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A homemade graham cracker crust recipe for baked pies and no bake pies is the best graham cracker crust you’ve ever had! NEVER buy a store bought crust again – this one is easy and tastes SO MUCH BETTER!
Why Use My Recipe
Graham cracker pie crust is one of my favorite pie crusts – a good graham cracker crust is a must have in your baking arsenal. So many pies can be made to pair with the graham cracker flavor because it’s so versatile. You can fill it with creamy s’mores chocolate pudding, no bake cheesecake, or anything you want.
Can you buy a store bought crust? Yes. But homemade tastes so much better and it stands up to pre-baking or baking better than the store-bought crusts.
This easy graham cracker crust recipe works without baking OR baked and it works with baked pies, like chocolate chess pie. It’s tried and true and the only graham cracker crust I make!
4 Ingredients Needed
- Graham Crackers: You have two different options when starting with graham crackers: whole and crumbs. One is cheaper, one is easier. Should you buy whole graham crackers? Or crumbs? Use what you prefer.
- BROWN SUGAR: 99% of recipes you see use granulated sugar. That’s fine, you can use that if you want. I like using brown sugar. Brown sugar is my favorite kind of sugar, and graham crackers are very brown sugary. It fits.
- BUTTER: I used unsalted butter in all my recipes, but you can substitute salted if you need too. You won’t notice a huge difference.
- Cinnamon gives the crust a little secret flavor that goes with just about everything. Adding some spices gives so much flavor! But, if you’re not a cinnamon person, you can leave it out.
How to make a Graham Cracker Crust
- Grind: grind or crush your crumbs. You can use a food processor or crush with a rolling pin in a plastic bag. Both turn out the same – so use what’s easiest.
- Mix: stir the crumbs with sugar, cinnamon and melted butter
- Press: press crumb mixture into pie plate. A secret to the perfect graham cracker or cookie crust is compacting the crumbs. You need to really, really compact them. I use the bottom of a glass for the bottom of the pan. Press it good!
- Chill in fridge at least 10 minutes then use in your pie recipe!
How to use your crust
- No Bake Pie: Chill the crust for at least one hour before filling with your no-bake filling. Chill according to the recipe directions, then cut and serve. The crust is semi-crunchy and perfectly sweet. It may crumble a little more on cutting than the baked version, but it’ll hold together nicely. Perfect with no bake cheesecake!
- No Bake Filling Pie with crunchier crust: Bake the crust for 10 minutes at 325°F. Let it cool completely, then fill and chill according to the recipe directions. A baked graham cracker crust will be more crunchy and be less crumbly, but you have to use your oven.
- Baked Pie: Fill it with your liquid/baked pie filling and bake the pie as directed in the recipe you’re using. Perfect with chocolate chess pie!
Either way you make it, this graham cracker crust is the best base for your pies. It’s easy, comes together in mere minutes, and tastes way better than packaged.
Tip From Dorothy
Expert Tips
- Use real butter for best results. Butter substitutes and low fat butter will cause the recipe to be oily.
- Remember that 3 graham cracker sheets = approximately 1/2 cup crumbs.
- This recipe is written for a 9-inch pie plate. It’s a thick pie crust. Anything smaller and it’ll be too thick, so either make two or use a portion of the crumbs.
- If making a cheesecake you can use a springform pan but it won’t go all the way up the sides.
- When this pie is made for a no bake pie it can be hard to slice the first piece. After that the pieces will come out easy.
- Use any kind of filling for this pie, like coconut cream, banana, peanut butter, or lemon.
FAQ
No – with this recipe you can just fill it unbaked.
If you don’t have graham crackers, you can substitute digestive biscuits or any other simple cookie. Graham crackers aren’t very sweet, which is why we add sugar, so be mindful when substituting other cookies.
You can use granulated sugar if you prefer in equal amount of the brown sugar called for.
I’m not sure if graham crackers themselves are vegan but if they are you can substitute vegan butter sticks for the regular butter.
Yes! Cinnamon graham crackers or chocolate graham crackers would be fantastic with this same recipe.
Graham Cracker Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (154g) graham cracker crumbs (from about 9 whole graham crackers/18 squares)
- ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon optional
- Pinch of salt
- 6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- If you’re using whole graham crackers, finely crush them in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin.
- Stir graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add melted butter and stir with a fork.
- Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9” pie plate. Press hard to compact. You can use a glass to press the bottom, but use your fingers to press the sides.
- To make a no-bake pie: Chill pie crust for at least one hour before filling. Cover if chilling longer. Make pie as directed.
- To make a baked graham crust: Preheat oven to 325°. Bake crust for 10 minutes, until it just starts to brown. Cool completely before filling.
- To make a baked pie: Preheat oven to 325°. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Fill with pie filling and bake according to recipe directions.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
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- Use real butter for best results. Butter substitutes and low fat butter will cause the recipe to be oily.
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- Remember that 3 graham cracker sheets = approximately 1/2 cup crumbs.
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- When this pie is made for a no bake pie it can be hard to slice the first piece. After that the pieces will come out easy.
- I have changed the amount of butter listed from 7T to 6T because graham cracker structure and size has changed a bit over the years.
I used chocolate teddy grahams to make a crust for a salted caramel chocolate tart, and baked the crust. It was perfect! Wound up using about a half tablespoon less butter.
Your crust must be CRAZY buttery! I used half the (vegan) butter and it was still a little more than I prefer. Though I love the amount of cinnamon – it’s enough for that little extra flavor, but not so much that it’s overtly cinnamon-y. I have a tendency to overseason everything, so this was a really helpful guideline!
How to keep a graham cracker crust firm after baking and chilling , then putting in it a cold lemon pie filling , topped with egg white meringue and graham cracker crumbs, then browning the meringue and crumbs? How do I keep crust from being soggy?????
Baking the crust before filling it should keep it from getting soggy. This crust is rather thick, which is why it stays crunchy.
Hi Dorothy, i would like the recipe for graham cracker crumbs and melted butter for a 10″ Springform pan when making a cheesecake. I like going a good 2-4″ up the sides. the recipes just have it for the bottom of a 9″ pan. Would appreciate your expertise. Thanks so much. Like you, I like my crumbs thick. Tammy
I would maybe 1 1/2 times this recipe.
Tip: place graham crackers in a gallon size zip-top storage bag and seal. On a hard surface, place a thin stack of newspapers, a magazine, or a stack of scrap paper. Place bag containing graham crackers on top. Beat crackers with the flat side of a meat hammer until crumbs are of desired consistency. Continue with recipe as directed. This recipe is so easy and delicious. I may never buy another graham cracker crust again.
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