Benne Wafers from Wednesday Chef

Benne wafers made with sesame seeds

Made with toasted pecans after I used up sesame seeds.  Both absolutely DELICIOUS!

     I have read about these in the past.  Then I recently read a post about these at: http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2010/12/benne-wafers.html  ( I was waiting for a response for permission to post this, but have not heard back, and now the response section is closed.)

It's a very lengthy article.  After you read the section just below the cookies, scroll down until you see the ingredients on a table, then start reading again. (I just made a 2^nd batch, and since I had no more sesame seeds, I used finely chopped roasted pecans. I think I like these even better!)

     As you can see, mine are quite odd shaped, except for one batch that happened to be sort of round.  I was a little more careful with that batch about the size of the dough.  Little means about 1 level teaspoon or a small marble size, (makes about 2 inch cookies) which will make almost 5 dozen.   Mostly I wasn't patient enough to make them that small, and I didn't bother trying to make them too round either, which ended with ghost-shaped cookies.  I took some out of the oven too soon (because they were too big) and they were more chewy than crispy, but still very tasty. 

     They really need to be the same size on each pan.  You have to be sure to bake them until very golden brown, then wait until it cools before trying to remove them.

     Some other online recipes used more flour and suggested toasting the sesame seeds first.  I think toasting would make the cookies taste even better.  These wafers are very thin and you'd probably have to eat about a 5 to 8 to equal one 3-inch chocolate chip cookie, but these are a real treat!  Let me know what you think.

Note: Some people reported having issues with the texture of their cookies; please remember that the butter you use must not be warm or room temperature, but cool to the touch and still quite firm before you begin to cream it with the sugar. Here's an article on butter in baking for your reading pleasure.)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cool but not cold
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and well-combined. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the flour, salt, vanilla extract and sesame seeds. Mix until all the ingredients are combined.
3. Drop small spoons of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten the wafers with a knife dipped in ice water.
4. Bake for 6 minutes. The cookies should be a golden brown with deeper golden edges. Pull the parchment paper off the sheet pan onto a cooling rack. After about 5 to 8  minutes, gently pull the cooled cookies off the parchment. Reuse the parchment for the next batch.
5. Cool completely and store in a tin for up to 2 weeks.  They will lose their crispness if not tightly contained.