These homemade Nabisco’s “famous chocolate wafers” are thin and buttery with a dark chocolate flavor that tastes like Oreos. Use these high altitude tested chocolate wafer cookies to make a cool and creamy classic icebox cake, with layers of chocolate wafers and fluffy whipped cream.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for dark chocolate mint sandwich cookies, chocolate brownie cookies, and double chocolate chip cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Better than Storebought. In 2023, Nabisco discontinued their famous chocolate wafers, much to the disappointment of bakers everywhere. But I dare say that this homemade version is just as good, if not better than the original cookies! With just a few simple ingredients, you can easily make this classic cookie to use for an icebox cake, a favorite make ahead dessert in the summer.
Square Shape. While the original cookies were round, I decided to make mine square, because, why not? If I’m going to make an icebox cake with chocolate wafer cookies, it just makes sense to start with a square shaped cookie, which makes it much easier to build and assemble the cookies with the whipped cream.
Long Shelf Life. These cookies keep extremely well, so you can make them in advance to use later. See the FAQs section above the recipe card for storing and freezing the dough and the baked cookies.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. However, today’s recipe for famous chocolate wafers will work just as well at low altitudes and sea level, too.
Ingredients
- Flour. Plain all purpose flour gives the cookies structure and strength.
- Cocoa Powder. You’ll be using a combination of Dutch processed cocoa powder and black cocoa powder. The black cocoa powder is what gives these chocolate wafer cookies their dark color and rich flavor, similar to an Oreo cookie.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the cookies, to balance the bitterness of the cocoa powder. The fine texture of the powdered sugar makes a softer, more tender cookie than if you used granulated sugar.
- Salt. Enhances the flavors.
- Butter. Adds moisture, a flaky texture, and a rich, buttery flavor.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Milk. Moistens the dough and binds it together.
Instructions
Make the Chocolate Dough
- In your food processor, pulse the flour, both cocoa powders, powdered sugar and salt until combined.
- With the processor running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at at time, pulsing a few times until the butter is evenly distributed, and the dough is moistened and crumbly.
- Add the vanilla and the milk, then process until the dough starts to stick together.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and use your hands to finish bringing the dough together, kneading in any stray dry ingredients. The dough should be soft, smooth and supple.
- Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Prepare two or three large baking sheets by lining them with sheets of parchment paper.
Roll the Dough and Cut the Cookies
- Work with half the dough at a time when rolling it out, keeping the rest refrigerated until needed. On a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour, place the dough, and dust the top of the dough with flour, too. Roll out to an even thickness of 1/8 inch thick, using more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter or the rolling pin.
- Use a 3-inch square cookie cutter to cut as many cookies as you can, placing them one inch apart on the parchment lined baking sheets. If you don’t have a square cookie cutter, you can also just cut the dough into 3-inch squares by using a ruler and a rolling pastry wheel cutter or pizza cutter.
- Gather up the scraps of dough, roll them out again, and continue cutting as many cookies as you can. You should be able to cut about 45-50 cookies.
Bake the Cookies
- Place the baking sheets with the cut cookies in the refrigerator to chill while you preheat the oven to 350 F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the cookies for 11 minutes. With chocolate cookies, it’s impossible for their color to be an indicator of doneness. But you shouldn’t see any appearance of raw or wet dough, and you should see tiny flaky layers around the edges.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the pan, then very gently transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. These cookies are delicate since they’re so thin, especially while warm so handle them carefully.
Icebox Cake Assembly
- With the square shape of the cookies, it’s easy to assemble your icebox cake, even if you don’t have the same size loaf pan I used. I used the small USA Bakeware Pullman Pan, but you can also build your cake directly onto a serving plate. With the pullman pan, I was able to shape my cake using three rows of eight cookies layered with whipped cream.
- Turn the cookies over, so the bottoms are facing up, and use a pastry brush to brush them with the 1/4 cup milk.
- Make 3x the recipe for Stabilized Whipped Cream.
- If using a loaf pan, line the pan with plastic wrap, so it hangs over all four sides. Use a spatula to spread a layer of the whipped cream around the sides and bottom of the pan.
- Spread a layer of whipped cream onto one side of the cookies, then arrange them side by side as shown in the photos. You want to be pretty generous with the whipped cream; without enough moisture, the cookies won’t get soft enough.
- Once all the cookies are layered with cream and arranged in rows to shape your cake, spread a thin layer of whipped cream on top of the cookies, then wrap the plastic wrap over the top. Set the pan in the refrigerator to chill at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. Refrigerate the leftover whipped cream in an airtight container.You can also freeze your icebox cake and serve it frozen, if preferred.
- When ready to serve, lift the cake out of the pan by the plastic wrap, and carefully set it on a serving plate. When you stir up the leftover whipped cream, it may deflate a little, so you can re-whip it for several minutes, if needed. Frost the cake all over with the remaining whipped cream, and sprinkle with crumbled cookies for decoration.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the leftover icebox cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll need a large bowl and a pastry cutter. In the bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Scatter with the cold butter pieces and use the pastry cutter to cut the butter in until very finely cut and evenly distributed. Drizzle with the vanilla and milk, then use your hands to work the liquid into the dry ingredients until it forms into a soft dough.
The baked cookies should be cooled completely then stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days. If you won’t be using them immediately, freeze the cookies in an airtight container for 3-6 months.
To make the dough in advance, wrap the disks of dough in plastic wrap, label them, and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for 3-6 months. Frozen dough should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Then take the dough out of the fridge about 1 hour before you’re ready to roll out the dough. It should still be cool to the touch when you roll it out, but pliable enough to roll without too much difficulty.
I used both The Cocoa Trader black cocoa powder and Cacao Barry Extra Brute Dutch processed cocoa powder.
You Might Also Like
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Homemade High Altitude Famous Chocolate Wafers (and an Icebox Cake)
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Food Processor or Pastry Cutter
- Rolling Pin and Cookie Cutters
- Stand Mixer with Paddle and Whisk Attachments
Ingredients
Chocolate Wafers
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ¼ cup black cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup whole milk
Icebox Cake
- 24 chocolate wafers
- ¼ cup milk
- 3x Stabilized Whipped Cream
Instructions
Make the Chocolate Dough
- In your food processor, pulse the flour, both cocoa powders, powdered sugar and salt until combined.
- With the processor running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at at time, pulsing a few times until the butter is evenly distributed, and the dough is moistened and crumbly.
- Add the vanilla and the milk, then process until the dough starts to stick together.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and use your hands to finish bringing the dough together, kneading in any stray dry ingredients. The dough should be soft, smooth and supple.
- Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Prepare two or three large baking sheets by lining them with sheets of parchment paper.
Roll the Dough and Cut the Cookies
- Work with half the dough at a time when rolling it out, keeping the rest refrigerated until needed. On a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour, place the dough, and dust the top of the dough with flour, too. Roll out to an even thickness of 1/8 inch thick, using more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter or the rolling pin.
- Use a 3-inch square cookie cutter to cut as many cookies as you can, placing them one inch apart on the parchment lined baking sheets. If you don't have a square cookie cutter, you can also just cut the dough into 3-inch squares by using a ruler and a rolling pastry wheel cutter or pizza cutter.
- Gather up the scraps of dough, roll them out again, and continue cutting as many cookies as you can. You should be able to cut about 45-50 cookies.
Bake the Cookies
- Place the baking sheets with the cut cookies in the refrigerator to chill while you preheat the oven to 350 F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the cookies for 11 minutes. With chocolate cookies, it's impossible for their color to be an indicator of doneness. But you shouldn't see any appearance of raw or wet dough, and you should see tiny flaky layers around the edges.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the pan, then very gently transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. These cookies are delicate since they're so thin, especially while warm so handle them carefully.
Icebox Cake Assembly
- With the square shape of the cookies, it's easy to assemble your icebox cake, even if you don't have the same size loaf pan I used. I used the small USA Bakeware Pullman Pan, but you can also build your cake directly onto a serving plate. With the pullman pan, I was able to shape my cake using three rows of eight cookies layered with whipped cream.
- Turn the cookies over, so the bottoms are facing up, and use a pastry brush to brush them with the 1/4 cup milk.
- If using a loaf pan, line the pan with plastic wrap, so it hangs over all four sides. Use a spatula to spread a layer of the whipped cream around the sides and bottom of the pan.
- Spread a layer of whipped cream onto one side of the cookies, then arrange them side by side as shown in the photos. You want to be pretty generous with the whipped cream; without enough moisture, the cookies won't get soft enough.
- Once all the cookies are layered with cream and arranged in rows to shape your cake, spread a thin layer of whipped cream on top of the cookies, then wrap the plastic wrap over the top. Set the pan in the refrigerator to chill at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. Refrigerate the leftover whipped cream in an airtight container.You can also freeze your icebox cake and serve it frozen, if preferred.
- When ready to serve, lift the cake out of the pan by the plastic wrap, and carefully set it on a serving plate. When you stir up the leftover whipped cream, it may deflate a little, so you can re-whip it for several minutes, if needed. Frost the cake all over with the remaining whipped cream, and sprinkle with crumbled cookies for decoration.
Notes
- Making the Dough without a Food Processor: If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll need a large bowl and a pastry cutter. In the bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Scatter with the cold butter pieces and use the pastry cutter to cut the butter in until very finely cut and evenly distributed. Drizzle with the vanilla and milk, then use your hands to work the liquid into the dry ingredients until it forms into a soft dough.
- Storing the Baked Cookies: The baked cookies should be cooled completely then stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days. If you won’t be using them immediately, freeze the cookies in an airtight container for 3-6 months.
- Freezing the Dough: To make the dough in advance, wrap the disks of dough in plastic wrap, label them, and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for 3-6 months. Frozen dough should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Then take the dough out of the fridge about 1 hour before you’re ready to roll out the dough. It should still be cool to the touch when you roll it out, but pliable enough to roll without too much difficulty.
- Storage: Store the leftover icebox cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
I live at sea level in Florida. Would I make any adjustments with this recipe? Thank you.
Since these don’t have any leavening, no adjustments are needed for other altitudes.
I hope you all love this recipe as much as I do!