Benne Wafers

[tryska]

hey y'all i've always wanted to try benne wafers, and have never gotten the chance.

i was thinking tho, that i would make them myself to bring to the office potluck.

a question i have tho - would they work as a sandwich cookie? i was actually thinking of making the benne wafers, and then putting a ginger-bourbon cream in the middle.

what are your thoughts?

[ludja]

I assume your recipe has some sugar in the dough?

Benne Wafers are often served as a savory cracker, as hors d'oeuvres, and that is how I've made and had them... (have seen sweet recipes but never made them).

Your idea sounds fun though, and the bourbon flavor is a nice Southern tie-in...

another sweet idea could be an orange buttercream filling...but I think I like your idea better.

[tryska]

*lol* ludja - well i'm actually thinking along the lines of a orange-bourbon-ginger buttercream, now that you mention it.

and yes the one's i'm thinkign about making are sweet - from what i can tell sort of a "sesame snap" recipe. or perhaps sesame shortbread.

do you think the orange-bourbon-ginger would be a cookie with too much going on? how exactly are the texture on the wafers you've made/had - would they work with a filling or fall apart?

Edited December 16, 2003 by tryska (log)

[Malawry]

My experience with benne wafers is that they are, well, wafer-thin. Too thin to fill, really. If you make a filling I'd make it really thin and only put a small schmear in the middle of the cookies. The flavors sound good to me.

[tryska]

thanks malawry - that's the kind of thing i need to know - so i'm guessing a butter cream would be too heavy - perhaps i need to switch to a glaze type of filling.

[maf]

It may be too late for you to care, but there seem to be two versions of Benne wafers. The first are almost paper thin (thinner than ginger snaps) and sweet, and probably too brittle to fill. The others are coarser, grainier (kinda like a small oatmeal cookie) and usually have cayenne in them. These would be intesting to fill, although perhaps not with butter cream. Either way, they're supposed to bring good luck.

[tryska]

thanks maf!