Graham cracker crusts might be the classic, but you cannot beat a Lotus Biscoff biscuit base! A cookie crumb crust with a light caramel flavour - perfect for bakes and also no bake cheesecakes, tarts and pies.
Ingredients for Biscoff Biscuit Base
This crushed cookie crust requires only three ingredients:
- Lotus Biscoff Biscuits - crushed in a food processor to a fine crumb.
- Sugar - superfine granulated sugar or caster sugar.
- Butter - unsalted butter, melted.
Tips for Biscuit Base
As with most baking and desserts, the key is all in the ratio.
1. 1:8 ratio sugar to crushed biscuit
While Biscoff Biscuits are fairly sweet on their own, you will likely want to still add a bit of sugar (especially if you will be using this in a no bake dessert).
This is because the sugar, mixed with the melted butter, helps the mixture to firm up more thoroughly. This results in a less crumbly finished base when slicing.
I recommend using 1 part sugar to 8 parts cookie crumb. So in my basic recipe, this means ¼ cup sugar (4 tablespoons) to 2 cups crushed Biscoff biscuits (36 tablespoons).
2. Use a measuring cup to help press firm
To help pack your crust well and evenly, use a measuring cup or another flat bottomed utensil to help press the crumb down. This will help provide a more even base than using your hand and will be a bit less messy.
You will most likely still want to use your hand to help guide the crust around the sides of your tray.
3. Chill the crust before filling
To help the crust firm up and hold shape, place this in the refrigerator for about an hour before filling. This will help avoid bits coming loose when you add your filling.
FAQs for Biscoff Cookie Crust
A Lotus Biscoff biscuit base will keep for a few days prior to filling. To ensure it solidifies thoroughly, keep in the fridge once pressed into the shell.
Once filled this can then keep well for an additional few days dependent on the filling.
The longer the crust is kept in the refrigerator once filled, the more this may become soggy or separate from the filling (again dependent more on what type of pie/cake/etc. you have made).
Yes, absolutely - this cookie crust recipe can be frozen. I would recommend making the crust fresh for your pie, tart or cheesecake and once the full bake is completed, then follow instructions to freeze. Since the crust itself is a quick recipe, freezing once the full dessert is assembled (unless otherwise specified) will save more time to benefit making ahead.
Yes, you can certainly use a butter substitute in this recipe. The substitute you use should be something that solidifies - so I would not recommend trying to use butter substitutes such as oils. These may not firm up as much as necessary.
The measurements in this recipe and the suggested ratios should work fairly well across most biscuit or crushed cookie crusts. Filled cookies (such as Oreos) if the filling is kept in, will not normally need additional sugar.
If you love biscuit bases, you might also like:
Lotus Biscoff Biscuit Base
Ingredients
- 2 cups crushed Lotus Biscoff biscuit crumbs
- ¼ cup caster sugar or superfine granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs and sugar. Then add the melted butter and stir well to form a coarse lightly damp crumb.
- Transfer the mixture to your pie shell, tart base or springform tin. Press firmly to pack this into the tin evenly on the base and up the sides to the desired depth.
- Place in the refrigerator to chill for about 1 hour before filling.
Cathy
Just wondering what the bake time and temp would be, if using this for a baked pie!
Liz Mincin
Hi Cathy - the bake time/temp will depend on the filling in that case. Depending on the temperature you're baking at, you might find the exposed edges brown a bit, if at a high temp.
Susann Codish
Similar to Lindsey's question, how many biscuits make a cup? Alternatively, how many grams? It would be great to have this information on hand.
Liz Mincin
Absolutely understand - I've enabled a conversion option on the recipe card, which should allow you to see the metric (grams) unit. In my experience, I find that it takes about 50 cookies. I usually grind up 2 of the standard sized packs (or at least standard in my local shops), which is about 64 cookies and then store leftovers for other baking! Hope this helps!
lindsey
How many packages of biscoff cookies makes 2 cups? Thanks!
Liz Mincin
It may differ depending on where you are and what type of packages are available - but I usually grind 2 of the standard packs of Lotus Biscuits (the ones that aren't individually wrapped), which tends to give me a bit more than 2 cups, but I like to store the extra for use later. You can store any excess in a ziploc bag or a jar - the crumbs keep for ages 🙂
Christina
Thank you for the recipe Liz! Any idea how to modify the recipe for a 10” tart pan?
Liz Mincin
You're so welcome! For a 10" pan, I'd probably add a 1/4 cup more crushed lotus biscuits and another 1/2 tablespoon of melted butter, but it will depend a bit on how far up the sides of the pan you need the shell to go and how thick you like to keep the base. Let me know how you get on!