Afghan biscuit

An Afghan biscuit is a traditional New Zealand[1][2][3] biscuit made from flour, butter, cornflakes, sugar and cocoa powder, topped with chocolate icing and a half walnut. The recipe[4] has a high proportion of butter, and relatively low sugar, and no leavening (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.

Afghan biscuit
TypeBiscuit
Place of originNew Zealand
Main ingredientsflour, butter, sugar, cornflakes, Cocoa powder, chocolate icing, walnut

Name

The recipe's place of origin is thought to be New Zealand. There are many theories in circulation about the origin of the name "Afghan biscuit", ranging from the First Anglo-Afghan War to the biscuit's texture being likened to the landscape of Afghanistan.[5][6]

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, the manufacturer Griffin's Foods announced in June 2020 that they would rename the product, due to controversy over its name being a possible reference to the 19th century Anglo-Afghan Wars.[7][8] Later that year, the product was rebranded as "Roughs".[9]

Ingredients

Ingredients typically include flour, sugar, butter, cornflakes (or crushed Weet-Bix, or large rolled oats etc.), cocoa powder and walnuts.

See also

References
  1. Timothy G. Roufs, ed. (2014). Sweet Treats around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  2. "Afghan Biscuits, Isle of Capri Tomatoes and Broken Heart Gin". Asia Sentinel. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. Tran, Mark (7 July 2016). "From bovver to budgie smugglers: the latest entries to the OED". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  4. p.18, Edmonds Cookery Book, De Luxe Edition, Edmonds Food Industries Ltd. 1955
  5. Bilton, Jan (16 June 2011). "Kiwiana bakes". Stuff. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  6. "The Cherished Kiwi Cookie With a Mysterious Past". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  7. "More NZ treats renamed over racist overtones". Otago Daily Times Online News. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  8. "New Zealand treats renamed over racist overtones". RNZ. 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  9. Griffin's: Our Biscuits at the Wayback Machine (archived 2020-10-16)
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