No Famous Chocolate Wafers? No problem.

July 28, 2023 by
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Nabisco recently roiled home bakers by announcing that they were discontinuing their Famous Chocolate Wafer cookies. People relied on these dark, crumbly cookies for no-bake cakes and crumb crusts, and bakers lamented the loss so much they started a petition for Nabisco to change its mind. Whether or not this petition is successful, you may want to have a backup plan that includes homemade chocolate wafer cookies.

Two websites recently touted their recipes as the best substitute for the Nabisco wafers, which would have celebrated its 100th birthday next year. King Arthur Baking boasts that its recipe is even better than the commercial product, while Southern Living is more modest, noting that their test kitchen has “cracked the code” to replicate the flavor and texture of the original. In the NPR article linked above, Zoë François says she has a copycat recipe that comes close. I’ve also seen love for Deb Perelman’s Homemade chocolate wafers (pictured above) on social media, with a few shout outs to Oreo Thins as a stand-in.

If none of these look good to you, there are literally hundreds of chocolate wafer cookie recipes in the EYB Library. Potential contenders include Chocolate wafers from Delicious Magazine (AUS), Chocolate Wafers from Chocolate is Forever by Maida Heatter, and Crunchy Chocolate Wafers from Canadian Living Best Cookies & Squares.

Not only are the Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies beloved by millions, it’s likely that the entire concept of the icebox cake was invented by Nabisco as a ‘back of the box’ recipe. “In a 1929 ad, Nabisco introduced the idea of layering the wafers with whipped cream,” writes Southern Living contributing editor Sheri Castle, who investigated the history of Nabisco’s Chocolate Wafer Zebra Cake, the recipe for which was printed on the cookies’ packaging. While permutations have evolved over the years, this appears to be the OG of icebox cakes.

Category: Antipasto

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6 Comments

  • anya_sf  on  July 28, 2023

    I discovered this back in April when I was hoping to make the chocolate tart from Ina Garten’s Go-to Dinners. I tried to substitute some other chocolate cookies (albeit somewhat softer) which did not work at all. Fortunately I hadn’t started on the filling at that point. I had thought to try chocolate graham crackers to avoid having to bake my own. Would love other commercially-available suggestions (because sometimes I am lazy and do not want to bake cookies just so I can make a tart).

  • gamulholland  on  July 28, 2023

    Please delete this if it’s not OK to post the petition link to bring back Famous Chocolate Wafers, but here goes just in case:

    https://www.change.org/p/bring-back-nabisco-famous-chocolate-wafers

  • annmartina  on  July 28, 2023

    Do Teddy Grahams still come in chocolate? I used to use these in a pinch

  • averythingcooks  on  July 29, 2023

    T’s most requested birthday treat is the chocolate wafer layered with whip cream “cake”…I’m not a fan at all but once again promised him one this past March. When I returned home to announce that I couldn’t find the wafers in either grocery store, the convenience store and the little deli/grocery he (secretly) didn’t believe me and went off to search on his own. Yes, T – I was being truthful…they were NOWHERE in this town. And now we both know why 🙂

  • demomcook  on  July 29, 2023

    I was thinking that Annies’ Chocolate bunnies would also be a possible substitute, as well as Trader Joe’s Chocolatey Cat Cookies. Both have that nice crunch.

  • Kinhawaii  on  July 31, 2023

    A received dark chocolate cookie thins from Mandy’s as a gift & used them in Ina’s chocolate tart. They have sugar on them so I add less sugar but they were a good substitute. I’ve always had problems finding those cookies where I lived. Sometimes I’ve used Oreos as a substitute for it in cheesecakes.

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