BENNE WAFERS

BENNE WAFERS image

Yield 120 quarter sized wafers

Number Of Ingredients 9

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1/3 cup benne (sesame) seeds
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. (1oz) sifted bleached all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring cookie sheet
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, plus more for greasing cookie sheets
1 large egg white
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Thoroughly grease and flour 2 cookie sheets or spray them with a vegetable-oil based cooking spray. 2. In a 9inch cast-iron skillet, toast the seeds over medium-low heat, agitating them frequently in the pan, until they are the color of unpopped popcorn, about 5 minutes. 3. Sift the flour with the sugar, brown sugar, and baking soda twice. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with punching strokes of a pastry blender or with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 4. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg white on medium speed to medium-stiff peaks. Add the dry ingredients in quarters, beating until the batter is consistently smooth and lustrous, about 2 minutes. Add the toasted seeds and vanilla and beat on low speed just until the seeds are evenly incorporated. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip or to a plastic bag with a zipper seal with a tiny piece of it's tip cut off. 5. Working in batches of 30, pipe the batter in 1/4 tsp-sized drops about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheet and bake until the cookies just begin to turn from blond to auburn, about 4-6 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheets to a rack and cool until the cookies have stiffened, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a spatula to a container with a tight-fitting lid. Repeat until all the cookies are baked, and let them cool completely before sealing the container. 6. The cookies will keep in the container for 3-4 days.