Benne Seed Wafers

Benne seeds are another name for sesame seeds, so these are essentially very VERY thin cookies made of sesame seeds, butter, and flour.

The tradition for these delicate cookies goes back a long time. They're a staple from low-country South Carolina, where they originated back when plantations were in vogue, and they're still remarkably good and remarkably addictive. My mother found this recipe, and we've been making it for years. A single batch makes over a hundred cookies, but I can guarantee that you'll want to make two or more batches. These cookies are the ultimate example of "bet you can't eat just one"!



Benne Seed Wafers

½ cup sesame (benne) seeds *
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
1¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Start by toasting the sesame seeds in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring often, 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Keep a close eye out, because sesame seeds burn in an instant, and the border between lightly toasted and burned is probably much finer than you'd think. (If you buy toasted seeds to begin with, omit this step. Honestly, buying toasted seeds is often both the easiest and cheapest solution here.)

Okay, once that's done, beat the butter at medium speed with electric mixer until creamy; gradually add the sugar, beating well all the while. Stir in sesame seeds, egg, and vanilla.You should end up with a creamy, sesame-seedy mixture that's quite a bit stiffer than icing, but the important bit is that the seeds are evenly distributed.

Next, combine the flour and the remaining three dry ingredients in a separate bowl; once those are stirred together homogenously, mix them gradually into the butter mixture. Cover the resulting dough, and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Two or more hours is better.

Shape the batter into ½-inch balls using floured palms, then place on a greased (or parchment-lined) cookie sheet. Flatten to 1/16-inch thickness with a floured, flat-bottomed glass. (These cookies do not spread or rise at all, so you can put them pretty close together.)

Bake at 325ᵒ for 8-10 minutes or until barely browned (No really. VERY barely browned.) For this cookie, the quality of the cookie sheet is VERY important, even if you're using parchment to line your cookie sheets. I've had the best results with a dark non-stick sheet that I'd also greased very heavily (read: scrub Crisco over it until it's practically dripping; seriously do not skimp on the grease even if the cookie sheet is 'non-stick'). Pans that aren't non-stick, or are lightly-weighted, may require a whole bunch less cooking time. For a silver cooking sheet (as opposed to a dark one) that isn't non-stick and was fairly light weight, the cooking time on these should be cut from 10 min to 7.5 min in my oven. Your oven may differ and could require even less time, but my point is that the make-up of the sheet makes a big difference in cooking time, and it's easy to over-do these cookies. Cooking sheets make a HUGE difference here, so watch your cookies the first time they go in, and take them out as soon as they appear to start browning.

Transfer done cookies immediately to wire racks to cool, do not pass go, do not collect $200. The faster you get these cookies off the sheet, the easier time you'll have. It is very urgent that you transfer them to cooling racks immediately, otherwise they'll stick to the cookie sheets and it will be a whale of a time getting them free. So get them off as quickly as you can, and you'll avoid cracking the cookies in the transfer process.

Serves: about 10 dozen cookies. This will not serve as many people as you'd think. I would count the whole recipe as serving at most 4-6 adults. You read that right. These cookies are very thin, very fragile, and very addictive. Even a whole batch is probably not going to serve more than 6 adults.

*Very Important Note: sesame seeds are WAY less expensive in the Asian or Mexican food section of the grocery store than in the spice section. You can also buy them in bulk at natural food stores.