I used to view pie crust - especially the flimsy, store-bought kind - as just a vehicle for pie filling until I started making this Classic Homemade Graham Cracker Crust. It's so much more flavorful, and takes just 3 ingredients and 20 minutes to create a delicious crust that you'll enjoy in your favorite pie.
Homemade Graham Cracker Crust at a Glance
- ⏱ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 10 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 20 minutes
- 👪 Serves: 8
- 🍽️ Calories: 146
- 🌾 Main Ingredients: Graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter
- 👌 Why You'll Love It: A simple recipe for a classic homemade graham cracker crust that tastes better than store-bought.
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I've adapted this recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook (affiliate link). Making a graham cracker pie crust is super quick if you start with packaged crumbs - but it doesn't take much longer if you crush graham crackers, old-school style. I love the versatility of the crust - sub in chocolate grahams, animal crackers, or even a little cereal if you run out of cookies.
This makes a thicker crust than you'd buy, so you'll actually be able to taste it. I always make my own graham cracker crust from scratch when I make Coconut Cream Pie; my grandma's Chocolate Pie would also be good in this crust. You can also bake a pie directly into the graham cracker crust, like I do for my Key Lime Pie!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 🔀 Versatile - Swap in other cookies to pair with your favorite pie fillings.
- 🧺 Plenty of crumbs - You can make a larger or deeper pie than the little premade graham crusts you buy at the store.
- ♨️ Toasts as it bakes - Prebaking the crust toasts the graham crackers, boosting the flavor and making your house smell wonderful.
Key Ingredients
Graham cracker crumbs: Be sure they're fresh; they're made with graham flour (a kind of whole wheat flour) that tastes off if they're stale. I buy boxed crumbs but it's easy to crush your own; see the FAQ for details. You can substitute chocolate grahams, un-iced animal crackers, or other small, plain cookies. If you run short, swap in a small amount of a plain rice, oat, or corn cereal, very finely crushed; cereal tends to stay crunchy and adds a different flavor, so I do that as a last resort. If you have leftover crumbs, use them to make my super-easy 5-Ingredient Cookie Bars.
Granulated sugar: Don't skip it; it makes for a tastier crust.
Butter: Binds and adds flavor. Non-dairy butter should also work, and I think melted coconut oil would as well, but would likely make the crust taste coconutty.
How To Make a Homemade Graham Cracker Crust
Use a 9-inch pie plate, but there's enough crumbs that a slightly larger or deep dish pie plate will work fine; the crust will just be slightly thinner. I recommend using glass or ceramic pie plate instead of metal. Metal will heat more quickly, and may crisp your crust too much.
One: Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. The crumbs should be sandy and loose once mixed. Check the bottom of the bowl for clumps.
Two: Pour the moistened graham cracker crumbs into a pie plate.
Three: Use medium pressure and the back of a measuring cup to pat the crumbs along the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. You want the crust to stick together, but don't want it to be too hard in the corners. Use your thumb to press the edge down and against the measuring cup as you pat.
Four: Bake at 350F to set the crust. This also toasts the crust to make it extra tasty, and smells great.
If you're making a pie where you bake the filling, like with my Key Lime Pie, you can add the filling immediately to the warm crust and bake.
If you're making a cream pie (like my Coconut Cream Pie) and won't be baking the crust again, allow your baked crust to cool completely (at least an hour) before adding the filling. If you fill the crust too soon after baking, it can become soggy.
Homemade Graham Cracker Crust FAQ
Make 1 ½ cups of graham cracker crumbs from about 10.5 whole graham crackers (just over 1 sleeve). Using a food processor is easiest, but you can also put them in a quart-sized zipper bag and crush them with a meat mallet or your fingertips. (Kids often want to help with that!) You want very small crumbs, and no big pieces.
Use graham crackers or crumbs that include graham flour, a type of whole wheat flour. Without it, you just have lightly sweetened cookies. Choose fresh graham crackers; the whole wheat flour tastes off when it goes stale. Store-brand crackers and prepackaged crumbs work fine, as long as they include graham flour.
Make the crust and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days, or in the freezer for a few months. Bring it to room temperature before filling or baking it again.
Honestly, I never make mine in advance. Instead, I'll prepare the crumbs and sugar and store them in the refrigerator until I'm ready to bake the crust.
Ways to Use This Crust
If you love graham cracker crusts, you can double this recipe for my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake, and use it as is for Brownie Cheesecake. Use extra graham cracker crumbs in my 5-Ingredient Cookie Bars. And when you're in the mood to swap a graham cracker pie crust out, my Homemade Pie Crust is a great all-butter alternative.
I hope this becomes a recipe you'll return to. If you try it, a star rating below helps others find it - and I'd love to hear how yours turns out in the comments! 💕 Questions or trouble? Drop a note, and I'll do my best to help.
📖 Recipe
Classic Homemade Graham Cracker Crust (3 Ingredients)
Equipment
- 9-inch pie plate (affiliate link)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (160 grams)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (25 grams)
- ⅓ cup butter (70 grams, melted)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Mix them until everything is sandy, scraping up any crumbs that have clumped together at the bottom.
- Pour moistened graham cracker crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate (affiliate link). With medium pressure, use your hands and the side of a measuring cup to press the crumbs along the bottom and sides of the pan. If you pat too hard, the crust will be hard; if you don't pat much, the crumbs won't stick together. Don't bother making a crust over the rim; it doesn't usually stay attached.
- Bake crust at 350F for 10 minutes. (It will smell amazing!)
- If baking a filling into the crust, you can fill the warm shell and bake immediately.
- Cool completely before filling with a premade filling. Crusts filled before cooled run the risk of becoming soggy.
Leona Konkel says
Making a graham cracker crust is so fast and easy that I will never buy one at the grocery store. I hope you have just as much success with my recipe as I do. If you ty it, let me know how it turns out!