We all love cheesecake. It's smooth, luscious goodness inside that works so well with the slight crunch of the crust. It's good for lunch and dinner dessert, or a snack, or even breakfast if you're feeling wild! The classic, loved-by-everyone graham cracker cheesecake crusts will always be a favorite... but what about other choices of a food bed for that delicious cream-cheese-y filling? The truth is, while we typically stick to what is comfortable, a little venturing outside of the comfort zone never really hurt anyone.

pie, cream, cake, cheesecake, dairy product, sweet, pastry, butter
Jocelyn Hsu

In light of the increasing dilemma of boredom in that plain cheesecake you keep eating, consider this: switch up the crusts from time to time by using different snacks. It'll keep the excitement high every time you take that first bite, and you'll never have to dread the day you grow tired of eating your favorite dessert again. That's where we come in! I am here to be the helpful tool to provide you with the perfect starting point to spice up this classic, favorite dessert.

1. Cookies

chocolate, candy, sweet, cookie, cake, goody, cream
Torey Walsh

Any type of crispy cookie could work wonderfully as a substitute for the graham cracker crust. In honor of one of our favorite times of the year, Thanksgiving time (yay to all the food we get to eat!), consider using gingersnap cookies. They're delicious, crunchy cookies that taste just like gingerbread, and they work wonderful in this pumpkin pie recipe with gingersnap crust.

Another delicious cookie option for various cheesecake crusts is using Nilla Wafers; a nostalgic, vanilla flavored cookie that we can all relate back to our childhood afternoons spent with a glass of milk. This banana cream pie recipe uses these vanilla cookies in the most delicious of ways, resting underneath a sweet banana cream filling. 

2. Pretzels

pretzel, salt, pastry
Isabel Wang

The salty and crisp snack that we sometimes have a love-hate relationship with can make a delicious dessert even better. The usually mouth drying snack is especially loved when dipped in other sweet and savory spreads: like Nutella, cheese, or peanut butter. Based on that idea, why not make these combinations into better desserts, aka a cheesecake? This peanut butter cheesecake has the perfect balance between sweet and savory with this salty crust. Come on, as humans, we're supposed to pursue these wacky flavor combinations!

3. Brownies

chocolate, brownie, cake, fudge
Nicole Laszlo

Brownies, as we know, are clearly one of the ultimate desserts alongside cheesecake. Now imagine: both of them living together in harmony to make the best dessert ever. A layer of soft-baked brownies with the cheesecake filling sitting beautifully on top is something to which we can credit the existence of happiness. We can only assume that this brownie bottom cheesecake is life changing as it silently begs us to make it, right?

As we reach the end of these few foods used to represent a world of delicious possibilities of cheesecake crusts, we can conclude that the moral of our story is this: venture out! A little bit of spice into our repetitive daily lives can only make them more exciting, and thanks to that, we crave a little bit of variety. That variety can be brought as simply as making a different crust for your favorite dessert, and we urge you to try these and many more, and let us know how they came out by messaging us on Instagram @spoon_bulldogs!