Chocolate cookie crumbs

One US cup of chocolate cookie crumbs weighs between 112 and 126.2 grams (4 to 4.5 ounces), depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. Use 112 grams (4 ounces) as USDA weighs a cup of chocolate wafer crumbs. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

Crumbs and cereals compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.

A cup of chocolate cookie crumbs weighs between 112 and 126 g (4 to 4.5 oz). USDA weighs a cup of crushed chocolate wafers at 112 g, and a packaged Oreo baking crumb weighs about 126 g; the page recommends USDA's 112 g for crumbs made at home.

Chocolate cookie crumbs are crushed chocolate wafers or the wafer part of chocolate sandwich cookies, sold ready-made as Oreo baking crumbs in some countries and made at home in a food processor or a bag with a rolling pin. They are the base of chocolate cookie crusts for cheesecake, icebox pies, ice cream pies and grasshopper pie, and they are layered into icebox cakes and dirt cups.

USDA's record for chocolate wafer cookies gives a cup of crumbs at 112 g. The weight is shown on Carb Manager, which copies USDA's portions, and two other copies of the same record agree: getfoodfacts lists the portion for FDC 172714, and University Hospitals' nutrient page for that cup works out to 112 g. Christie's Oreo Baking Crumbs, made in Canada from the chocolate wafer without the creme, give two tablespoons as 16 g, which is 126 g per US cup. The two are 12.7% apart, past the 10% this site allows for crumbs and other milled ingredients, so the page shows the range and recommends 112 g.

Two figures are listed without values. Nabisco's foodservice Oreo cookie pieces give a quarter cup as 29 g, 116 g a cup, but they are broken whole Oreos with the creme, and 29 g is close to the 30 g reference weight the FDA sets for cookies. King Arthur Baking's chart lists "Cookie crumbs" at 85 g a cup without naming the cookie; that matches vanilla wafer crumbs, which USDA weighs at 80 g, much better than chocolate ones.

The physical check: crumb weight follows the cookie. Chocolate wafers are thin, hard and dense, and they break into small, firm, angular crumbs that settle into each other; machine-ground baking crumbs are finer still and pack tighter, which fits the packaged crumb's heavier figure. Light, airy cookies such as vanilla wafers crush into fluffier crumbs, about 80 g a cup. Graham cracker crumbs sit between, at about 102 g on this site.

Practical guidance: use 112 g per cup of chocolate cookie crumbs made at home, about 7 g per tablespoon, and up to 126 g for fine store-bought crumbs. A crust for a 9-inch pie usually takes 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups, so weigh the crumbs if the recipe gives grams, and press them firmly into the pan. Whole Oreos with the creme can be crushed too, and the creme helps bind the crust, so use a little less butter.