Fully loaded extra large benne wafers

This cookie is the love child of a vanishing oatmeal craisin cookie and a classic benne wafer. It’s the best of both to be sure and a little something more, too.

I found this recipe in Yossy Arefi’s Sweeter off the Vine, an enchanting cookbook full of fruit desserts. I added a few things, like sesame seeds and more cacao nibs, but for the most part I followed the recipe 🙂

In her book, Arefi pairs these tasty wafers with strawberry ice cream (find a recipe here) for a dreamy ice cream sammie but we think these will go along with any flavor ice cream (we used dulce de leche)!!

Here’s what ya need:

1 cup old-fashioned oats

6 tablespoons whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

2 tablespoons cacao nibs

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup Vanilla Bean Sugar

1 large egg, at room temp

Place two racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl combine oats, flour, poppy seeds, cacao nibs, sesame seeds, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl stir together butter and sugars. Add the egg and stir until well combined. Add all the dry ingredients at once and stir until just combined.

Drop the batter by rounded teaspoons onto your prepared baking sheets at least 2 inches apart — these wafers expand and flatten out when they bake! Bake the wafers 9 to 11 minutes, rotating top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let the wafers cool completely on the pan, then remove the wafers and continue on with the rest of the dough!

Stay cool, stay sweet!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.

Farmers Market Pizza

A pile of good things on some dough. That’s what pizza is to me.

This pizza was too beautiful not to share. We used our favorite dough recipe and piled on some of our farmers market favorites, from bottom to top it went like this:

Porzio’s Pizza Sauce

thinly sliced onions

a little freshly grated Romano

Charleston Artisan Cheesehouse mozzarella

Okra from Ron’s Roots sautéed with a little masa and our Sea Salt&Pepper Blend

Chourico from Wishbone Heritage Farms

Simple, easy, delicious.

It’s time to party, pizza party!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.

Vanilla Peach Tart

You know that moment when you bite into something and you think, shoot, this is exactly what I wanted it to be.

That’s what this tart recipe is. Complete goodness. It’s everything a tart should be, in dreams and real life.

I used the pastry case recipe from Cooking with Loula. It’s spot on (and yes I actually followed the recipe).

For the pastry:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup turbinado sugar (or half brown sugar/ half granulated sugar)

a pinch of salt

zest of one lemon

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

For vanilla peach spread:

4 peaches

3/4 cup Vanilla Bean Sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

First make your spread. Skin four peaches and place them in your blender, blend until relatively smooth. Pour into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sugars , lemon juice, and salt. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. Boil, continue stirring, until mixture reaches desired consistency (I cooked mine down for about 15 minutes, until the mixture was thick peach butter consistency, perfect for spreading on a tart…or pancakes…). Let cool and then refrigerate until completely cool.

For the pastry: Combine flour, sugar, salt, and zest in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces over the bowl. Gently rub the ingredients between both hands until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Add egg yolk, vanilla, and milk. Work until dough comes together, handling as little as possible. If dough is still dry you can add 1 tablespoon of water. Wrap dough in parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before using.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Take three quarters of the dough and roll it out on a lightly flour dusted surface. I used mini tart pans so I cut several circles out of the dough and then chilled the scraps to roll it out again. If you are making one large tart simply roll out a circle of dough a wee bit wider than your pan. Press the dough into the pan and trim off any excess.

Spread a hearty layer of your chilled vanilla peach mixture over the pastry. Use the remaining dough to decorate the top of your tart.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Let cool and serve!

Stay sweet!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.