Benne Seed Wafers
Benne seeds are sesame seeds, which are the star ingredient of these quarter-size brown sugar and butter based cookies. This recipe makes over 100 cookies
Servings 112 cookies
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 1 cup tightly packed brown sugar (220 grams)
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (Plugra) (170 grams)
- 1 extra-large egg (56 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, stir well and spoon into cup (250 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt (Morton kosher), reduce to ½ if using salted butter
- 1 cup toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- With an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and creamy.
- Scrape the side of the bowl, then add the egg and vanilla. Beat for another minute.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add to the batter and beat with the lowest speed of the mixer to make a soft dough.
- Stir in the toasted sesame seeds. Divide dough into 4 sections and roll each section into a long cylinder/tube about ¾ inch in diameter. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Have ready two large parchment lined baking sheets.
- There are different ways to assemble these cookies. You can simply cut ¼ inch thick rounds off the cylinders and smash them down a tiny bit or you can break off large chunks of the dough, pat down to a little over ⅛ inch thick and use a very small round cutter or something like an olive oil top to cut rounds. The second method will give you the most uniform cookies.
- My friend baked her cookies at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. You can try that if you'd like. They will brown quickly, but maybe too quickly in modern ovens.
- I prefer baking at a low and slow 300 for about 18 minutes or until they are golden brown. Slide the parchment paper off the sheet (they'll still be soft at this point) and let them cool completely on the counter. They will crisp as they cool. Store in an airtight container or a tin and keep it in the freezer.
- If you are not getting enough caramelization using 300 degrees F., you can raise the heat to 325F. and start checking at 14 minutes.