Graham Cracker Crust
This Graham Cracker Crust is buttery, sweet, crunchy and tastes incredibly fresh! Skip the bland and stale crusts for this homemade pie crust recipe!
Use this best graham cracker pie crust for No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie, Key Lime Pie, French Silk Pie, Banoffee Pie Recipe, Apple Pie with Graham Cracker Crust, and my Easy No-Bake Cheesecake. You can also switch out this pie crust for my Oreo pie crust for chocolate-y pies, Biscoff Pie Crust for holiday flavors like pumpkin and gingerbread, or my Shortbread Pie Crust for citrusy pies!
Why This Recipe Works
- Perfect thickness. I’m a such for a delicious dessert with an easy graham cracker crust recipe! There’s no need to skimp on this element in my opinion. This recipe will give you the perfect thickness.
- Added sugar for flavor and to reduce crumbling. The added sugar in this recipe is important because it helps meld the graham cracker crumbs together so they don’t crumble or fall apart when you are serving it. It also adds an extra delicious sweetness.
- Better than store-bought graham cracker crust! We all fall into the trap that getting a store-bought pie crust is so much easier. But let me tell you that it isn’t worth it! This foolproof graham cracker crust is sweet, buttery and you can even taste that it’s freshly homemade! That’s beyond reason enough to make your a homemade crust.
Ingredient Notes
- Graham Crackers: I highly recommend using the name brand Habisco Honey Maid Graham Crackers. These have much better flavor than any other store name brands. You’ll need about 12 full graham cracker sheets.
- Butter: You can use unsalted butter or salted butter. I typically always use unsalted butter in baking.
- Sugar: As the graham cracker pie crust is baking, the butter and sugar melt together and help bind the graham cracker crumbs together. You can use brown sugar if you’d prefer.
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Crush the graham crackers. Add the graham crackers to a food processor and process until fine crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, place in a plastic ziplock bag and using a rolling pin.
- Mix the ingredients. Add 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs and 1/3 cup granulated sugar to a medium bowl. Mix to combine. Add 6 tablespoons melted butter and stir, breaking up any clumps as you go.
- Add to the pie pan. Once the mixture is combined, transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate and gently press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan and up the sides.
- Bake or chill. Bake the crust in an oven preheated to 350°F for 9-10 minutes. The crust will appear just barely golden. If you’re making a no-bake dessert recipe, rather than bake the crust, place the crust in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Let cool. If you baked the buttery graham cracker crust, let it cool completely before adding the pie filling. See our Pie Recipes section for delicious pies!
Recipe Tips
As you are combining the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar, be sure to break apart any large chunks that form.
I add the sugar to the graham cracker crumbs first to get an even distribution before adding the butter.
When pressing the mixture into your pie dish, use your fingers first. This will form a gentle pack of the mixture. Then you can smooth out the bottom of the pie plate with the bottom of a measuring cup.
Don’t pack the graham cracker mixture in too tightly or you can have problems getting it out of the pan later. You want to press it in but don’t use too much force. Just enough that it sticks together and won’t crumble later.
Round the crust where the bottom and the sides meet. I made this crust once and tried to get a nice sharp angle there and it made that point way too weak when serving. Using something curved, like a spoon, on those edges can help you get the right rounded shape there.
Feel free to add ¼ tsp cinnamon to the crust for added flavor. I add it in this peach dessert recipe and it’s amazing! You can also use the cinnamon graham crackers if you’d like. Just be sure to use the Nabisco brand for best results. Use chocolate graham crackers for chocolate-y desserts!
You may need a little more butter depending on your climate and altitude. 6 Tablespoons works perfectly for me (I’m at sea level in a fairly humid climate) but others have said they have used just a tad more butter with good results too. But careful not to add too much butter as that can cause the pie to stick to the pie plate when serving.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
Make this easy graham cracker pie crust recipe ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To freeze, let cool completely and then wrap the pie plate in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 1 month. Remove from the freezer and take off the plastic wrap. Let thaw in the fridge.
Recipe FAQs
You can use either. I tend to use unsalted butter that way I can have more control over the added salt. This recipe doesn’t include added salt, so if you want a touch of salt you can use salted butter. Salted butter won’t provide enough salt to make you think “wow this is salty” so don’t worry about that!
Yes, it is typically a baked crust. You’ll get the best results with a baked graham cracker pie crust because as the butter and sugar melt in the oven, they help meld together the crumbs to keep it from crumbling as you serve it.
Yes. They will mostly just go stale and soft. You’ll want to eat the homemade graham cracker crust within 4-5 days of making it. The crust can store in the fridge for up to 3 days, but then I would complete the pie and serve it. Keep chilled in the fridge or freezer. If freezing, tightly wrap with plastic wrap.
Graham cracker crusts are typically used for cheesecakes, key lime pies, banoffee pies, banana cream pie, no bake peanut butter pies, French silk pies, and more! I even use it for a no bake pumpkin pie recipe.
Be sure to bake it fully! This will reduce the risk of the crust getting soggy. I find that the crust holds up really well. Even after a pie has sat in the fridge for 3-4 days, the crust is still really good! However, if you let a really wet pie sit for too long, that will seep into the crust and it will become soggy. If the flavors would work, you can spread a thin layer of cream cheese on the bottom if using a really wet filling.
Yes, if you’d like you can decrease the sugar to 1/4 cup for a less sweet graham cracker crust. The recipe needs sugar or else the crust will be too crumbly.
You can use digestive biscuits. These are a bit softer than graham crackers so you’ll want to use the full 1/3 cup of sugar. You may want to try 5 tablespoons of butter first and see how the consistency is before adding the 6th tablespoon.
Recipes Using a Graham Cracker Crust
Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs - about 12 full cracker sheets
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar - can also use brown sugar if you'd like
- 6 tablespoons butter - melted, see notes
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium sized bowl stir the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter together until combined.
- Pour the graham cracker mixture into a 9” inch pie plate and press it firmly in the bottom of the pan and up the sides.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- If doing a no-bake recipe, rather than bake the crust, place the pie pan in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes (or in the freezer for 15 minutes) while you prepare the pie filling.
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15 Comments on “Graham Cracker Crust”
Just curious, this won’t be vegan, but I’m planning to bring this to a gathering at the lake this weekend and thought I would add mini marshmallows and lightly torch them just before serving, thus a “s’mores pie”. . Do you think these flavors will go together? I’ve made this pie several times & gotten rave reviews! I feel like this could work. I also bought some cake decor, mini fishing poles with paper fish dangling that I thought would be cute per slice. I was afraid of silken tofu till this recipe!! So good!!!
I’m not sure which pie you are referring to since this is just my crust recipe, but if you are considering adding marshmallows to my French silk pie, that would be a perfect s’mores pie combination! Happy baking!
Great recipe. It worked out well ( threw in a few crushed ritz) for a 9 inch deep dish pecan cream pie
Thanks so much
Maelene
glad you loved it, Maelene!
Have you ever added cocoa powder to this crust for a chocolate? I’m making a strawberry cream cheese no bake pie and I’m craving a chocolate crust, but I don’t want to use cookies.
Hi Kathy! I haven’t tried adding cocoa powder to this recipe. However, if you are looking for something more chocolate like, I would recommend using my Oreo crust recipe: https://saltandbaker.com/oreo-pie-crust-recipe/
Worked great, fast,easy and delicious! My new go to for Graham cracker crust . Thanks
Is that 1395 for the whole pie? Or by slice?
For the full pie crust 🙂
What temperature do you bake it at?
350°F
I used a whole stick of butter. To Shape it I poured the gram cracker crumbs into the pie plate spread them out easily and then used another pie plate on top tamp it down and mold it.it turned out fabulous thank you
Thanks for sharing that tip! I have never used another pie plate to tamp down the crumbs before, will try it next time I make this crust.
Hi, i saw for your Banoffe Pie recipe, the graham crust needed just 1½ tbsp of sugar while this recipe used 1/3 cup sugar. Is it okay for me to use this recipe for all crusted pie ?
Thank you.
This is a great, fool-proof recipe. I use it any time I need a no-bake graham cracker pie crust or when I want a baked one. Such a great recipe, thank you again!