Benne Wafers

I keep starting this post and deleting what I've written, because it just doesn't seem adequate. Or particularly verbal. But then I try to come up with something more...grown-up or legible, and fall short. Standards, you know? Sigh.

Do you want to see what I've deleted so far? Fine, here:

1. OMG.

2. Aaaaaah!

3. Best. Cookies. Ever.

4. Oh my goodness, you guys!

See what I mean? I think these cookies have possessed my brain or at least the parts of it that used to know how to write. But seriously, we need to talk about the cookies. Seriously. Pull up a chair!

A few weeks ago, I was sent a copy of the Gourmet Cookie Book. You know, the one that features the "single best [cookie] recipe" from 1941 to 2009, according to the editors at Gourmet (sigh). It's a funny little book, with very stark pictures of the cookies on black, white or red backgrounds, arranged almost architecturally. The most recent hyper-baroque style of Gourmet is nowhere to be found. So it's not the most sensual cookie cookbook ever designed or photographed, but it is...efficient. After all, each recipe gets a photo, which is rather nice. And the starkness of the photography means you get to really get in there and see the texture of a toasty almond or a spray of powdered sugar. Also, the editors did all the heavy lifting in culling out the very best recipes over the years, which, you know, is a big plus.

The headnotes, if you're into food history, and into Gourmet, which I am on both counts (double sigh), are lovely little reads. You go to the page about Norwegian Butter Cookies, also known as Spritz, and find out they were the favorites of a former food editor's pioneer mother. Or you turn to the Curled Wafer page and find out that there were only four cookie recipes published in Gourmet during all of 1963 - and none of them were American. Or you can go to the recipe for Scotch Oat Crunchies and read that those buttery discs sandwiching jam were cooked up during the war, when the staff at the magazine, along with housewives the nation over, I suppose, tried to come up with ways to make oatmeal palatable. Huh.

(My quibble with the book is that I wished the recipes had more consistent information about how long the cookies keep and how they should be stored. After all, most of us will be using this book around the holiday season, when shipping and storage times are crucial bits of information when planning what to include in a cookie tin.)

When I first leafed through the book, I made a list of the cookies that I wanted to make:

1. Speculaas
2. Bizcochitos
3. Glazed Pain D'Epice Cookies
4. Cottage Cheese Cookies
5. Basler Brunsli

Now this didn't seem like a very long list. After all, I was expecting to dogear half the book. That's disappointing, I thought. But that's how it goes with cookbooks sometimes. And besides, wasn't I the person saying just the other day that if you find one good recipe in a cookbook, it's worth the price of the book? So I went and made some cookies. First, the Cottage Cheese Cookies, which are tender, cakey little things with agreeably crispy edges and a fine, plain flavor. Max popped one in his mouth and commandeered the entire tray for the rest of the week. Then I made the Speculaas, which were a dream to make - the softest, most aromatic dough just needed to be rolled out into a rectangle and cut into little squares or rectangles before being topped with slivered almonds and baked. The cookies were fabulous. Buttery, crunchy, full of Christmassy flavor, just like those great little Biscoff cookies you get on airplanes, only better. (These would be great crushed into a pie crust, too, by the way.) This time, I was the one who hoarded them.

And then I started re-reading the book. I'd ignored some recipes on the first go-around, but now I couldn't them get out of my head. Like the Gianduia Brownies, which I'm thinking will be a hit at our Bavarian Christmas this year. Or the Walnut Acorn Cookies, just because they combine chopped walnuts and butter and melted chocolate to what looks like splendid effect. Or the Old-Fashioned Christmas Butter Cookies, which sound like such a snooze, but upon reading the headnote ("what you end up with are cookies that are incredibly crisp and so flaky they almost seem to float away") you realize you can't really live much more than a few hours longer without trying them.

People, I am up to my eyeballs in cookies this year. It's December 2nd and I've already made six, no, seven different ones. By any normal stretch of the imagination, one look at a cookie book should have me shrinking away in horror. And yet, I can't seem to keep away. They keep sucking me in, these Fig Cookies, Jan Hagels, and, oh, the mighty Benne Wafer.

Or, lo! The Mighty Benne Wafer!

So, now we're back where we started, with me apparently struck dumb or incapable of putting into lyrical type just how good these cookies are.

SO. GOOD. Is that better? I'm sorry.

Let me tell you a little bit about them, maybe that will help. First of all, you need hardly anything to make them. An egg, a pat of butter, two spoons of flour - do you see where this is going? If you're the kind of person who stocks sesame seeds in her house, you can make these cookies...whenever you want! (Every day, you'll want to do them every day, believe me.) You cream some brown sugar and that little nugget of butter together, though creaming is not exactly what happens, since there's so little butter to the amount of sugar. Beat until they're combined and no longer lumpy and the sugar is fluffy and a little lighter than before. Then beat in the egg, some vanilla, the flour and half a cup of sesame seeds. And a little pinch of salt! That is it. What you're left with is what looks like the measliest amount of cookie batter ever. It should be loose and a little drippy, but only barely.

You drop little rounds of the khaki-colored stuff onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and then, using a knife that you repeatedly dip in ice water, flatten them out a bit. Don't do what I did on the first round and make the dough drops too close - you'll end up with large rectangular Benne Wafers. These go into the oven for six minutes. Six! That's it. Any more and you'll have charred edges, any less and they'll still be a bit too chewy. I like to pull the parchment paper off the sheet pan directly onto the cooling rack. If you have just a little bit of patience, then, you'll be able to gently tug the cookies right off the paper. They set up into these caramelly, crispy wonders - pop one in your mouth and you'll wonder how you ever lived all these years without eating a single Benne Wafer before.

I was planning on including these in my cookie boxes for friends, but after I brought Max one to try and we stood there looking at each other, chewing dumbly in stupefaction, he begged me not to let them leave the house. "But, but, think of the Christmas spirit!" I protested weakly.

I think I'm making another batch.

In the end, did I actually manage to tell you just how insanely good these cookies are? They are delicate and taste like caramel. They have this alluring crunch both from their crispy edges and the toasted sesame seeds. You can make them when you have barely anything in the house. And you could eat, I don't know, ten of them in mere seconds. (Even though there are currently fresh drifts of ankle-deep snow on my balcony, right at this very moment, I keep having visions of them stuck into a scoop of ice cream at a summer dinner party, too.) They are so good they've sort of instantly become my favorite cookie. Superlatives can be so annoying, I know. But I just can't help it. The might Benne Wafer is here to stay!

Benne Wafers
Makes about 4 dozen
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.

Comments

[jo]

i am the kind of person who stockpiles sesame seeds - hardly sounds worth freezing the dough, but can you? thanks!

[Luisa]

Jo - I have no idea! It's so loose that it's not like you could roll it into a ball and freeze, like more traditional cookie dough. My suggestion: just bake and eat fresh, no freezing! :)

[Liana]

My first attempt at benne wafers years ago was an oven disaster, but you've inspired me to try again. Will have to make springerle, too, since your last post reminded me of them. COOKIES!

[Shawna]

These sound very tasty, Luisa! Perfect to bake and take with us for snacking on the way to NC Christmas with the family. Hope there are some left for them!
I'm getting ready to harvest the last of those Italian Chiles and wondered if you have any tips on hanging them to dry? I've never done that, but they look so "Christmasy", I'd love to see them in the kitchen.
Tell your mom thanks again and you all have a very Happy Holiday season!

Shawna in Delaware

[jonquil]

when i was a little girl one of my mothers' cookbooks had this recipe,only instead of sesame seeds it used chopped walnuts. awesome bundles of joy they are!

[ann]

Back when I was at Forbes, someone went to a wedding down south. The favor was little tulle packets of benne wafers, which for some reason, we *not* a hit. There were dozens of them left after the ceremony. My co-worker, being a woman who is no fool, grabbed as many as she could and ran for the exit. She then brought them into the office. I was skeptical, but soon I couldn't stand the oooohs and aaaaahs anymore so I went and tried one. Like you, I was dumbfounded. They are SO GOOD. Unbelievably good. I'm not sure I'll ever allow myself to make them, having once taste the nectar, for fear of their not living up to such perfection!

[Anne-Marie]

Yum! My kids' teachers are getting a new cookie this year!

Question...should the sesame seeds be hulled? toasted? I've a jar of unhulled in the fridge.

[Andrew]

Thank you for making the rest of my family oh so happy...! (oh, and me too)

[Vanessa]

I wish I was the kind of person who always kept sesame seeds in the house...but I'm not so these will have to wait till tomorrow because I'm too tired to fight my way through the snow again to get some. These sound like heaven and my kind of cookie.

[Amanda @ Plato's Plate]

It would be great if you would post the recipe for the Speculaas. I did a search online and none of the recipes I found look as good as the ones in your picture.

[TD]

Hi Luisa! Love how simple this recipe looks. I am not much of a cookie baker, so before I try this I was wondering if you have any pointers about the best ways to store cookies. What are your recommendations for methods of storing cookies - cookie tins (that are not completely air tight), jars with rubber seals that are relatively air-tight, or any closed container?

[Mariko]

Well, you may have been searching for better words, but you defintely convinced me these are great.

[Rebecca]

I had something that looked just like this but the bottom was dipped in chocolate! I could not stop eating them!!! I just do not remember sesame seeds in it....

[Luisa]

Shawna - I'd pick them and hang them from their stems upside-down somewhere dry and cool. Maybe a basement? Then, when they're dry I'd put them up in your kitchen. I'm afraid if you tried to dry them in the kitchen, they'd get moldy or rot...

Ann - what a great story!

Anne-Marie - just plain sesame seeds, untoasted. The ones you've got should be fine.

Andrew - you're welcome!!!

Vanessa - Ugh, I'm about to get out there and trudge for the first time today...

Amanda - check out the book for the recipe! It really is a good one.

TD - Any closed container is fine. I sometimes use old tins, sometimes plastic tupperware.

Rebecca - I think you may have eaten a Florentiner, not a Benne Wafer. A Florentiner is a thin disc of a caramel-like cookie with orange peel and sometimes nuts mixed in, finely chopped, with a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom. Is that ringing a bell?

[Sarah]

Is this anything like the Pepperidge Farms Bordeaux cookie? I have been looking for a recipe for a cookie like that FOREVER and this looks something like it. Hmmm...will have to make these this weekend. Thanks! :)

[Jen]

Just another excuse to start my holiday baking...(did I really need another?)

[jemia]

my cookie list keeps getting longer and longer! thanks for giving me another to add to it. it must be fate, i have some sesame seeds i need to use up.

[Nicole]

This time of year all I can think about re my mother's Italian sprinkle cookies...die! But I'm going to have to try those wafers cause they look like some serious goodness...xo

[Felicity Slater]

Can you post the Speculaas recipe too? They look amazing and I haven't had them since being in Belgium a couple years ago!

[kickpleat]

Oooh, I am so making these! I had this bookmarked years ago in the Martha cookie book but never got around to it. Now that I've got both black and white sesame seeds in my cupboard right now, I'll start baking these soon.

[MegSmith]

I don't know if I have ever been more excited to make cookies before in my life! These look so wonderful and Christmas-y and they have been officially added to my "make-these-NOW' list.

[Jacqui]

I'm sold. I'm going to have to make a batch of these for the holidays!

[Megan]

"Is Max your boyfriend?!," she asked with the endearing intonation of a pesky 11-year-old girl.

{These sound simple and fabulous.}

[Tara]

Where do you find light brown sugar in Berlin? I always only find the hard little crystalized brown sugar, not the soft stuff I use in the US. Am I looking in the wrong place?

[Devon]

I thought that was perfectly respectably written post - good momentum! But: "No more and you'll have charred edges, no less and they'll still be a bit too chewy." You gotta switch the nos to anys, or you gotta get rid of the nos. Thanks for the recipe!

[Carmen]

Stop that!!! I just went out and got the Tartine Bread book and now I have to go out AGAOM and get the Gourmet cookie book.... Mon budget, fille!!!!

[Suzy]

You've already made 7 different cookie varieties? My god, your friends must love you.
But it is fun to bake cookies, when it's awful weather outside much more practical then say...eating Nutella straight out of the jar.

[Row]

Woo-hoo, a new cookie recipe for me to try... thank you! :)

[The Leftoverist]

Ooh..I just got that cookbook, too. Let the cookie frenzy begin!

[Molly]

1. Been meaning to make Benne's all my adult life. Haven't. Yet.
2. Thank GOD I just got my copy of said cookbook.

3. Not that you need another sesame addiction, but Jess just shared some of Alice Medrich's sesame wafers (Pure Dessert), and oh. my. Shot right up to the top of my best-ever list.

4. Glad to hear you've a Max in your life. I'm sure you've name-dropped your love before, but my scanty memory only has him as a shadowy fine fellow. Now I know he's a Max, I'm 100% for him. In my experience, Max's make life ever so much better.

Happy Baking, Luisa. The butter's just beginning to roll around these parts.

[Rachelino]

Luisa- You must try the basler brunsli. I have a feeling you will love them. I am not gluten free but they are the perfect cookie to give to someone who is. I promise to try these benne wafers now.

[Luisa]

Sarah - Sorry, I have to admit I don't know what they taste like!

Megan - yes! :)

Tara - Actually, I stockpile bags from the States, BUT I just found light brown sugar at Goldhahn & Sampson on Helmholtzplatz the other day (they have the Billington's brand from the UK and a Portuguese brand, which is what I bought). You can also find soft brown sugar at Asia-Läden throughout the city.

Devon - Thanks!

Carmen - Ha! I know how that goes. :)

Molly - ooh, heading over there now to check out Jess's cookies. I'm so glad you agree on the Max count. :)

Rachelino - I really wanted to make them but I don't have a food processor! They sound so wonderful.

[Nuts about food]

Ok, you convinced me, not that I really needed a lot of convincing after the first picture...

[Amanda at Enchanted Fig]

Ohh, so excited about this one. Anything you are that thrilled about is worth getting out a spoon for. I have yet to get into the cookie part of the baking...still making my way through the boozy cakes and raisin-studded breads. So, thanks. For the recipe, for the nudge toward cookies, for the book.

[Natasa]

I am just planning to make several varieties of cookies this weekend and having difficulties deciding which ones. Now I know - I am totally including this wafers! You made them sound so irresistible! And I love the taste of sesame seeds...

[Maria]

i will try this definitely!!

[Kaja]

I, too, would love to try the Speculaas recipe - they're one of my favourite cookie types and yours look delicious!

[Rachel]

is the brown sugar meant to be packed?

[Lena]

Yayayayayay! Gonna make this! Cookies that don't take a ton of butter butter?? Sesame seeds? I'm totally in.

[Leah]

I just got my copy of the Gourmet cookie book, and almost every page is bookmarked. I decided to try these first because I had some sesame seeds that needed to be used up, and like you said, almost no other ingredients are required.
I don't know what I did wrong, but mine just turned into icky, melted puddles that were completelu inedible. It was so sad to scrape them all into the trash.
You're obviously far more skillful than I am, so congrats. I would love to know what you did that I didn't do.
I did have success with the Mocha Chocolate cookies, though. They're kind of like brownies made into cookies, which rocks. If you like chocolate, you should definitely try these. I'll be posting them some time next week.
I can't wait to see what else you try!

[Brittney]

what year was this recipe from? i'm so excited to give it a try!

[jacqueline]

i just made these! OH. MY. GOD! luisa - what have you done to me? they take so little time to make and so little time to scoff. ohdearohdearohdear...

[Luisa]

Rachel - it doesn't specify, so I didn't pack it tightly, but also didn't leave it completely loose. Somewhere in between.

Leah - I'm so sorry about your icky cookies. I'm wondering what could have gone wrong. Oven temperature? Ingredients too warm/cold? Are you at a different altitude? Glad to hear the Mocha cookies were good!

Brittney - 1954.

Jacqueline - so glad you liked them! We're already nearing the end of our batch.

[kristina - no penny for them]

thanks for mentioning places to find light brown sugar - i was just about to ask that question. a trip to goldhahn & sampson was already planned for this w/e, but now i simply MUST go.

p.s.: these wafers look glorious.

[Sylee]

You'll think I'm just saying this but I really did eye my box of sesame seeds on its shelf yesterday and wondered what I would do with it. Off I go to the kitchen!

[Kathryn]

ugh, this recipe was an epic fail. even well spaced, a giant gooey mess. they will not come off the parchment paper, even when completely cooled. they are really good, the little scraps i was able to get off. i tossed the whole batch - next time, i'll try greasing the parchment. for now, i have to buy cookies. no more time to bake! :(

[Annie]

Hmm...I so wanted to love these. BUT, I didn't have light brown sugar or vanilla, so I used dark and prayed that the cookies would still work. I think that with so few ingredients, each one must be spot on. I'll try again. Thanks for the post!

[Heather]

I've just started reading your blog recently and it's wonderful! I was wondering if you have any ideas on where to get molasses in germany - I tried asking for "Melasse" and thick, brown syrup at a tengelmann in Augsburg, but to no avail. Maybe there's a special german name I don't know, or a hidden repository of molasses somewhere that's waiting to satisfy my gingersnaps craving...

[Luisa]

Kathryn - so sorry to hear it. Hope greasing the parchment helps next time.

Heather - I don't know, actually. I haven't seen it in any of the stores in Berlin that carry other American products. It may be one of those things you have to get people to bring you from the States... Don't use Zuckerrübensirup - it's a dark syrup made from sugar beets but tastes nothing like molasses and is very, very sweet.

[kc]

luisa--thank you for the reminder about the excellence of these little numbers. off to bake some presently . . .