Charleston Benne Wafers

Filled with toasted sesame seeds, Charleston Benne Wafers are an iconic sweet treat from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Bake up a batch today!

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Filled with toasted sesame seeds, Charleston Benne Wafers are an iconic sweet treat from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina.  Bake up a batch today!

Normally when you reach for a jar of sesame seeds, it’s an afterthought. Perhaps you’re adding a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top of hamburger buns. Or maybe you’re garnishing an Asian-inspired meal with sesame seeds right before serving. That’s not the case with these Charleston Benne Wafers. Sesame seeds are the main ingredient in these tasty wafers!

Filled with toasted sesame seeds, Charleston Benne Wafers are an iconic sweet treat from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Bake up a batch today!

Growing up in Charleston, SC, I remember seeing Benne Wafers everywhere. Many gift shops and stalls in the Historic City Market sold little bags of these wafers. Benne wafers are small – each one is about the size of a quarter – and the bags would hold 1-2 dozen wafers. It wasn’t until we moved away from Charleston that I realized these cookies are unique to the Lowcountry region of South Carolina.

What are benne wafers?

So what exactly are benne wafers? Benne (pronounced “ben-ee”) is the Gullah word for sesame. (And the Gullah word likely derives from the Malinke word bĕne. The Malinke people are from Guinea.) Benne plants came to Charleston through the slave trade where they were cultivated into a cash crop. According to Discover South Carolina, oil from benne seeds was cheaper than imported olive oil or lard. It didn’t take long before benne plants were a staple crop in the regions around Charleston.

Filled with toasted sesame seeds, Charleston Benne Wafers are an iconic sweet treat from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Bake up a batch today!

Benne seeds are slightly different than modern sesame seeds. Benne seeds are much more flavorful. Modern sesame seeds are a bit, well, bland. To make these Charleston Benne Wafers, you can order benne seeds from South Carolina. Another option is to toast sesame seeds in a skillet into they turn light golden brown. Toasting the sesame seeds adds a lot of flavor – just watch ’em closely so they don’t burn!

Charleston Benne Wafers

If you visit Charleston, you’ll find little bags of benne wafers sold in many stores and stalls. Grab a bag and enjoy ’em! If you aren’t planning on visiting Charleston soon, the good news is benne wafers are easy to make at home.

The recipe starts with a basic cookie base, but of course the unique twist comes from the entire cup of toasted sesame seeds that get mixed into the dough. (On a side note, you’ll need a lot of sesame seeds for this recipe. You could buy a bunch of small jars at the store, but I recommend picking up a big container of sesame seeds from Amazon – they’re much cheaper that way!)

Toasted vs untoasted sesame seeds

Thanks to the large amount of toasted sesame seeds in these wafers, they end up with a noticeably nutty flavor. In fact, you’d probably swear there are nuts in the recipe – nope! Just toasted sesame seeds. These sweet wafers make for a great mid-morning treat.

Benne wafers are typically small – roughly the size of a quarter. I used a ½-teaspoon to measure out the dough, and then I went through and rolled each piece into a little ball. (Well, to be more specific, my 6-year-old helper rolled the dough into balls for me!) And thanks to their small size, these wafers don’t take long to bake at all. I found 8-9 minutes to be about perfect.

Filled with toasted sesame seeds, Charleston Benne Wafers are an iconic sweet treat from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Bake up a batch today!

Benne wafers are crispy, flavorful treats that are sure to whisk you away to the South Carolina Lowcountry. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do here in our house – Happy baking!

Did you make a batch of these Charleston Benne Wafers at home? Leave a comment and let me know what you think – or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog)!

Filled with toasted sesame seeds, Charleston Benne Wafers are an iconic sweet treat from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Bake up a batch today!

Charleston Benne Wafers

Filled with toasted sesame seeds, Charleston Benne Wafers are an iconic sweet treat from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Bake up a batch today!
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Refrigeration Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 72 wafers
Calories: 33kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set pans aside.
  • Using a large, dry skillet, add the sesame seeds and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes, or until seeds begin to turn light golden brown. Remove from heat and set seeds aside.
  • Using an electric mixer, cream together brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy (~2-3 minutes on medium speed.)
  • Add egg and vanilla extract; stir until well combined.
  • Add flour, salt and baking soda; stir until well combined.
  • Add toasted sesame seeds; stir until well combined.
  • {Optional} Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will make it easier to drop the dough onto the baking pans.
  • Drop ½-tsp balls of dough 1” apart on prepared pans. (Tip: For an easier method, transfer dough into a piping bag and pipe small amounts of dough onto pans.)
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and let cool completely before serving or packing into an air-tight container.
Filled with toasted sesame seeds, Charleston Benne Wafers are an iconic sweet treat from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Bake up a batch today!

Looking for more classic Charleston recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:

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16 Comments

  1. Cant wait to make this soon for me can i use vegn butter i never had charleston benne waffles before perfect for my after office snacks love your recipes as always brightens up my everyday after work

    1. These wafers are very common around the Charleston, South Carolina area – and for good reason! They’re quite tasty, and they’re easy to make. I haven’t tried these with vegan butter, but I imagine they would work well. Give ’em a try, Ramya!

  2. These sound really good. Can’t wait to try making them. Something sweet to add to holiday table or to give as a gift. Just one question. After rolling them or dropping them onto the cookie sheet, do you need to flatten them or will they flatten as they bake?

    Thank you, Joan

    1. Hey Joan – these benne wafers would indeed make a great gift! We enjoy nibbling on them whenever we make a batch. They’re sweet, but not overly sweet, so they go well with a cup of tea or something similar. To answer your question, once you pipe or drop the dough onto the cookie sheet, you don’t need to flatten them. They’ll flatten as they bake. Just make sure the balls of dough are small – roughly ½ teaspoon in size. Happy baking!

    1. You should make a batch of these then, Sherry! They’re sweet, but not sweet like other American cookies. In fact, these remind me more of a European treat since they’re not as sweet – but they’re iconic in the Charleston, South Carolina area here in the States.

  3. Your Benne wafers have such an interesting history David, I really enjoyed reading about them. We can buy Sesame seed wafers here, very sweet, but so flavoursome and moreish, I reckon they might be based on your Benne wafers, only these are rectangular in shape. I didn’t realise there were two types of sesame seeds. Look forward to reading more stories about baked goods specific to your region.

    1. Hey Pauline! I’m guessing your sesame seed wafers would be pretty similar to these Benne wafers. After all, sesame seeds are the main ingredient in these. I do enjoy sharing these iconic recipes from the Southern part of the United States. These are the recipes I grew up eating, and they have nostalgic value to me!

  4. 5 stars
    Love sesame and I’ve always got sesame seeds in the pantry — these cookies look so good, will have to give them a try! Thanks for sharing the history on these Benne wafers 🙂

  5. 5 stars
    As you said David, there’s always sesame seeds in the cupboard. Only rarely used for topping stir-fry’s or the like. Well now I know what to do with them before they go off! These wafers look amazing! Thanks and Happy Easter!

    1. Hope you guys had a great Easter over there! I saw that your men’s curling team won the world championships this past weekend. Cheers to that! 🙂 And, yes, these wafers are a great way to use sesame seeds – they’re quite delicious, too!

  6. What an interesting treat, and something I’ve never heard of. This just gives me one more reason to visit Charleston. I’ve heard it’s a great place to visit.

    1. Charleston truly is a magical place to visit, Jeff! My mom just moved back there in January, so now we have an excuse to go down to visit more often. 🙂 Oh, and there are a lot of fantastic restaurants in Charleston – truly a foodie paradise!

  7. 5 stars
    As someone who loves trying out new sweet treats, I can’t wait to give this a try. I had no idea that benne seeds were the Gullah word for sesame, and it’s interesting to learn about the history behind these wafers

    1. Yes – I do love learning the stories and origins behind some of these classic recipes. It doesn’t change the taste, but it does make it a bit more fun! Definitely give these benne wafers a try, Raymund!

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