Benne Wafers appears as a signature dish in 1 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Benne wafers · Charleston
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:
- Charleston City Market
- Sugar Bakeshop