An Afghan 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.^{[citation needed]}

Despite its name, the biscuit's place of origin is thought to be New Zealand. A recipe in The Timaru Herald for "Afghans" (minus the icing and walnut) dates from 1934,^[5] and an otherwise identical "Chocolate Cornflakes" biscuit recipe, complete with icing and walnut, was in the same publication of the previous year.^[6]

There are many theories in circulation about the origin of the name "Afghan", ranging from the First Anglo-Afghan War to the biscuit's texture and colour being likened to the landscape of Afghanistan, ^[7][8] while one theory suggests it was named after the traditional Afghan hat, the pakol.^[9][10][11] In the wake of the George Floyd protests, the manufacturer of the commercially produced version of biscuit, Griffin's Foods announced in June 2020 that they would rename the product. In a statement issued by the company, it noted that the name of the biscuit was possibly a reference to the colour of "Afghan brown", which could possibly reference the dark skin of Afghan people. 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.^[12] The biscuit was eventually renamed "Milk Chocolate Roughs" by Griffin's, which advertised the renaming with a new slogan: "Same bikkie. New name."^[13] However, the name "Afghan" is still the one used by other companies.^[14]

According to the Edmonds Cookery Book, a batch of 24 afghans is made by combining 200 g (7 oz) butter, 115 g (4 oz) white sugar, 160 g (6 oz) all-purpose flour, 25 g (1 oz) cocoa powder, and 50 g (2 oz) cornflakes.^[15][16] Tablespoon-sized balls of the mixture are formed, placed on a greased baking tray, and baked at 180 °C (360 °F) for around 15 minutes. Once the biscuits are cooled, they are iced with chocolate icing and the half-walnut placed on top.^[15] The Edmonds recipe has changed over the years; for example, the 24th De Luxe (1987) edition of the cookbook only called for 75 g (3 oz) of sugar.^[17]

Some variations on the recipe exist; crushed Weet-Bix may be substituted for cornflakes, for instance.^[18][19]

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