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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!

A pie dish with a golden-brown graham cracker crust sits on a gray surface. Beside it are several whole graham crackers and a small bowl of crushed crumbs. A light blue cloth is draped nearby.

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 anything you want!

  • You could buy a store bought crust, but homemade tastes so much better and it stands up to pre-baking or baking better than the store-bought crusts.
  • Just 3 ingredients – with options for what you have in your pantry
  • Use it for a totally no bake pie or bake it to make it crunchy
  • You can use this for a baked pie (like chocolate chess pie) or baked cheesecake
  • It’s tried and true and the only graham cracker crust I make!
ingredients in a graham cracker crust - bowl of graham cracker crumbs, bowl of melted butter and bowl of brown sugar

Ingredient Tips

  • Graham Crackers: You have two different options when starting with graham crackers: whole and crumbs. One is cheaper, one is easier. Regardless, buy the name brand – they taste better.
  • Sugar: 99% of recipes you see use granulated sugar. I like using brown sugar. Brown sugar is my favorite kind of sugar, and graham crackers are very brown sugary. It fits. But you can use granulated sugar, powdered sugar, OR brown sugar.
  • 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.

How Many Graham Crackers Needed

It now takes approximately 10 or 11 graham cracker rectangular sheets to make about 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs. They’ve shrunken graham crackers so while I used to say 9 was enough, now you’ll need a few more. I’ve measured over and over and it’s about 170g for 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, if you’re using a kitchen scale.

How to make a Graham Cracker Crust Tips

  1. To 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.
  2. I mix all my crumb crusts with a FORK. I like how a fork works for mixing together the crumbs, and then again when adding the butter. It makes it more crumbly and incorporates the butter better.
  3. Once mixed, it will have the texture of very coarse sand.
  4. A secret to the perfect graham cracker or cookie crust is compacting the crumbs. You need to really, really compact them. Start with your hands to get it around the edges of the pie plate and then you can switch to a glass if you want to really compact it.
  5. Pan Sizes: This recipe is written for a 9-inch pie plate. It will also work in a 9- or 10-inch springform pan (for cheesecake) or either an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan. You can use it in a 9×13-inch pan but it will be much thinner, so personally, I double it for that size pan.
slice of key lime pie with whipped cream and sliced lime on top.

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How to use your crust

Variations

  • Vegan Graham Cracker Crust – using vegan graham crackers and melted vegan butter sticks.
  • This same recipe can be used with cookies that are similar to graham crackers, like animal crackers, shortbread cookies, or gingersnaps. (Cookies with filling will need a different amount of butter.)
  • Try using different flavor graham crackers, like chocolate graham crackers or cinnamon grahams.
A pie dish with a golden-brown graham cracker crust sits on a gray surface. Beside it are several whole graham crackers and a small bowl of crushed crumbs. A light blue cloth is draped nearby.

Graham Cracker Crust Recipe

4.40 from 97 votes
NEVER buy a store bought pie crust again when you can make this easy 3-ingredient Graham Cracker Crust. Use it for ANY pie recipe – bake or no bake!

Recipe Video

Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Yield 1 crust
Serving Size 1 slice

Ingredients
 

  • 1 ½ cups (170g) graham cracker crumbs (from about 10 or 11 whole graham crackers)
  • ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
  • 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.
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Recipe Notes

  • You can also add 1/4 teaspoon each cinnamon and salt
  • This recipe is written for a 9-inch pie plate, 9-10″ springform pan, or 8-9 inch square pan. I recommend doubling the recipe for a 9×13-inch pan.
  • You can bake in this crust; just follow the recipe for whatever pie or cheesecake you’re making. Sometimes it will need pre-baking, sometimes not; it just depends on your recipe.
  • This pie crust can be made up to 48 hours in advance and stored in the fridge wrapped well in plastic wrap.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 1448kcal | Carbohydrates: 151g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 92g | Saturated Fat: 52g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 25g | Trans Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 211mg | Sodium: 857mg | Potassium: 324mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 82g | Vitamin A: 2452IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 179mg | Iron: 6mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

Favorite No Bake Pies

Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

4.40 from 97 votes (63 ratings without comment)

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