin's Foods The Griffin's Foods Company is a New Zealand food company currently headquartered in Auckland and established by John Griffin as a flour and cocoa mill in the city of Nelson in 1864.Afghan people Afghans ( ps, افغانان, translit=afghanan; Persian/ prs, افغان ها, translit=afghānhā; Persian: افغانستانی, romanized: ''Afghanistani'') or Afghan people are nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, or people with ancestry f ...

. Although they acknowledged "there are other theories in circulation", this caused a debate over the name. The decision came amidst a wave of name changes in New Zealand over foodstuffs with names deemed racist or otherwise culturally offensive by some. The biscuit was eventually renamed "Milk Chocolate Roughs" by Griffin's, which advertised the renaming with a new slogan: "Same bikkie. New name." However, the name "Afghan" is still the one used, and "rough" is not used by any other company nor in the public lexicon. The name change was considered unnecessary by consumers.

Ingredients and recipe

According to the ''

Edmonds Cookery Book The ''Edmonds Cookery Book'' is a recipe book focusing on traditional New Zealand cuisine. It was first published as ''The Sure to Rise Cookery Book'' in 1908 as a marketing tool by baking powder manufacturer Thomas Edmonds (today part of Goodm ...

'', a batch of 24 afghans is made by combining butter, white sugar, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, and cornflakes. Tablespoon-sized balls of the mixture are formed, placed on a greased baking tray, and baked at for around 15 minutes. Once the biscuts are cooled, they are iced with chocolate icing and the half-walnut placed on top. The Edmonds recipe has changed over the years; for example, the 24th De Luxe (1987) edition of the cookbook only called for of sugar. Some variations on the recipe exist; crushed

Weet-Bix Weet-Bix is a whole-grain wheat breakfast cereal created and manufactured in Australia and New Zealand by the Sanitarium Health Food Company, and in South Africa by Bokomo. History Weet-Bix was developed by Bennison Osborne in Sydney, Aus ...

may be substituted for cornflakes, for instance.

References

External links

"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so I'm baking President Bush some ANZAC biscuits."
Cartoon. Source
Tiaki, Alexander Turnbull Library

"I've been told Anzacs go very well with Afghans".
Cartoon. Source
Tiaki, Alexander Turnbull Library
{{Chocolate Biscuits Australian cuisine Types of food New Zealand cuisine New Zealand desserts New Zealand snack foods Chocolate desserts Biscuit brands

Name

Ingredients and recipe

See also

References

External links