Homemade Graham Cracker Crust

Homemade Graham Cracker Crust is made with crushed graham crackers, butter, and sugar — the easiest pie crust you’ll ever make! Find tips to use this simple graham cracker crust recipe for your favorite desserts and pies!

It’s no secret that we love a good pie around here. Pies like No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie, Lemonade Pie, and S’Mores Pie make regular appearances at our house. If you are looking for a flour-based pie crust, try our Vegetable Shortening Pie Crust recipe. 

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Why you’ll love this Graham Cracker Crust

There are so many reasons that we love this easy graham cracker pie crust recipe. My top three reasons are: 

• Simple ingredients. You only need 3 basic baking ingredients for this recipe. I bet you even have 1 or 2 or all of them in your kitchen already! 
• Easy to make. If you can melt, mix, press, and bake then you are going to be a pro at making this crust. It’s even great for beginner bakers due to its easy nature. 
• Versatile recipe. You can easily switch up the graham cracker crumbs for your favorite crushed cookies. Not only can you use different flavored graham crackers, but you can also use crushed Oreos, Nilla Wafers or any other crunchy cookie. See my recipe below on how to make a chocolate cookie crust. 

Classic Graham Cracker Crust Ingredients

When looking at all the variety of pie crusts, you won’t find one with fewer ingredients than this classic graham cracker crust. To make your own crust you will need: 

• Graham cracker crumbs – You can use pre-crushed graham cracker crumbs, or buy whole crackers and crush them yourself. You can find the crushed version in the baking aisle and the whole crackers in the cookie aisle. Check out my tips below on how to easily crush your whole graham crackers. 
• Sugar – You will need white, granulated sugar for graham cracker pie crust. You can substitute brown sugar, in a pinch. 
• Butter – Salted or unsalted butter will work here. Use whatever you prefer. 

How To Make A Graham Cracker Pie Crust 

Once you have gathered all your ingredients, you will also need to grab a large mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, a spatula, and a pie dish. 

ONE: First, combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl using a rubber spatula. The crust should resemble wet sand at this point. 

TWO: Next, Use your medium-firm pressure with your hands to press the bottom and sides until there are no loose crumbs. Then, use a flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup to smooth out the crust in your pan -just don’t make it too tight and compressed or you’ll have a hard crust. Pat until no longer crumbly.

THREE: Lastly, bake or chill. If you are making a no-bake pie, place the graham cracker crust in the fridge for at least 2 hours before filling. This will allow the crust time to firm up. If you are baking a pie with a graham cracker crust, bake the crust for 10 minutes before filling and baking according to your pie recipe. 

Graham Cracker Crust FAQs

How do you make a graham cracker crust that doesn’t fall apart?

To make a graham cracker crust that doesn’t fall apart you will want to make sure that you fully incorporate the melted butter. The butter helps everything stay together when pressed into a pie pan. You will also want to make sure that you press the graham cracker crust mixture firmly into the pan. This will help it stay together when you cut into the finished pie. Then be sure to chill or bake your graham cracker crust before filling.

Is it better to bake or chill a graham cracker crust?

This depends on the type of pie that you are adding to your crust. If you are making a no-bake pie, you will just need to chill the crust for a few hours.  On the other hand, if you are making a pie that needs to be baked, you will want to bake your graham cracker crust for about 10 minutes before filling and baking the pie according to your recipe. NOTE: you CAN bake your crust for a no-bake pie if you wish.

Can you freeze a graham cracker pie crust?

Yes! You can! One of the great things about this pie crust is that you can make it ahead of time and freeze it for later. Follow the directions for making the chilled pie crust, cover it with a piece of parchment paper, and then wrap the pie pan in tin foil. You can place the pie crust in the freezer for up to 2 months. 

How can I crush graham crackers?

If you pick up a package of graham crackers, you will need to crush them into crumbly pieces before mixing them together with your butter and sugar.  I like to use my food processor to easily crush graham crackers. Simply break the sheets up and place them in the bowl of your food processor., then pulse until they become fine crumbs. 

You can also crush your graham crackers in a zip-top bag with a rolling pin or heavy can from your pantry.

How to make a cookie crust?

You can easily make a cookie crust in place of the classic graham cracker crust. You will need 25 sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, and 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Pulverize your sandwich cookies until you have crumbs and then mix with the melted butter. Press into the bottom of a pie pan and place in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. You now have an awesome cookie crust just waiting to be filled! 

Pro Tips For This Recipe

If you have a food processor, use it to combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar.

Use the bottom of a clean jar or drinking glass to lightly press and smooth the graham cracker crumbs into your pie plate. Don’t pack the graham cracker crumbs too firmly and tight (just until you no longer have any loose crumbs) or you will have a hard crust. 

If you are mixing the ingredients by hand, use a silicone spatula when mixing together all of your ingredients in your large bowl. A silicone spatula will help you scrape down the sides to fully incorporate all of your ingredients. 

Store in the fridge. You can place your graham cracker crust in the refrigerator to save it for later. Wrap the pie pan in either tin foil or plastic wrap. It will stay fresh for a few days, if wrapped properly.

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