Alternative to graham crackers for cheesecake?

Graham crackers are a sweet cracker (biscuit) that more closely resemble a cookie than a cracker, at least in flavor and usage.

Cheesecake does not necessarily have a crust. But if you want one, uou can substitute any crushed crisp cookie for the graham cracker in making your cheesecake crust (e.g., shortbread, chocolate or vanilla wafers, gingersnaps, etc.). I've frequently seen recipes calling for amaretti, and I think biscotti would probably work really well, too.


I've also had nut-based crusts on cheesecakes (crushed hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, etc.) which were quite delicious.

There are some cheesecakes that call for a pastry crust, but it doesn't sound very appealing to me. Of course, I've never had one, so I could be wrong!

Vanilla wafers, gingersnaps as mentioned. Animal crackers work well too.

Graham crackers are digestive biscuits.

Graham crackers usually come in large squares that have a perforation to break them into two rectangles. If your recipe calls for a specific number of graham crackers, the conversion is 15 graham cracker squares or 30 oblong crackers make 1 cup (250 ml) fine crumbs. The standard weight conversion is 66 graham crackers to the pound, so 1 cup/250 ml should be about 100 mg.

Roux is right, though -- you can use crumbs of just about any kind of cookie/biscuit, or nuts, or a mixture of the two. If you have some other kind you want to use, go for it! :lips: Use the conversion above.

you can make the crust with a cookie dough, I've used chocolate chocolate chip.also I]ve seen cake layers being used for the crust.

We use the cut off edges from lemon squares and brownies- but don't add any extra sugar or butter.My favorite is the lemon! Bake lightly before adding cheesecake filling. Biscotti work well too.

In the UK the equivilent for graham crackers is digestive biscuits.
They're not as fab for smores though, but then, when do we ever have the weather for a bbq in Scotland anyway. Bah humbug!!

Yes, digestive biscuits are the closest. But you can use other stuff, and you can also make a brisee crust. I have a recipe in a time-life cookbook for the Lindy's cheesecake that has a brisee crust - i believe that the crumb crust was invented for home cooks to make it easier.
where do you live?

I personally do not care for graham crackers. I usually do a shortbread type, like the crust for lemon bars. Put it on a cookie sheet and bake till light brown, watch carefully can go to dark brown in a few seconds it seems.
I let it cool off and then put in baggie and crush with rolling pin or if in a hurry, use food processor.
Like the above post, brownie edges make great crusts too. I use that for peanut butter pie and fudge mable cheesecake.
Enjoy,
Nan

home made graham crackers

if you can't find graham crackers anywhere, you can make it at home..


Makes about 48 2 1/2-inch squares (this will greatly depend on how thin you roll the dough)

2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (4.5 ounces) graham flour (whole wheat)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (2 ounces) brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 ounces unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all the ingredients in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until smooth and well combined, scraping down the bowl to make sure the butter is not stuck to the sides.

Spread the graham cracker dough onto a piece of parchment or a silpat.

Lay another piece of parchment or wax paper over the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin, until about an 1/8-inch thick. The thinner you get it the crisper the crackers and quicker they will bake.

Peel off the top parchment and transfer the bottom parchment with dough onto a cookie sheet.

Bake for about 8 minutes and then turn the cookie sheet around and bake for another 5-8 minutes. (If you want them to break into even squares, then score the dough with a fork midway through baking.) The crackers should be golden brown.

Cool on a rack. Once the cracker is cool you can break up into pieces. As you can see I just left it up to chance and didn’t score my dough, since I intend to pulverize them anyway!

If making the crackers into a crust then grind them up in a food processor. Use what you need for the crust and freeze the rest.



good luck!

If you want something close i would try ginger snaps.

What flavor cheesecake are you making? As you can see there are a number of options for your crust. Let the flavor of your filling be your guide. If you want a relatively neutral flavor a plain shortbread or vanilla wafer would be good. If you are doing a cheesecake with fall flavors, ie. pumpkin, apple, spice, then gingersnaps might be good, making a chocolate cheesecake or a coffee or nut flavored one, then maybe a crust of crushed chocolate wafers. The possibilities are many.

Chefhows suggestion reminded me...If you make chocolate refridgerater cake , use half graham crackers (digestive biscuits) and half ginger snaps and ignore the recipe if it mentions cake crumbs. Just make up the difference with biscuits. It'll still work. I dont pour chocolate on top, but i add almost twice the ammount of cocoa to the recipe. Makes it hard and chewy, but fab in tiny ammounts.
Add pistachios. Mostly for visual effect. I give it away free with the fruit platter in tiny triangular slivers as a Langniappe ( a little more than was asked for. Picked up that fabulous idea on my first visit to New Orleans) Customers love it.

I think you can be limited only by your imagination. There are many alternatives to graham crackers. Depending on the flavor of the cheesecake, you might use vanilla wafers, lady fingers, ginger snaps, chocolate wafers, chocolate chip cookies, coconut crisps, or any combination of flavorful 'crispies'. Savory cheesecake fillings pair well with crumbled potato chips or saltine crackers, or bread crumbs.

Crushed Oreo cookies work very well. Just ignore the calorie count :lol:

Zwieback cookies for babies make a great crust for cheesecake. They are not too sweet, and have a good texture for the cake.

any plain slightly sweet biscuit/cookie works well

i'd love to hear more about crushed oreo crust! how much of butter do you add to it? does it need anything else to make the crust? i'm a beginner, forgive my unprofessional questions! :)

2 or 3 tbs melted butter is enough for an 8" or 9" crust.

BDL

Biscotti make very good crust.  Use butter the same as with graham crackers,  but omit any additional sugar.  Biscotti can be purchased plain, or in a variety of exciting flavors, including with nuts.  Yum. 

For savory cheesecakes,  I go according to the flavor of the batter.  Corn chips or any sort of cracker work well for me.  Or just eliminate crust altogether.  However,  I have found that the crust tends to soak up the oils that settle out of the cake, making for a more pleasant product.

i usually use toasted pinenuts anymore. What with all the gluten free people popping out of the wood work these days. Have also used macadamia nuts. neither really need any extra butter to hold together just hit them in a food processor for a bit then mush into the bottom of the pan, bake to set (about 6-10 minutes) then pour cheescake mix over the top. I have found that when using Oreos,after processing, the white filling is enough by itself to provide a binding agent, maybe a spot (1 tsp) of melted butter to help moisten but not really neccessary.

I use egg whites to hold nut crusts together.  Works better than going bareback -- even with macadamias. 

BDL

I was beginning to wonder why nobody suggested nuts. They make great crusts for things like cheesecake.

Peanuts seem to compliment almost any cheesecake. But if you want to mix and match flavors, try hazelnuts, pistachios, cashews, or Brazil nuts.

When grinding nuts it's a good idea to use the pulse button on your processor. Over processing can turn them into a paste, because of their high oil content.

There are some cheesecakes that call for a pastry crust,

It's only recently that I heard about this. Have never even seen one, let alone tasted one made that way.

When I first heard about it I discussed it with a pastry chef friend who makes, on average, 250 cheesecakes a day. She wasn't familiar with it either. So I wonder if it was ever very common?

Crostata Riccota is certainly not uncommon.  At least not in Italy.  I posted my recipe here on Chef Talk.  But just in case you're too lazy to search, click this.  Further, the technique of using a pasta frolla or pate sucree works well with just about any cheesecake.  One more arrow in the quiver.

BDL 

This has probably been done but I'm going to try and make my favourtie ice cream cone flavour which is Tiger (black licorice and orange) on a sugar cone crust. Or as a twist go orange cheese cake with a black licorice drizzle.

I did an ice cream cake not long ago on a waffle cone crust.  It worked out really well; the waffle cone didn't hold it's crispness but the flavour was still there and it held together as a crust.  It would probably work even better as a cheesecake crust.  Wafer cookies make for a nice light crust... more of a pan liner than a structural componant.  Crumbled brownies work as well if you don't think the calorie count is high enough.  I like to leave the brownies rather chunky; it creates an iceburg effect in the cheesecake.

I realise now that a UK digestive biscuit crumb mixed with a little melted butter....is a replacement for the US Graham crackers

stale choco or regular cake crumbs, cookie crumbs, corn flakes, any cereal grain.granola , just about anything