Benne Cookies Recipes

BENNE WAFERS

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.

BENNE WAFERS

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.

THE BEST BENNE WAFERS

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.

BENNE WAFERS (CHARLESTON'S CLASSIC SESAME SEED COOKIES)

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.

BENNE WAFERS COOKIE RECIPE:

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Adjust oven rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpad.
• In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• With an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat the butter and brown sugar together until fluffy, approximately 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Fold in the cooled toasted sesame seeds.
• Drop heaping teaspoon-sized portions of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart (this is important as the cookies will spread).
• Bake until the tops of the cookies bubble and the edges turn deep brown, approximately 8 to 9 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. As these are paper-thin cookies, this allows the cookies to finish baking from the residual heat of the baking sheet, as well as letting them set up enough so that they don't fall apart when transferred. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• The cookies may be stored in an airtight container.

BENNE SEED COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the seeds on an un-greased baking sheet for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Watch them carefully because they will burn fast. Set to the side to cool completely.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a light colored baking sheet (see notes) with parchment paper. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add the slightly beaten eggs. Mix. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the benne seeds) to the butter and egg mixture. Mix until the dough forms. Add the sesame seeds and stir to combine
• Using a 1/2 tsp, scoop the dough and with your hands form into a ball. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Do not place the cookies close together. Continue until you are done. If you are only making a few and want to store the rest, see notes below.
• Reduce the temperature to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Place cookies into the oven. Bake for 6-8 minutes. The cookies should be still soft to the touch but golden in color. Remove from the oven and cool for 5-10 minutes.

BENNE SEED COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325℉ (160℃). Cream butter until soft, then gradually beat in sugar and egg until mixture is fluffy. Combine flour and baking powder; stir into butter mixture. Add vanilla and sesame seeds and mix well. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets, about 1½ inches apart. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until cookies are light brown.

BENNE SEED COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 °F.
• If you're using raw sesame seeds, place the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in the oven for about 3 minutes, watching carefully. They should just begin to brown lightly. Set aside to cool completely.
• Lower the oven temperature to 300 °F Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Using an electric mixer, cream the sugar, butter and eggs until very light, about 5 minutes. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir with the spatula until combined. Add the vanilla. Stir in the cooled sesame seeds. Drop the batter by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, 1 inch apart. It takes just a dab of batter to produce quarter-sized cookies. They will spread into perfect circles during baking.
• Bake until very brown but not burned at the edges, about 14 to 15 minutes. Important: Let the cookies cool completely on the parchment paper, then peel them away from the paper. Store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well in tins. They will crumble in a plastic freezer bag.
• This recipe is one of our Gifts from the Kitchen. Click here to see other Gifts from the Kitchen.

BENNE' COOKIES

Steps:

• Wash sesame seeds in a fine sieve, then parch in the oven, stirring occasionally, until seeds are thoroughly dry. This takes between 7 and 10 minutes.
• Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, then add flour (which has been sifted twice) and put the parched seeds in last, mixing well in the batter.(This mixture should be thin enough to drop easily from a spoon. If not, add a tiny amount of water, mixing in well.)
• Grease pans thoroughly then drop a teaspoonful of batter for each cookie as this will spread in the baking, leave about three inches between each spoonful. Cook in moderate oven from five to eight minutes-until cookies are a light brown. (Watch carefully while cooking, to prevent too rapid browning. This amount of batter should make about forty cookies.

BENNE COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream together the butter and the brown sugar. Beat in the eggs. Sift together the baking powder and the flour and mix in. Stir in the sesame seeds and vanilla.
• Drop by teaspoon on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for about 25 - 30 minutes.