Dixie Benne Wafers

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, cold
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
2/3 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 cup cold milk

Instructions

Makes about 75 appetizer wafers. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, sugar, a tsp. salt, cumin, and cayenne together. Cut in shortening and butter into flour mixture with pastry blender till uniformly distributed. Mix in sesame seeds till well blended. Gradually pour in milk, mixing just till dough holds together. With hands, form dough into a ball. roll out to 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut into 2 inch rounds with lightly floured biscuit cutter. Put on ungreased baking sheets. Bake on center rack till crispy and light golden, about 20 minutes. While still hot on sheets, sprinkle lightly with salt to taste. Let cool completely on baking sheets. store in air-tight container up to 1 week. To toast sesame seeds, put in nonstick skillet, stirring constantly over medium heat till golden brown 2 to 3 minutes.