Afghan Cookies for #Food of the World

It seems like Super Tuesday today with 3 posts back to back. It's time for Food of the World monthly event and we are exploring the beautiful island country of New Zealand this month. I really had no clue what the food in New Zealand looks like. Even though it is one of the countries that I think I was very familiar -- blame it on the cricket matches I used to watch as a kid (they were quite a tough team to beat at the time).
So I googled and found out that New Zealand cuisine is largely based on local ingredients. Similar to it's neighboring country Australia, New Zealand cuisine is a diverse British based cuisine. Historical influences came from Maori culture, the indigenous polynesian people of NZ.
I narrowed by search down to Anzac biscuits, Afghan biscuits/ cookies and Hokey pokey ice cream, finally ended up making these Afghan cookies.
Name of these biscuits is quite interesting and has nothing to do with Afghanistan. I couldn't find the real story behind the name, but these are traditional New Zealand treat and are quite popular there. These cookies are easy to put together and are nutty, crunchy, chocolaty and delicious. They are made with cornflakes, cocoa powder, butter, sugar and flour. Then topped with some chocolate icing and a walnut.

Recipe from sbs.com:
Afghan Cookies Ingredients:

• ¾cup All purpose flour
• ½cup Wholewheat pastry flour (or just use 1¼cups all purpose flour)
• ½cup Sugar
• 10tbsp (1 stick+2tbsp) Unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1½cups Cornflakes (Kellogs brand works great)
• ¼cup Unsweetened Cocoa powder
• ½cup Confectioners Sugar
• 1tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa powder
• ¼tsp Salt
• As needed Walnut

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour(s), cocoa powder, salt and cornflakes and stir until combined. The mixture will look crumbly, but will hold shape when pressed together.
3. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll into a ball, flatten it slightly and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture, placing the cookies about 1" apart from each other.
4. Bake the cookies for 15~16 minutes or until firm. Remove onto a cooling rack and let the cookies cool completely.
5. Make the Icing: Combine confectioners sugar, cocoa powder and 1tbsp water until combined and forms a thick paste. Add 1tsp water at a time to make sure that the consistency is thick.
6. Immediately spread over the cooled cookies and place a walnut on top. Let the icing harden for a couple of minutes before eating.

Please visit our cohosts blogs and follow their sites!  Diane: http://www.simplelivingeating.com  Adelina: http://www.homemaidsimple.com  Shey: http://justnotthecakes.blogspot.com  Mireille: http://www.theschizochef.com/blog/ Usha: http://www.myspicykitchen.net Pavani: http://www.cookshideout.com
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