Monday, December 30, 2013

Benne cookies / sesame seeds cookies

Chinese New Year is just around the corner, just exactly one more month to go.  Chinese New Year will falls on the 31st of Jan. 2014.  Everyone will be as usual, busy with spring cleaning and busy baking cookies to welcome the year of the horse.

Every year I have been baking most of the same types of cookies.  I wanted to bake something different from the normal cookies.  I like sesame cookies, I have baked black and white sesame cookies for 2013 Chinese New Year.  I wanted something different!  Finally I found this sesame recipe, Benne cookies.  These cookies are a desert served during Kwanza (African-American heritage and culture) seven-day celebration and they represent the African belief that eating sesame seeds yields good luck.  So I will have to bake more for my family members, relatives and friends so they will have good luck too.

I  modified the original recipe by reducing the sugar and added some chopped walnuts.  I like the crunchiness of the walnuts.

the ingredients,

3/4 cup butter(softened)
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar,
2 eggs,
1/4 tsp. baking powder,
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour,
1 cup toasted sesame seeds,
1 tsp. vanilla extract,
1 tsp. lemon juice.
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 160 degree F.  Prepare parchment paper on baking sheets.

 
 
Cream the butter and the sugar until soft by a mixer.  Beat in egg one at a time.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.  Add the dry ingredients to the batter mixture and mix well.
 

 

Stir in the toasted sesame seeds and chopped walnuts, vanilla essence and lemon juice.

Drop by teaspoon of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets.  Leaving space in between.


Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown.


Oh my...toasted sesame seeds smell wonderful.

Remove from the oven.  Let cool on the sheets for 10 to 15 minutes before taking off to cool further on wire racks.  Keep in airtight containers. 


 

 
 



 

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