Skip the stale, store-bought crusts and make your own! My Graham Cracker Crust recipe takes 5 minutes to make and can be used for pies, cheesecakes, and more. Includes a how-to video!
A Quick & Easy Pie Crust
I can understand being intimidated by a traditional pie crust recipe, with all the rolling, chilling, and blind baking. But a graham cracker crust? That’s easy! There’s rarely an excuse to ever buy one from the store; they don’t taste nearly as good as homemade, and they are so supremely simple to make from-scratch!
Today I’m walking you through the four simple steps of my go-to pie crust recipe. The entire process takes about five minutes, and once you try the final result, you’ll never want to go back to the store-bought crusts.
Why use my recipe:
- Can be used for baked or no-bake recipes.
- Cuts nicely without crumbling apart.
- Just four basic ingredients!
- Works for both pies (like my chocolate pie) and cheesecake.
- Takes minutes to prepare and tastes SO much better than store-bought!
What You Need
Just a few ingredients come together to make this easy crust! It’s so simple to make and 100% worth the (very little) effort. Here’s what you need:
- Graham crackers. You can pulverize graham crackers or use pre-crushed graham cracker crumbs. If you are pulverizing your own crackers, you will now need 11 graham cracker sheets to reach the 1 ½ cups; I previously recommended using 10, but it turns out graham crackers are shrinking (isn’t everything in the supermarket these days?). If you don’t have graham crackers where you live, digestive biscuits will also work (more on this below).
- Sugar. I like to use a mix of both white sugar and brown sugar, but you can use just one or the other if you like. The brown sugar adds a slightly richer flavor (something you don’t get from a semi-stale store-bought crust!).
- Butter. This acts as the glue that holds the whole graham cracker crust together. You can use salted or unsalted butter, but I tend to prefer salted here (it helps balance the sweetness of the dessert!).
SAM’S TIP: Still buying your Oreo crusts from the store? I also have a recipe for an easy Oreo crust that tastes so much better than the pre-made version.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make a Graham Cracker Crust
- Crush the crackers – Process your graham crackers in a food processor (or place them in a large ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them) until you have fine, sandy crumbs.
- Add the sugars – Transfer your crumbs to a bowl and stir in the sugars.
- Melted butter – Pour in melted butter and toss everything together with a fork.
- Mix it up – Toss the ingredients together until all of the crumbs are moistened and the mixture is well-combined.
- Press into your pan – Transfer your crumbs to your pie plate or springform pan and press them tightly into the bottom of the pan and up the sides.
- Smooth the sides – Use your fingers to press the crumbs firmly all around the sides of the pie pan to make a nice even edge.
All that’s left is to use as directed! Follow your recipe for any baking instructions, or place in the fridge/freezer for a no-bake recipe.
SAM’S TIP: I like to use the (clean) bottom of one of my measuring cups to press the crumbs into the pan for a smooth, even surface. You can also use the bottom of a small drinking glass for this.
Frequently Asked Questions
It really depends on the recipe, so follow that first. Pre-baking isn’t usually necessary, but many bakers like to pre bake their crust so it is extra crisp.
Now, if you are making a crust for a no bake recipe (like my no-bake cheesecake!), you can just slip the pie plate/springform into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before adding the filling. The crust will still cut nicely without baking it!
If you didn’t make any substitutions (reducing the sugar, swapping the butter, etc.) then the issue most may lie in how tightly you packed your crust into the pan. You want to make sure your crust is firmly packed into the sides and bottom of your pie plate/springform pan.
Another issue could be if you waited too long to press your crumbs into the pie plate. As the butter cools, it re-solidifies and if the crust hasn’t been pressed, it won’t cling together but will stay crumbly. If this happens you can always toss your crumbs back in the microwave in 5 second intervals, stirring in between, until the butter is warmed and the crumbs will cling together again.
Yes! If you don’t have graham crackers where you live, you can absolutely use pulverized digestive biscuits instead. You will need 12 digestive biscuits to get 170g of crumbs (you will have a bit extra after weighing).
This recipe isn’t just for pies! I use it in many of my cheesecake recipes as well, like my key lime cheesecake (pictured above!).
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Easy Graham Cracker Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (170 g) graham cracker crumbs (or 11 graham cracker sheets pulverized to crumbs in a food processor)
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 Tablespoons brown sugar packed
- 7 Tablespoons (100 g) butter melted
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Pulverize graham crackers in food processor until finely ground into crumbs (skip this step if starting with graham cracker crumbs).1 ½ cups (170 g) graham cracker crumbs
- Stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugars in a medium-sized bowl. Add melted butter and use a fork to combine ingredients well until crumbs are all moistened.2 Tablespoons sugar, 1 Tablespoons brown sugar, 7 Tablespoons (100 g) butter
- Pour mixture into pie plate or springform pan. Use the (clean!) bottom of a measuring cup to firmly pack crumbs into the bottom of the pan and (if using a pie pan) gently press up the sides. Use your fingers to pack crumbs tightly into the sides of the pie pan.
- If the crust needs to be pre-baked, bake on 350F (175C) for 10-13 minutes and allow to cool before filling. If using this crust as part of a different recipe, bake according to your recipe's instructions. If this crust is for a no-bake recipe, refrigerate or freeze for 10-20 minutes before filling.
Notes
Sugar
You can substitute more granulated sugar if you do not have brown.Video note:
I accidentally say the wrong oven temperature in the video. Always follow my written recipe.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Gammaw
I made it exactly as posted. NO tweaks. My grandbabies aged 10 and 7 loved it. I made them a simple banana instant pudding pie with a cherry on top.
Amelia
WAY TOO MUCH BUTTER! The crust accordioned in the oven (a textbook sign of too much butter) and left a huge pool of butter at the bottom of the dish that I had to sop up with paper towels. If I wasn’t worried about the crust falling out I could have tipped it over and poured all the butter off. 7 tablespoons is almost an entire stick of butter. That is insane. It would have come together just fine with half of that. I always double my crust recipes, so next time I’m going to use one stick of butter per three cups of graham cracker crumbs. Easy peasy.
Also, this needs way less sugar and it also needs salt. I used salted butter, and I added an extra teaspoon of salt on top of that. I also reduced the sugar to just 3 tbsp of white sugar, I didn’t bother with the brown sugar. With my adjustments, my pie crust turned out perfect (after I got rid of the ocean of butter). Because I doubled it, I had enough for one large vintage glass pie dish, and one 6 inch mini pie dish for the kids. The flavor was perfect, if I had followed this recipe as written it would have turned out way too cloyingly sweet, especially if I had used unsalted butter as the recipe says is fine to do.
So the flavor of my tweaked version was great. The texture was another matter, however. It was a bit too greasy. I made banoffee pie so it wasn’t too huge a problem since I pour butterscotch sauce in the bottom before adding the banana, but my mother in law did comment on it because of course she did. If I’d made key lime or any other pie, it would have been very noticeable. There was an unmistakable oily cast on the glass pie plate after cutting a slice. Mind you, this was AFTER I had mopped up all that butter.
Apologies for the essay, but I write this in hopes that other people will see it and likewise adjust this recipe so they won’t learn the hard way like I did. I also apologize for being so critical of this recipe, but it just doesn’t work.
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this happened, Amelia! I have not experienced this and you can actually watch me make it in the video so I would recommend against cutting the butter like you did. 🙁
LAMB's Mom
I made this once a long time ago and my kid ate it as is and has been asking me to make it again for years. We finally made it last week as written and it turned out perfectly. I’m making it again now and it’s cooling as I type this. I can’t speak to how it holds up to pie fillings but it sure does taste good dipped in pudding 🙂
Danielle
We added a little salt, but otherwise this recipe was perfect. I literally said to my family, “I’ll never use that store bought crust again.”
Lauren
how much salt did you use?
Amelia
Hi Lauren, I know I’m not the person you asked but I also added salt (as well as salted butter) and it was perfect! I used a teaspoon of salt for a doubled recipe, so I guess for this recipe as written that would be ½ teaspoon. If you use unsalted butter, I would bump it up to the full teaspoon.
I also reduced the sugar to just 3 tbsp of plain white sugar and omitted the extra brown sugar, I guess that would be 1 ½ tablespoons then? Anyway, hope that helps!
Heather
Way less sugar and butter are needed, in my opinion.
Sam
Hi Heather! Unfortunately if you reduce the butter you will likely not be able to get the crust to stick together. 🙁
danny minotto
Thank you for the video and recipe. I have not ade a cheesecake in at least 40 years . It was easier to follow and looks great so far. We take it to some friends house tomorrow night to give a taste test
Amelia
No I agree, it can work just fine with less butter. After preparing my pie dish, there were pools of melted butter in bottom that I had to sop up with a paper towel. I also reduced the sugar and added salt. With my tweaks it was perfect, I feel it I had followed this recipe exactly it would have been way too sweet. Especially if I used unsalted butter.
Lanie
i agree with other users less butter was needed
Andrea M Rabb
I used this with the cheesecake recipe you have and I’m wondering if it’s normal for all the butter to leak out of the spring form pan when baking? Or did I do something wrong? Tastes great though
Sam
Hi Andrea! Spring form pans are notorious for leaking so you didn’t do anything wrong. 🙂
Ingrid
Hi, I had trouble with my crust. It slid down on the sides so we couldn’t actually use it. We actually ended up, crumbling it, and using it as part of the topping for a Dutch apple pie. Any suggestions on what I might have done wrong I thought I followed the recipe properly, but again all of the side slid down and it wasn’t working.
Sam
Hi Ingrid! I’m not sure what you mean by it slid down? I’ve never seen that happen and I’m not really sure what would even cause it.
Katrina Rodgers
Can I double the recipe and put it in a 9×11 pan
Sam
Hi Katrina! This recipe doubles quite easily, but I’m not sure exactly how much you would need for a 9 x 11. 🙂
Cathy Baker
What size spring form should be used for your recipe?
Why would I not want to bake the crust for a no bake spring form or pie pan?
Sam
Hi Cathy! This recipe will work in an 8-10″ springform pan. I would follow your particular recipe’s instructions on whether or not to bake the crust, but you certainly can!