Where did Benne Wafers originate?

The Benne Wafer is a thin cookie, made with tasty toasted sesame. Many Southern recipes call for sesame seed, but none is so loved as the Benne Wafer, a Charleston favorite. Sesame seed cookies, or benne seed cookies as they are called in the South, are a classic South Carolina tradition. It is believed that enslaved Africans brought benne seeds to Colonial America sometime in the 17th century.

Benne wafers are delicate, crispy sesame seed cookies originating in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. You can find them today at the outdoor market downtown Charleston, as well as in local Charleston specialty shops and grocery stores. But the history of the benne wafer is much longer, originating in the colonial era.

It's recommend to toast your sesame seeds to bring out a little more of that nuttiness so characteristic of benne seeds. Browning them for a few minutes in a dry skillet makes a big difference in color and flavor.