Icebox cake fans and cookie pie crust lovers are in mourning: Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers are no more.
Introduced in 1924 and responsible for popularizing icebox cakes, the cookies were “delisted” this year according to a representative from Mondelez International, Nabisco’s parent company. And to rub salt on the wound, the reliable alternative that I’ve used in the past, 365 by Whole Foods Market Brownie Cookie Thins, is also no longer being carried by the grocery chain.
But all is not lost! For icebox cakes in particular, almost any cookie or cracker can be used to assemble the no-bake desserts, and there are plenty of alternatives to make chocolate cookie crusts for pies and cheesecakes. Here’s a rundown of some of the options, along with our top pick as a near dupe for the Famous Chocolate Wafers. (R.I.P.)
Chocolate graham crackers. Unfortunately, these have also become more difficult to find recently. (Is there some sort of chocolate cookie conspiracy going on?) Instead of the standard large rectangles, much of what I see available at supermarkets and online are small animal shapes, which would make them easy for layering in an icebox cake. One thing to keep in mind flavor-wise is that you’ll have to contend with the whole wheat graham flour and honey flavorings in your desserts. (Kodiak Chocolate Graham Bear Bites Price: $6 / 9 ounces online)
Tate’s Bake Shop Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are the sweetest of the bunch — perhaps a result of the semisweet chocolate chips they’re studded with — so you might want to adjust other components when using in a recipe. And while these could work in icebox cakes (the chocolate chips might be an issue if you’re trying to blend into a crust), I’d rather enjoy them as-is with a cold glass of milk. (Tate’s took top prize in our store-bought chocolate chip cookie taste test a few years ago.) (Price: $6.29 / 7 ounces at Streets Market)
Goya Maria Chocolate Cookies. Subtly sweet, these traditional Spanish-style biscuits are extremely versatile and would work great in any recipe. On the flip side, they lack the rich chocolate flavor that Nabisco’s wafers were famous for. (Price: $1.49 / 7 ounces at Streets Market)
Simple Mills Chocolate Brownie Sweet Thins. If you are gluten free, these are the cookies for you. They’re made from a seed-and-nut-flour blend and offer a decent amount of chocolate flavor with a nice snap. And because they’re on the smaller end of the spectrum, similar to the animal-shaped graham crackers, they would be easy to layer in icebox cakes. (Price: $4.01 / 4.25 ounces on Amazon)
Oreo Thins. When the Mondelez rep (they also own Oreo) mentioned these as a replacement for their discontinued wafers, I was initially skeptical. Surely they simply wanted to plug another one of their products. But then I realized that they have a similar size and bittersweet chocolate flavor as the Famous Chocolate Wafers. The thin layer of cream in the middle makes them perhaps a touch sweeter, but it’s negligible. And while you might think that cream would be an issue in recipes, Jessie Sheehan, author of the “Icebox Cakes” cookbook, said in an Instagram Reel that the cream will just blend into a cookie crust or sort of melt into the whipped cream of an icebox cake. Plus, of all of the options listed here, these cookies will be the easiest to find for most people. (Price: $4.99 / 10.1 ounces at Target)
Dewey’s Bakery Brownie Crisp Cookies. If you want a cookie that is almost identical in both shape and flavor to the Famous Chocolate Wafers (based off memory, as we couldn’t find any to do a side-by-side comparison) — this is it. Founded in 1930 in Winston-Salem, N.C., this once-local bakery went nationwide in 2018. The brand is sold at large chains such as Albertsons and Safeway, and they can be ordered online if you can’t source them from your local grocery store. These thin, crispy, chocolaty, bittersweet cookies would be great layered with cream in an icebox cake or blitzed into a pie crust. Or, I’d be just as happy snacking on them with a cup of coffee or shoveling them into my mouth by the handful for a sweet snack. (Price: $6.49 / 9 ounces online)
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