Chocolate Wafer Cookies substitute

Substitutes for Chocolate Wafer Cookies with ratios

1. 2Imported chocolate thins, chocolate snaps or thin chocolate shortbread

   Close match

   Use the same amount by count for layering, or 1:1 by weight for crumbs

   Thin crisp chocolate biscuits from European and Scandinavian brands, sold as thins, snaps or chocolate rounds.

   What changes

   Best for

   icebox cakes, crumb crusts, cheesecake bases, cookie garnishes, trifle layers

   The closest thing on the shelf, and in some cases a straight upgrade, since many of these are made with real chocolate rather than cocoa and taste considerably better than the discontinued original. Check two things. They should be genuinely thin and snap cleanly when bent, because a thicker cookie will still be hard in the middle after a night in the fridge. And they should not be very sweet, since these desserts rely on the cookie's bitterness to balance a lot of whipped cream. Thin chocolate shortbread is richer in butter and softens faster, which is fine overnight but makes for a slightly greasier crust.

2. 3Homemade chocolate wafers

   Close match

   Makes roughly 40 to 50 two-inch wafers, about the same as the 9 oz box older recipes call for

   The original made from scratch, which is a rolled cookie dough with a lot of cocoa and not much sugar.

   What changes

   Best for

   icebox cakes, crumb crusts, cheesecake bases, ice cream sandwiches

   By far the best result and genuinely not difficult. Cream 1/2 cup (113 g) butter with 1 cup (200 g) sugar, beat in 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla, then mix in 1 cup (125 g) flour, 3/4 cup (65 g) Dutch-process cocoa, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Chill the dough, roll it about an eighth of an inch thick, cut 2-inch rounds and bake at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes until firm at the edges. The critical part is baking them until they are properly dry, because a soft wafer turns to paste instead of softening into layers. They will crisp further as they cool, so judge when cold, not warm.

3. 4Chocolate graham crackers or chocolate animal crackers

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by weight, and assemble an icebox cake 4 to 6 hours ahead rather than overnight

   Chocolate versions of standard crumb-crust crackers, easy to find and cheap.

   What changes

   Best for

   crumb crusts, quick icebox cakes, cheesecake bases, crumb toppings

   Fine for crusts with no adjustment at all. For an icebox cake there is one real caveat: grahams are more porous and more sweetly honeyed than chocolate wafers, so they absorb cream faster and can go from pleasantly cake-like to mushy in a full overnight chill. Four to six hours usually hits the right point. The finished dessert also tastes sweeter and less bittersweet, so whip the cream with half the sugar the recipe suggests, or none at all, to keep it in balance.

4. 5Chocolate biscotti or brownie brittle, for crumbs only

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by weight, with 1 to 2 tbsp less butter per 1 ½ cups of crumbs

   Very dry, very crisp chocolate biscuits used where you need crumbs rather than whole cookies.

   What changes

   Best for

   crumb crusts, cheesecake bases, crumb toppings, parfait layers

   Good crumbs, wrong shape, so this is a crust option and not an icebox cake one. Both are dry enough to make a crisp base and both are richer than a true wafer, biscotti from nuts and eggs, brownie brittle from butter and sugar, so cut the butter back by a tablespoon or two or the crust turns oily. Brownie brittle in particular is quite sweet and intensely fudgy, which suits a tart or citrus filling and overwhelms a delicate one. Crush finer than you think you need, because both leave hard shards that make slicing awkward.

5. 6Ladyfingers or plain vanilla wafers with cocoa, as a last resort

   Different taste

   Use the same amount by count for layering, dusting each layer with cocoa

   Non-chocolate dry biscuits, used for their texture and dusted to approximate the colour and bitterness.

   What changes

   Best for

   icebox cakes, trifles, layered desserts

   The honest bottom of the list. Ladyfingers are the right texture for an icebox cake, dry and porous and designed to soften, so the structure works and the dessert slices well. What is missing is the chocolate itself, and a dusting of cocoa between layers only partly hides that: the result tastes like a vanilla icebox cake with cocoa in it, paler and sweeter, closer to a tiramisu than a chocolate icebox cake. Use it when the alternative is not making the dessert, and consider folding 2 tablespoons of cocoa into the whipped cream as well.