The BEST Graham Cracker Crust

An easy Graham Cracker Crust made with only three ingredients of graham crackers, butter, and sugar.

Use the crust in a variety of ways including as a base for pies, as a topping, or as an addition to other desserts.

What is Graham Cracker Crust

It’s made by crushing graham crackers into crumbs, then mixing them together in a bowl with melted butter and a little sugar.

While you can buy a pre-made crust from the grocery store, why would you when it’s super simple to make at home?

Takes only 15 minutes, start to finish and the flavor of a homemade graham cracker crust is so much better than store-bought!   

Watch how to make this Graham Cracker Crust Recipe here

Ingredients

• Graham cracker crumbs: You can buy a box of Honey Maid graham crackers from the cracker or cookie aisle at the grocery store.
• Butter: Use unsalted melted butter for this recipe, so you can control the amount of salt. 
• Sugar: A small amount of sugar slightly sweetens this crust and makes it perfect for desserts. 

How to make the best graham cracker pie crust

Here’s a brief overview of how to make this 3 ingredient pie crust. See the recipe card below for the specific recipe instructions. 

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).  

2. Blend the graham crackers in a food processor (or crush by hand) until it resembles coarse sand.

3. Pour the sugar into the bowl with the cracker crumbs.

4. Add the melted butter to the bowl with the crumbs and sugar.

5. Stir together the butter, sugar, and the crumbs until well combined.

6. Press the crumb mixture into a pie dish with your fingers and press up the sides of the pan.

7. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7 minutes. Let cool.

* If the recipe calls for an unbaked pie shell, just chill for about 1 hour before filling.

Tips for success

Here are a few tips for success and variations you can try to make this the best graham cracker crust you've ever had.

• Use brown sugar instead of granulated sugar 
• Add ground pecans, pistachios, or almonds to the crust 
• Sprinkle in some ground cinnamon, cloves, ginger, all spice, or cocoa powder
• Make mini crusts (for mini pies) instead of one big crust!

What are some other graham cracker ideas 

Honey graham crackers are the traditional choice for cracker crusts, however, there are many other graham cracker types that will give your dessert fun new flavors.

Some other options include:  

• Cinnamon graham crackers
• Chocolate graham crackers 
• Homemade graham crackers

Or make a cookie crust with these suggestions:

• Gingersnap cookies 
• Shortbread cookies 
• Vanilla wafers  
• Digestive biscuits  

Can I make this crust sugar-free  

If you’d like to cut out the sugar from this crust, it’s easy to substitute another kind of natural sweetener.

Try using granulated alternatives like coconut sugar, stevia, or monk fruit.

If you use liquid sweetener, it will fall apart easier. If that’s not a big deal for you or what you’re baking, you can use honey, maple syrup, molasses, or agave.    

How can I serve graham cracker crust  

There are so many delicious ways to use graham cracker crust and it's the perfect addition to many layered desserts.

You can use it as a base for pie, crumbled in milkshakes or on top of ice cream, yogurt, or vanilla and chocolate puddings!

Here are a few pie ideas that might be exactly what you want to use your homemade graham cracker crust for. 

• Key lime pie 
• Banana cream pie 
• Sweet potato pie  
• Lemon meringue pie 
• Pumpkin pie 
• Strawberry pie 
• Cheesecake 
• Lemon bars 
• Apple pie 
• Pecan pie 
• Chocolate pie 
• Cherry pie 
• Peach pie    

The best way to crush graham crackers

Graham crackers are generally pretty easy to crush, but there are a couple of different techniques you can use to make it ever easier.

Crush by hand: This is the way our mothers and grandmothers made pie crust.

• For this method, place the graham cracker sheets in a gallon-size zip-top bag and close it almost all the way, leaving just enough open for a tiny bit of air to escape. 
• Place it on the counter, and slam a rolling pin onto the crackers. Continue to roll the pin back and forth until you have a coarse sand-like consistency. 
• You can also use a mallet, but beware that the edges may rip the bag open and make tiny holes. 

Food Processor: **This is the method I use** This beast of a kitchen tool is great for crushing, pureeing, mixing, shredding, slicing, and all kinds of other things. 

• To crush the crackers, lock in the bowl, add the spinning slicer and crackers, and seal on the lid.
• Pulse the crackers for a few seconds at a time until they are like coarse sand. 
• Using the “pulse” function allows the blades to reach all the crackers more quickly.

Either option works well! The benefit of crushing the crackers by hand is that there is nothing to clean up afterward and the benefit of using the food processor is that you get to use a fancy tool.

How to store

There are a couple of different ways to store this cookie crust to use later.

You can press the crust into a pie pan or tart dish and keep it wrapped in the refrigerator for up to three days. 

Otherwise, you can freeze the crust in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to three months.

It’s handy to have extra crust premade and ready to go when you want to quickly make a pie or other dessert. 

FAQs

If you like this graham cracker crust recipe, try these other tasty recipes

• Easy Fruit Cobbler
• Caramel Coffee Glazed Nutella Donuts
• Creamy and Easy Butterscotch Pudding
• Cranberry Lemon Biscotti Recipe

Did you try this recipe? Please leave a comment and a rating below to let me know! I LOVE to hear from you!

RECIPE