South Carolina Christmas Cookies Recipes

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.

SOUTH CAROLINA CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar.
• Add eggs.
• Sift flour, soda, and cinnamom together and add alternately with milk.
• Add sherry, nuts, and fruits.
• Drop by teaspoon on well-greased cookie sheets and bake 20 minutes at 300 degrees.
• (Works better if you use your hands, instead of dropping by teaspoons If you use whole recipe, plan on baking about 4 hours--makes many, many cookies. I didn't make them this past Christmas and have never written down the exact number these make. Guessing here and also, the preparation is based on shaping many cookie sheets of these. When I bake them again, I'll edit with the details!).