Verified in 2 cities.
Benne wafers is a signature dish of United States; we have verified places to eat it in Charleston and Savannah. Thin, lacy sesame cookies the size of a coin.
Thin, lacy sesame cookies the size of a coin. Crisp, brown-sugar-bittersweet, with toasted benne (sesame) seeds throughout. A Charleston tea-room classic.
Benne is the Gullah-Geechee word for sesame, brought from West Africa with enslaved Africans in the 17th century. The seed grew well in Carolina soil and became a staple of Sea Island cookery. Benne wafers are documented in Charleston Receipts (1950), the Junior League's still-in-print cookbook compiled by 11 Charleston women. The cookie became a tearoom and confectionery staple by the mid-20th century; tins of benne wafers are now the city's most-shipped edible souvenir. Charleston Receipts remains in print at the City Market and most bookshops.
Where to eat in Charleston:
Where to eat Benne wafers in Charleston: the editor picks
Small, thin, lacy sesame-seed cookies, golden brown and crackle-crisp. A Gullah Geechee signature with deep West African roots; eaten as a snack, a tea biscuit, or a sweet to close a meal.
Benne (sesame) seeds came to the Lowcountry from West Africa with enslaved people from the Senegambia region, where sesame was a sacred crop. The Gullah Geechee community grew benne in coastal gardens for centuries; the wafers became a Savannah and Charleston signature in the 20th century, with Byrd Cookie Company (founded 1924) and others codifying the recipe for national export.
Where to eat in Savannah:
Where to eat Benne wafers in Savannah: the editor picks
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