Benne Seed Thumbprint Cookies Recipes

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 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 COOKIES

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.

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.