Crumb Crusts

By Ben Mims

Credit: Todd Coleman

The crust for our chocolate cream pie is made with nothing more than brown sugar, butter, and crumbled chocolate wafers, which constitute the crust's flour component. Here are three other delicious crumb crusts you can use for that recipe (and for many other types of chilled cream pie). 

1. Vanilla wafer crust: Add 1 1⁄2 cups crumbled vanilla wafers (roughly 50 cookies), 4 tbsp. melted butter, and 2 tbsp. sugar to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined; press mixture into bottom and sides of a 9" pie dish. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes and let cool completely. 

2. Gingersnap crust: Add 1 1⁄2 cups crumbled gingersnaps (about 30 cookies), 1⁄4 cup flour, and 4 tbsp. melted butter to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined; press mixture into bottom and sides of a 9" pie dish. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes and let cool completely. 

3. Pecan crust: Add 2 1⁄2 cups pecan halves, 1⁄4 cup sugar, and 4 tbsp. melted butter to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined; press mixture into bottom and sides of a 9" pie dish. Bake at 375° until browned at the edges, 20–25 minutes, and let cool completely.