-
Prep time
10 minutes
-
Cook time
1 hour
-
Serves
12
Author Notes
My mom, Judy Hesser, has been making this cheesecake for decades. The original recipe was made with gingersnap cookies, but my mother went her own way and used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers instead. The layers of dark chocolate crust, a sweet cream cheese layer, and tangy sour cream top layer made this a family classic.
When Nabisco discontinued the wafers in early 2023, she needed to find a substitute, so she developed a new chocolate crust recipe using Nilla Wafers, cocoa, and butter. The texture of the crust is a little softer—in a good way—and the flavor is nearly the same as the original. Cheesecake saved!
—Amanda Hesser
Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
- For the crust:
-
40
Nilla Wafers
-
1/3 cup
salted butter
-
1/3 cup
cocoa powder (I like Ghirardelli 100% premium)
- For the filling:
-
1 pound
cream cheese, at room temperature
-
2
eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
-
2/3, plus 1/4 cups
granulated sugar
-
1
vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and seeds scraped, or 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
-
1 1/2 cups
sour cream, at room temperature
Directions
-
Make the crust. Put the Nilla Wafers in a 1-gallon, zip-top bag, press out excess air and seal the bag. Using a rolling pin, crush the wafers to a very fine crumb. Make sure no wafer lumps remain or you’ll have a lumpy crust! You can also do this in a food processor if you prefer.
-
In a small pan set over low heat, melt the butter. This can also be done in a bowl in the microwave. Cool slightly.
-
Stir the cocoa powder into the melted butter to make a smooth sauce.
-
Stir 1 1/4 cups of the fine wafer crumbs into the butter/cocoa sauce until all the crumbs are absorbed with the sauce and you have a sandy-textured mixture.
-
Line the base of a 9” springform pan with parchment, then press the crust onto the bottom of the pan and up the sides about an inch.
-
Make the filling. Heat the oven to 350°F with a baking sheet on the center rack.
-
In a mixer fitted with a whisk (or by hand with a bowl and wooden spoon), beat the cream cheese until creamy and fluffy. Add the eggs, ⅔ cup sugar and the seeds from the vanilla bean, and beat until very smooth. Scrape the bowl with a spatula to break up lumps, and mix again as needed. Pour into the crust, and bake on the baking sheet for 25 minutes.
-
Meanwhile, blend the sour cream with ¼ cup sugar. After 25 minutes, remove the cake from the oven, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Increase the oven heat to 450°F. Gently spoon the sour cream mixture on top, and spread evenly. Return the cake to the oven and bake for 7 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. You can eat the cheesecake once cool, but my mom prefers to chill it overnight so the layers firm up. Your call!
Before starting Food52 with Merrill, I was a food writer and editor at the New York Times. I've written several books, including "Cooking for Mr. Latte" and "The Essential New York Times Cookbook." I played myself in "Julie & Julia" -- hope you didn't blink, or you may have missed the scene! I live in Brooklyn with my husband, Tad, and twins, Walker and Addison.
See what other Food52ers are saying.