Good cheescake crust- not graham cracker

[Agordo]

Hello!

Unfortunately I cannot find graham crackers where I am (China) so are there any good substitutes that you can recommend for the crust?

Thanks!

[fadingdeath]

My mom always used crushed pretzels instead of grahm crackers under a no-bake fruit topped cheescake. I'm not certain that pretzle bits would work with a baked type of cheesecake, but then I've always prefered the no-bake variety.

[cassoulady]

vanilla wafers and hazelnuts with some butter is my favorite

[Island Girl]

After moving to the Caribbean some of my baking practices changed as certain ingredients were no longer available. When I was back in Canada I'd schlep back boxes of ground Oreo cookie crumbs or graham cracker crumbs in my "food" suitcase. One day I looked at the ingredients on the boxes and realised there were things I didn't like and then I resolved to do something different. Now depending on what kind of crust I want I just make up a cookie dough - usually half a recipe - and press it into the bottom of a spring form pan and then bake it at 350F for 12-15 minutes. Like the other posters have said when you create your own crust you can also tweak it by adding other ingredients. Yesterday I made a Key Lime Cheesecake [with limes from the garden yipee] and I made a chocolate cookie wafer crust recipe to which I added some lime rind and coarse sugar. If you would like the recipe please let me know.....

[Chocolatechipkt]

That sounds fabulous. I'd love the recipe when you have a chance.

[Chocolatechipkt]

I frequently use ground up almonds (or other nuts, depending on the flavor of the cheesecake) along with a little butter, sugar, and cinnamon (etc) for a cheesecake crust, esp. around Passover. Sometimes I add flour or almond paste or something else, but the almonds, sugar and butter work pretty well by themselves, too.

[HillJ]

sweet brown rice makes a wonderful cheesecake crust. Good luck in your choices; great ones here.

[Jack_]

Just made a cheesecake and used Social Tea biscuits instead of graham crackers. I found them a bit too dense, not bad though. I think next time I'll make my own shortbread crust

[hippiechickinsing]

I found that Marie biscuits make the crust most similar in taste and texture to a graham cracker crust if you're trying to keep it familiar. You can also find recipes for making graham crackers online, although you may not be able to find the right flours in your region.

[Cherylptw]

You can make a shortbread crust which is easy & simple with flour, butter, sugar and vanilla extract...add chopped nuts or oats, if you want

You can use practically any cookie to make a crust, just pulse it to make crumbs and add a little butter to bind. I don't add extra sugar (it's a cookie already and it has sugar) but you can. Puff pastry dough works well also...

[just_M]

I've used several different kinds of cookies, even chocolate chip and biscotti. Just give it a taste to see if it needs salt, sugar, butter, or ...? of course now I need to play with the cake suggested above.

[mcf]

Ginger snaps or other ginger cookies make a killer good crust for cheesecake.

[buttertart]

If digestive biscuits (McVitie's is one brand, there are HK knockoffs) are available (I've seen them in some markets in big cities in China) they make a very good substitute.

[another_adam]

+1 on the digestives - these are one of my favorite sources of crumbs for a crumb crust!

[roxlet]

I just used McVities here in Egypt to make a cheese cake. I actually liked them better than graham crackers. I agree with most of the posters that any dry cookie or biscuit could be used for this purpose.

[Agordo]

Perfect. Digestives it is! They are everywhere here.

[buttertart]

That's what I thought (and what I used while living in Taipei).

[ChristinaMason]

Pretty much any butter cookie, pulverized, should do in a pinch. In that case, don't add any sugar if your graham crust recipe calls for it.

[chowser]

Not just butter cookies, either. Dry cake works great, any dry/day old baked goods really, base it on the flavor of the cheesecake.

[gourmet wife]

Use almond cookies. Not the really dense ones but the one with a almond on top so it's lighter in texture.

[nemo]

A second thought was, depending on the flavor of your cheesecake, to use gingersnaps. You could make those from scratch, if need be.

And here's a recipe for homemade graham crackers from a fairly popular blogger, in case you want to tackle them from scratch.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/05/gra...

[nemo]

Can you find Oreos or other creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies? Grind them up in a food processor and you don't have to add extra butter -- the creme filling acts as the binder. Alternatively, if you can find plain chocolate or vanilla wafer cookies, they can be mixed with sugar and butter like graham crackers.

[hotoynoodle]

also a nut base, like finely ground almonds (or almond flour), with butter and sugar, zipped together and patted down as a crust.

[visciole]

Yes, the nut crust is a great idea. Trader Joe's sells almond flour quite cheaply.

[hotoynoodle]

i don't think trader joe's has yet expanded to china, lol.

[visciole]

Oh, yeah, seems I missed the part about China :)

[Val]

I have a recipe for an oat and nut crust from Quaker oats...this is really great if anyone would like to try it. Haven't made it recently but in the past, everyone really has loved it. Filling is nice and light, too.

[goodhealthgourmet]

i've been using oats to make a no-fuss crust for years - it pairs well with practically any filling, from fruit pies & tarts, to cheesecake, pumpkin, or even chocolate. fortunately i can still do it with GF oats!

[Val]

That's good! I don't have a gluten problem but is it hard to find gluten-free oats? Just wondering.

[goodhealthgourmet]

fortunately, in the past year or so they've become much easier to find and the price has come down. they used to be *obscenely* expensive - i'm talking $7-8 per pound! and that was assuming i could even find them. but now Bob's Red Mill offers them and they're usually in stock at WFM, Wild Oats and Henry's...and the smaller/independent brands are now more common & less expensive too. the price is still appreciably higher than what you'd pay for conventional oats - usually around $6 or $7 for a 2-lb bag, but i can sometimes find them on sale for $4 or $5. ALL GF products are more expensive. it sucks, but i'm sad to say i've gotten used to it.