Chocolate Afghan Biscuits (2024)

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These Afghan Biscuits are crunchy, sweet and chocolatey. Made from corn flakes and topped with chocolate icing, it isn’t hard to see why these are such a classic in New Zealand!

Homemade Chocolate Afghan Biscuits

I’m almost certain everyone in New Zealand has tried an Afghan biscuit before, they’re a very popular home baked treat but you can also get them from most bakeries and cafes. This Afghan recipe has been adapted from the classic Edmonds cookbook with slightly more butter for a more delicious biscuit and a few other tweaks.

Afghan biscuits themselves are pretty dense, not too sweet and filled with crunchy corn flakes but top them with chocolate icing and you have this perfect match of crunchy chocolate biscuit and sweet decadent chocolate icing.

Afghan Biscuit History

The history of the Chocolate Afghan biscuits is a little hazy but it’s thought they were created around 1934 in NZ. Consisting of butter, sugar, flour and cocoa powder they’re a pretty simple biscuit, but topped with chocolate icing and of course a half walnut they become incredibly delicious.

There are a few theories as to the name Afghan, one being the texture of the cookies resemble the landscape in Afghanistan. It’s a pretty odd name choice.

Chocolate Afghan Biscuit Ingredients

Afghan Biscuits

225g / 1 Cup / 2 Sticks Butter –Make sure your butter is room temperature for this recipe, it makes it much easier to cream with the sugar.

100g / 1/2 Cup Sugar

160g / 1 1/4 Cups Flour

25g / 1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder –Try to find the best unsweetened high quality cocoa powder you can, the flavour is just so much better!

200g / 2 Cups Corn Flakes

Chocolate Icing

30g / 2 Tbsp Butter

125g / 1 Cup Icing Sugar

15g / 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

How to Make Afghan Biscuits

Wet Ingredients

In a medium sized mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer add in the butter and sugar. Cream these together with a hand mixer or a whisk for a few minutes until the light and fluffy. Make sure you are using room temperature butter here or it will be much harder to cream it with the sugar.

Dry Ingredients

Measure out the flour and cocoa powder and add these straight to the butter and sugar. If your cocoa powder is clumpy it’s best to sieve the dry ingredients first so it’s easier to mix.

Making the Dough

Fold the ingredients together with a wooden spoon or spatula until the flour is just about incorporated.

Add the corn flakes to the dough and fold them in gently, trying to not break them up as much as possible.

Baking the Afghans

Use a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop or a spoon to measure out the afghans and roll them into a ball. Place onto a lined baking tray and use the back of a spoon to press the afghans down. They will spread a small amount in the oven but this just gives them a head start. Make sure to leave space around each afghan so it has room to spread.

Bake the Afghans in a 180C / 350F oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool on the sheet for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Chocolate Icing

To make the chocolate icing in a medium sized mixing bowl add the icing sugar (powdered sugar), salt, cocoa powder and room temperature butter.

Pour in the boiling water and use a whisk to combine the ingredients together until smooth. You may need more water for a thinner consistency but add this very slowly so you don’t get stuck in the trap of more icing sugar, more water, more icing sugar.

Icing the Afghans

Add about a tablespoon of the chocolate icing to each of the afghan biscuits and spread it with the back of a spoon. Top each afghan with a walnut half and leave for 20-30 minutes for the icing to set.

Storing Afghan Biscuits

Store the afghan biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you would like to keep them longer they can be frozen. Just pull them out of the freezer and let them come up to room temperature before enjoying. They will still be crunchy and delicious!

Equipment for this Recipe

Digital Scales – digital scales are an easy way to measure ingredients! If you are used to using cup measurements give scales a go and I promise you’ll find it so much easier and more accurate!
Hand Mixer – You can use a hand mixer, stand mixer or a whisk for this recipe. A hand mixer or stand mixer makes creaming the butter and sugar together so much easier than doing it with a whisk.
Mixing Bowl – These are my favourite mixing bowls! Such good quality and so pretty.
Cookie Scoop – To make all the biscuits/cookies even a cookie scoop works so well!
Baking Sheet

More New Zealand Recipes

Pavlova
Bacon and Egg Pie
ANZAC Biscuits
Ginger Crunch
Tan Slice
Lolly Cake
Mince and Cheese Pies