Best 7 Benne Wafers Charlestons Classic Sesame Seed Cookies Recipes

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In the heart of Charleston, a delightful culinary gem awaits, the benne wafer. These classic sesame seed cookies embody the city's rich history and culinary traditions. As you venture into the realm of benne wafers, discover a delectable array of recipes that cater to every palate. Immerse yourself in the authentic taste of Charleston with traditional recipes that have been passed down through generations. Delight in variations that incorporate unique ingredients and modern twists, sure to tantalize your taste buds. From crispy and golden to soft and chewy, explore the diverse textures and flavors that make benne wafers so irresistible. Embark on a culinary journey through time and indulge in the timeless charm of this Charleston specialty.

Let's cook with our recipes!

BENNE WAFERS



Benne Wafers image

Provided by Kardea Brown

Categories     dessert

Time 45m

Yield 24 wafers

Number Of Ingredients 9

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup toasted sesame seeds
Nonstick cooking spray, for your hands

Steps:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter for about 30 second, so that it is even softer. Add the sugar, vanilla, salt, baking soda and egg and beat until just combined. Add the flour and mix until smooth. Stir in the sesame seeds.
  • Drop the dough by tablespoonful onto the baking sheets, making sure to leave at least an inch between the wafers for spreading. Spray your hands or a spatula with nonstick spray and press the cookies down to keep them from doming.
  • Bake until golden brown and starting to crisp on the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Allow the wafers to cool for 1 minute on the baking sheets, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

BENNE WAFERS (CHARLESTON'S CLASSIC SESAME SEED COOKIES)



Benne wafers (Charleston's Classic Sesame Seed Cookies) image

Benne wafers are traditional cookies from Charleston, SC made with benne (sesame) seeds. Bite-sized and crunchy, they make excellent tea cookies and are ideal for wedding or shower favors or Christmas gifts! This easy, old fashioned Southern recipe will give you that unique, traditional South Carolina Lowcountry flavor you're looking for!

Provided by Caroline Lindsey

Categories     Dessert

Time 40m

Number Of Ingredients 7

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar (firmly packed)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup benne or sesame seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • If using sesame seeds, rather than authentic benne seeds, toast seeds in dry skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until well mixed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Make it extra fluffy to add volume to the dough so you get the full number of cookies out of it! Add the eggs one at a time, beating well to combine after each egg.
  • Sift together flour and baking powder. Stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture. Stir in benne or sesame seeds and vanilla extract.
  • Drop dough by scant 1/2-teaspoons-full (I did a little less than 1/2 teaspoon to make them more bite-sized, since the dough spreads quite a bit) onto parchment paper about 1 inch apart. If desired, spoon dough into a ziplock bag and trim off the corner, or into a pastry bag, and pipe tiny amounts onto the parchment paper instead of using spoons.
  • Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove cookies onto a rack to cool.
  • Store in an airtight container or separate into baggies as gifts or favors.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 258 kcal, Carbohydrate 33 g, Protein 3 g, Fat 13 g, SaturatedFat 7 g, TransFat 1 g, Cholesterol 50 mg, Sodium 25 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 23 g, ServingSize 1 serving

BENNE WAFERS



Benne Wafers image

Since I live in the South people refer to these cookies as Benne Wafers, they are actually Sesame Seed Cookies. Toasting benne (sesame) seeds develops their flavor and also gives these cookies a slightly crunchy texture.

Provided by Holly

Categories     Desserts     Cookies     Drop Cookie Recipes

Yield 36

Number Of Ingredients 8

1 cup sesame seeds
¾ cup butter, melted
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder

Steps:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  • Place the benne (sesame) seeds on an ungreased baking sheet and toast for 10 to 12 minutes, until light brown. Watch closes so that they don 't burn.
  • In a large bowl mix the brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, egg, vanilla extract, flour, salt, baking powder and toasted sesame seeds together until combined.
  • Drop dough by 1/2 teaspoonfuls 1 1/2 inches apart onto a lightly greased baking sheet.
  • Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 4 to 6 minutes, until light brown. Let cookies cool for about 2 minutes before removing from baking sheets to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 106.7 calories, Carbohydrate 12.6 g, Cholesterol 15.3 mg, Fat 6 g, Fiber 0.6 g, Protein 1.3 g, SaturatedFat 2.8 g, Sodium 51.8 mg, Sugar 8.9 g

BENNE SEED WAFERS



Benne Seed Wafers image

Crisp, chewy, nutty and caramelized benne wafers (aka sesame seed cookies) are perfect for your holiday or Kwanzaa celebrations. For a more traditional type of cookie, leave them plain. If you feel like dressing them up, drizzle them with melted chocolate. Both ways are equally delicious. -April Wright, Whisk It Real Gud

Provided by Taste of Home

Categories     Desserts

Time 50m

Yield 8 dozen.

Number Of Ingredients 10

1 cup sesame seeds
1-1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/4 to 2-1/2 cups 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips
2 teaspoons shortening or coconut oil

Steps:

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Place sesame seeds on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until fragrant and lightly browned, 10-15 minutes; cool., Reduce oven temperature to 300°. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and butter until crumbly. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually beat into sugar mixture. Add cooled sesame seeds and stir to combine., Roll level teaspoons into balls. Place 2 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Reduce oven temperature to 275°; bake until set but still soft, 18-20 minutes. Cool on pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. , For optional chocolate drizzle, in a large microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate, uncovered, at 50% power until melted, stirring every 30 seconds, 1 to 1-1/2 minutes. Add shortening and stir until melted. Drizzle over cookies; let stand until set.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 32 calories, Fat 2g fat (1g saturated fat), Cholesterol 4mg cholesterol, Sodium 9mg sodium, Carbohydrate 4g carbohydrate (3g sugars, Fiber 0 fiber), Protein 0 protein.

BENNE WAFERS



Benne Wafers image

A classic Charleston recipe for benne wafer cookies brought to American by the enslaved African people. These thin crisp wafer cookies are now a lowcountry tradition.

Provided by Julia Jordan | Julia's Simply Southern

Categories     Desserts

Time 17m

Number Of Ingredients 7

¾ cup butter
1½ cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1½ cups flour
½ cup sesame (benne) seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon baking powder

Steps:

  • Cream butter and sugar together and mix with other ingredients in the order given.
  • Drop with a teaspoon about 1/2 a teaspoon onto a well-greased cookie pan, far enough apart to allow spreading while baking.
  • Bake in a 325°F oven for 7 - 10 minutes.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 172 calories, Carbohydrate 23 grams carbohydrates, Cholesterol 41 milligrams cholesterol, Fat 8 grams fat, Fiber 0 grams fiber, Protein 2 grams protein, SaturatedFat 5 grams saturated fat, ServingSize 2 cookies, Sodium 80 grams sodium, Sugar 15 grams sugar, TransFat 0 grams trans fat, UnsaturatedFat 3 grams unsaturated fat

THE BEST BENNE WAFERS



The Best Benne Wafers image

"Benne" means sesame seeds, and these are deliciously crispy little cookies. I made these recently for a friend-of-the-family who celebrates Kwanzaa, and he loved them. They originate in Africa, but have become a tradition in the deep south of the United States. They are also the only Kwanzaa cookie type I could find; as an added bonus (although the ingredients sound REALLY weird), they're delicious!

Provided by hannahactually

Categories     Drop Cookies

Time 17m

Yield 36 cookies, 36 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 8

1 cup sesame seeds, toasted
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Steps:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  • If your sesame seeds are not toasted, place them on an ungreased baking sheet and toast for 10-12 minutes or until they turn light brown.
  • They may burn easily, so watch closely to prevent this from happening.
  • Mix the brown sugar, melted butter, egg, vanilla extract, flour, salt, baking powder, and toasted sesame seeds together until well combined in a large mixing bowl.
  • Drop cookie dough by half-teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Make sure that at least 2 inches separate them; they spread A LOT.
  • Bake at 375 degrees F for about 5-6 minutes or until edges become light brown. They will appear a little puffy when you take them out.
  • Let them sit for 2-3 minutes.
  • They should be pretty flat.
  • Remove them to a wire rack and allow to cool (be careful--they're pretty crispy and crunchy!).
  • Store cooled cookies in an air-tight container.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 106.6, Fat 6, SaturatedFat 2.8, Cholesterol 15.3, Sodium 57.5, Carbohydrate 12.6, Fiber 0.6, Sugar 8.9, Protein 1.3

BENNE COOKIES



Benne Cookies image

Emily Meggett, who published her first cookbook, "Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes From the Matriarch of Edisto Island," at 89, learned how to make these crisp wafer cookies from her grandmother who learned from generations before. Benne seeds, sesame seeds that enslaved Africans brought with them to the southeastern shores of America, have long been a staple in Gullah Geechee cooking. They are an important component in rice dishes and savory crackers and are the stars of these buttery wafers. Regular sesame seeds will work fine, especially if you toast them in butter, but Mrs. Meggett suggests you try to buy benne seeds, an heirloom seed that is available online. They have a nutty, almost burned honey flavor and bring out the umami in the cookies.

Provided by Kim Severson

Categories     snack, cookies and bars, dessert

Time 1h

Yield About 40 cookies

Number Of Ingredients 9

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon/129 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing
1 cup/140 grams benne seeds or sesame seeds
1 cup/125 grams all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup/100 grams granulated sugar
1/4 cup/55 grams packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Steps:

  • Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 large cookie sheets with butter.
  • Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add the benne seeds, stirring them until coated. Toast the seeds, stirring frequently, until fragrant and darkened a shade, 2 to 3 minutes. Take care not to burn the seeds and turn down the heat if needed. Scrape onto a plate and let cool completely.
  • Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.
  • In a large bowl, cream together the remaining 8 tablespoons/115 grams butter and both sugars until well combined and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Add the cooled toasted benne seeds and the vanilla, then stir in the flour mixture.
  • Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of the cookie dough at least 2 1/2 inches apart on 1 prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown around the edges. Remove the wafers from the cookie sheet immediately and place on waxed or parchment paper to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough on the second cookie sheet, reusing the first sheet when it's cool, if needed.

Tips:

  • Use fresh sesame seeds. Fresh sesame seeds have a more intense flavor and will make your benne wafers more delicious.
  • Toast the sesame seeds before using them. Toasting the sesame seeds will bring out their flavor and make them more fragrant.
  • Don't overmix the batter. Overmixing the batter will make the benne wafers tough.
  • Chill the dough before rolling it out. Chilling the dough will make it easier to roll out and will help the benne wafers hold their shape.
  • Bake the benne wafers until they are golden brown. The benne wafers should be golden brown around the edges and slightly darker in the center.

Conclusion:

Benne wafers are a delicious and classic Southern cookie that is easy to make at home. With a few simple ingredients and a little bit of time, you can enjoy these crispy, flavorful cookies. Serve them with a cup of coffee or tea for a perfect afternoon snack or dessert.

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