Chocolate Wafer Cookie Crust Recipes

Steps:

• Mix crumbs and melted butter or margarine until well blended. Press into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Chill until firm.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse ground chocolate wafers, butter, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a food processor until well combined.
• Pat mixture into a 9-inch pie dish, pressing firmly into bottom and up sides. Bake until crust is fragrant and darkens slightly, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Put the cookies in the container of a food processor; process them until they are finely ground.
• Transfer crumbs to a mixing bowl; combine crumbs, butter, salt, and vanilla; stir until the crumbs are moistened.
• Press mixture evenly across the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate and all the way up the sides of the pan; pack tightly so crust is even and compacted.
• Bake in a 350° oven for 6-8 minutes or until crisp.
• Let cool completely before filling.
• May wrap crust in plastic wrap and freeze for 1 month.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla; beat to combine. With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture, and beat to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Press dough into 10-inch springform pan as instructed in Raspberry-Swirl Cheesecake recipe.

Steps:

• Spray a 9-inch glass pie plate with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a small saucepan stir together butter and 1 ounce chocolate until melted and combined.
• Finely grind the chocolate wafer crumbs in a processor.
• Add in the chocolate/butter mixture to the processor and mix until the crumbs are moistened.
• Press into the prepared pie plate.
• Freeze until firm (about 30 minutes).

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse wafers until finely ground. Add butter, sugar, and salt, and process until well combined. Press mixture firmly into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until crust is firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler, over hot water, on moderate heat. Cover until partially melted, then uncover and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool slightly.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter.
• Add the vanilla and sugar, and beat to mix well.
• Add the melted chocolate, and beat until incorporated. Then add the light cream or milk and the egg, and beat to mix well.
• On low speed add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, and beating only until incorporated.
• Place the dough on a piece of wax paper, fold the sides of the paper over the dough, and press down on the paper to flatten the dough to a scant 1" thickness.
• Wrap in the waxed paper and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes (no longer or the dough will crack when you roll it out). (However, if you do refrigerate it for longer (even overnight) let it stand at room temperature for about 1 hour before rolling it out.)
• Adjust two racks to divide oven into thirds, and preheat oven to 400.
• Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil.
• Flour a pastry cloth and place the dough on it. (If you have doubled the recipe, roll only half of the dough at a time.)
• With a floured rolling pin (which should be refloured frequently to avoid sticking), roll the dough out until it is only 1/8" thick (thin). I use a round cookie cutter that is 2 3/4" in diameter. Use any size you like, and cut the cookies as close to each other as possible.
• Place the cookies 1/2" apart on the aluminum foil. (It might be necessary to transfer the cookies from the pastry cloth to the foil with a wide metal spatula. Handle them carefully in order to keep them perfectly round and flat.
• Leftover pieces of the dough should be pressed together and rerolled.
• Bake 2 sheets at a time, for 7-8 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom, and front to back once, to insure even taking.
• Bake until the cookies feel almost firm to the touch.
• These are supposed to be crisp (they will become more crisp as they cool) and they should not be underbaked, but watch them carefully to be sure they do not burn. (If you bake one sheet at a time, bake it on the upper rack.)
• With a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to racks to cool.
• Store in airtight container.