Seed-y Snow Day Cookies

These cookies are the right kind of seedy. They won't approach you in a dark alley, or make you question your safety, they will only fill you up with sweet nutty toasted seed goodness. They may also cause a drug test to reflect positive for opiates, but whatever.

The view from my living room window: tree limbs heavy with snow

Today is a snowday for most Bostonians. more than 2 feet on the ground already in many places, many businesses and schools declared they would be closing as of last night. Since I am home (my office was among the many closed) and safe and warm away from the big bad cold, I decided to bake something warm, using only things I had on hand. I browsed through my bookmarked recipes online and in cookbooks to decide on the perfect thing to make.

This recipe comes from Simplyrecipes.com, called Benne Wafers, they are simple sweet sesame seed cookies with a hint of lemon and vanilla. I only had half the amount of sesame seeds needed on hand, so I decided to add poppy seeds as well, which were left over from my lemon poppy cake. The resulting cookie is lightly sweet, pleasantly crisp, and a just a tad bitter from the poppy seeds. I suppose these may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I just can't stop eating them! So if you like crisp almost cracker like cookies, that are just a bit sweet, not overwhelmingly so, I definitely suggest trying these out. They were a breeze to whip up, minimal ingredients and minimal steps; they even cook quickly.

Sesame seed snow day cookies
From SimplyRecipes.com, Benne Wafers
1 cup sesame seeds, toasted / or 1/2 cup sesame and 1/2 cup poppy seeds for my variation
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Oven temp :325
1. Toast the seeds lightly in a pan over medium heat, until fragrant.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar, then add in egg and mix to combine.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add to the wet, mix together
4. Add seeds, lemon juice and vanilla.
5. Place the batter by small spoonful on a greased cookie sheet, or one lined with parchment or a silicone liner. I used a silicone cookie pan liner similar to Silpat and it worked out wonderfully.
6. Bake for up to 15 minutes, or until browned on the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Ok, I am off to drink some tea and then get back to my day's project (remember that yellow dresser? more on that soon).