Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Sweetzels Spiced Wafers

Sweetzels Spiced Wafers are tough cookies — crunchy, substantial, nothing wafer-like about them. The secrets of their flavor: unsulphured molasses and what the ingredients list calls “spices” — allspice, clnnamon, clove, and ginger. Spiced Wafers are like emotionally complicated ginger snaps — darker, moodier, more intense.

Spiced Wafers are a seasonal item, sold in fall and winter. Once a Philadelphia specialty, they can now be had elsewhere. Elaine and I found them at a Big Lots in “east-central Illinois,” $2.00 for an 18 oz. box. We bought one box on Saturday and several more yesterday. How many are “several”? Let’s just say that we now have close to 2000% of the day’s iron stashed beside our wine rack.

Related reading
Serendipitous searching at Big Lots
Sweetzels (Company website)

comments: 3

Wayne Nix said...

If it's at a Big Lots that means it didn't sell somewhere else.

They used to have these Swiss cookies for $1.00 a box. They usually sell at $8 a box at other places. When they ran out they never got any more. I bet the same thing happens with the Spiced Wafers.

Genevieve Netz said...

I will look for them at our Big Lots. The ingredients remind me of Fannie Farmer's great molasses Spice Cookies A modern version of the recipe appears at the bottom of this page. Here is a vegetarian version. On another website, I read an adaptation that included a dose of black pepper in the spices.

Michael Leddy said...

Maxwell, I’ve seen the same thing happen with tea at Big Lots. Perhaps a supermarket chain dropped Spiced Wafers from its inventory.

Genevieve, thanks for the recipe links. I suspect that Elaine will want to try one soon.