A little background: the cookies are made with "benne seeds" which is apparently the African "slave term" for sesame seed (I told you it was the deep South). But to the rest of us, they are sesame seeds. For this purpose however, they are benne (ben-eee) seeds, and therefore, benne cookies (they're really more of a wafer, but I didn't write the recipe).
I know you're probably thinking "eww, sesame cookies, gross." They're actually pretty damn good and not too sesame-like as you might expect. They're sweet, because they are a cookie. Otherwise they'd be a cracker... duh.Give them a try and if you don't like them feed them to the dog. Story of my life.
Benne Cookies
1 stick butter (melted)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sesame seeds
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Toast the sesame seeds: spread them out on a cookie sheet and roast for about 10 mins. Set toasted seeds aside, in a bowl.
2. Mix all the cookie ingredients in a medium bowl, and drop by teaspoon fulls onto an aluminum-lined cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 350 F, approximately 10 mins. Cookies should be lightly browned (refer to photo)... not white in the centers, but not too dark either. Check the cookies at 5 mins. If the cookies have puffed up, give the tray a whack with a knife or spoon. This will cause the cookies to collapse. This batch did not rise for me, but has in the past. The cookies are supposed to rise but don't panic if they don't.
Personally I don't know why a recipe calls for baking powder (a leavener) if the instructions specify that you collapse the cookies... but like I said. I didn't write the recipe, and old family recipes are not to be tampered with.
Yield: about 2-3 dozen, I can't remember.
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