You’ll never buy a store-made graham cracker crust again, with this easy and delicious homemade Graham Cracker Crust recipe! You only need three ingredients including graham crackers, butter and sugar, and a pan to press the mixture into. Unlike other graham cracker crusts, this one wont fall apart! It’s perfectly tender and can be used in any recipe that calls for a graham cracker crust.
This is my go-to graham cracker crust recipe and I love it because it’s easy, inexpensive, and the taste and texture are far superior to anything you’ll buy at the store.
How to make graham cracker crust:
1. Mix ingredients in bowl. Combine graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar in a bowl. Pour in melted butter and stir well to combine. The butter is the key to ensuring you have a graham cracker crust that doesn’t fall apart!
2. Press into pie dish. Pour the mixture into a pie pan. Use lightly greased hands or the back of a measuring cup to firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. This step is important! The crust needs to be pressed really firmly into the dish to help ensure it sticks together!
3. Bake or chill. This step will depend on the recipe you’re using and what you plan to put on top of the graham cracker crust. See baking directions below.
To Bake or not to Bake?
Baked graham cracker crust:Baking allows for the butter and sugar to bind to the point that the crust is sure to hold together. I find that baked graham cracker crusts yield the best result. To bake the crust, place it in the oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. A baked crust will have a sturdier texture, but it wont be crumbly and will hold the pie together so that it’s easy to cut and serve!
No-bake graham cracker crust: If you don’t want to (or cannot) bake the crust, you could chill it for several hours in the refrigerator, to the point that the butter becomes hard enough to hold the crust together.
Serving Graham Cracker Crust:
- Fill a baked crust with Key Lime Pie filling.
- Fill a baked crust with Banana Cream Pie filling.
- Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream : make an ice cream pie with your crust or stir the crumbled crust into the ice cream.
- Make a No Bake Cheesecake
- Make Magic bars!
Recipe Variations:
- No graham crackers? Substitute digestive biscuits, vanilla wafers, crushed gingersnaps, flavored wafer cookies, crushed cereal (like Chex or cornflakes), or crushed ice cream cones. There are a lot of ways to be creative here!
- Vegan graham cracker crust: Be sure your graham crackers are vegan (most brands are) and substitute vegan butter or margarine.
- Sub the sugar: If you don’t have regular granulated sugar, you can substitute brown sugar. If you want to use honey, I would recommend using a combination of honey and granulated sugar because the sugar crystals help bind the crust.
- Sub flavored graham crackers: Feel free to use your favorite flavor of graham crackers including chocolate or cinnamon. and buy whatever brand is cheapest.
Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:
To make ahead: Graham cracker crust is a great make ahead recipe. I often prep the crust 1-2 days ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To freeze: prepare the crust and do not bake it. Cover it well and freeze for 2-3 months. Allow to thaw completely before using.
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Recipe
Graham cracker crust
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs , about 12 full sheets, crushed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons butter , melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a small bowl.
- Pour crumb mixture into an 8" - 9.5" pie pan and use the back of a measuring spoon to press it firmly in the bottom of the pan and a little bit up the sides of the pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Notes
- No graham crackers? Substitute digestive biscuits, vanilla wafers, crushed gingersnaps, flavored wafer cookies, crushed cereal (like chex or cornflakes), or crushed ice cream cones. There are a lot of ways to be creative here!
- Vegan graham cracker crust: Be sure your graham crackers are vegan (most brands are) and substitute vegan butter or margarine.
- Sub the sugar: If you don't have regular granulated sugar, you can substitute brown sugar. If you want to use honey, I would recommend using a combination of honey and granulated sugar because the sugar crystals help bind the crust.
- Sub flavored graham crackers: Feel free to use your favorite flavor of graham crackers including chocolate or cinnamon. and buy whatever brand is cheapest.
Nutrition
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe July 2018. Updated November 2020.
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Absolutely delicious. I added a few things and it came out so good. I used it between my two layers of cheesecake. Wow🤪👍
Easy & delicious!
I have tried two different variations of this recipe as well for cheesecake, all are fan favorites.
1. 1/2 Graham Cracker, 1/2 Vanilla Wafers
2. 1/3 Graham Cracker, 1/3 Vanilla Wafers and 1/3 Oreo cookies (without the filling), equal amounts of each.
Great recipe.I used 12 bars of gram crackers,but only 5 table spoons of butter and in my opinion it is better
Easy to make! I won’t fill the shell until the day after tomorrow…I’m looking forward to serving my S’mores Pie to my guests then.
I didn’t add the sugar, doesn’t need it, and was still delicious. So easy, never buy a premade crust.
This is perfect. I’ll never need to buy a premade crust again.
To firmly and evenly put the crumbled graham crackers into the 9″ pie pan, I use an 8″ pie pan. This distributes crumbs well and eliminates the build-up of a too-thick base between the bottom and sides of the 9″ pan!
Can you please give me the weight of the graham crackers in the recipe? Not all graham crackers are the same size, etc. Hopefully you can test it out by weighing with a scale and repost the recipe with the weight. Thank you!
Can this be used for a pumpkin pie recipe? Or is that too much time in the oven for this crust?
It will be delicious with a pumpkin pie!
I have a recipe from family made years ago called Smorgasbord Cheesecake. She made Graham cracker crust in 13X9 glass dish, then put the cheesecake filling in and baked both at same time at 350°, then put sweet cherry filling on top after baked..is baking both together at same time sound ok? Think I remember it turned out really good, but been a long time.
Can you bake this, then put pie filling in it and bake again?
I’m wondering if you know the amount of graham crackers in grams or how to convert to other kinds of cookies when not using graham crackers? Probably going to use ginger snaps… Thanks!
Hi so I just wanted to mention so others don’t goof up when you double or triple the ingredients in the post it will say 3 or 4.5 cups graham crackers and under that it continues to say about 12 whole crackers for all of them just don’t look at that line k lol
So simple and so delicious. Homerun all the way around.
Forgot to put the ingredients and amount. HELLO!!!!
HELLO! The amounts and ingredients are CLEARLY listed in this post.
would you reccomend coating the inside of the cooled baked crust with chocolate in order to seal & waterproof it so it doesn’t absorb moisture from the filling? if yes than what kind of chocolate would I use? would magic shell be suitable?
I don’t think it’s necessary, but you can.
Magic shell? No.
Simplest and best recipe I’ve ever used. This is my Go-To recipe. The Key lime pie made in this kitchen would not be the same w/o this pie crust. Thanks for sharing
This recipe is a keeper! The only thing I changed was I used monkfruit for the sugar. These were a hit with everyone. I made a double batch and used some for a graham cracker crust for a cheesecake. The cookies went perfect with coffee and tea. I’ll be making these again.
I made this crust for lemon cheesecake pie and refrigerators for 4 hours with filling in . The crust got so hard we could not cute thru it !!!??? What should I do ?????
Calm down carol and try again. Peace and love happy holidays.
Take it out of the fridge so it can soften.
Hi, I tried this crust for an ice cream cake, but froze it instead of baked it, and I have never tasted such a better pastry, thanks for the recipe!
Should I bake the crust first for a frozen dessert?
I’d still suggest baking it first.
Would I double this recipe for a 9×13 pan?
Yes, that should work.
Do I bake my crust then add my cheese cake mix and bake it again with the crust on top?
Yes, pre-bake the crust first.
Do I need to cook the crust if I’m using it for pudding pie?
Yes, you should bake it so it holds together. Enjoy!
I’m making pudding cups and wanted a graham cracker bottom and sprinkle on top is this ok to use for that ??
Yes, definitely.
Can I eliminate sugar altogether or use stivia or honey?
Yes, that would be fine 🙂
But this isn’t from scratch, how can i make this without buying graham crackers? Would flour and cinnamon would do alright.
I don’t make my graham crackers from scratch, but here’s recipe if you’d like to: https://www.dessertfortwo.com/homemade-graham-crackers/
I have never made a pie crust before but this was simple and easy to make and my cheesecake came out perfect so thank you for the recipe.
I increased butter to 8tbsp. It was too loose otherwise. Other than that, perfect.
Me, too Mike. I thought it might be because I live in the desert of Arizona with humidity in the single digits, and everything is dry!
One more question…
Can this crust be used to make a cheesecake?
Yes, but depending on the size of your spring form pan you may want to double the crust recipe!
Does this crust come out crispy or more crumbly without crumbling.
Looking to replace my current crust recipe, comes out to hard, to crisp.
I think it hold together perfectly while still being tender to cut through with a fork.
Since I’ve never made a scratch pie crust, after baking the crust do I cool it down first and then add my pie filling and bake my pie or can I use it right out of the oven and bake my pie?
Hi there, I could be more help if you tell which type of pie you’re baking?
Is this recipe for only one Pie Crust?
Yes, this recipe makes one graham cracker pie crust.
Wonderful..I will never buy a premade crust again!!
Very Simple, we are the whole pie! Bon Appetit!
Thank you for this fine recipe! I’ve finally found a keeper. Others I’ve tried are either too skimpy or dry. This came out perfect!!!
Simple and straightforward recipe. It is also a good base for crust variations—adding chopped candied ginger, pecans, or coconut (or all of the above) makes for a scrumptious layer of added flavor and texture. It’s a keeper for me!
Do you have to use sugar? I think my dessert is sweet enough without sugar in the crust. Will it still bake up sturdy enough?
Hi Janet, yes I think it would work fine to leave the sugar out of the graham cracker crust. Enjoy!
After baking, how long can I store it before I fill it, and what’s the best method? Refrigerator, freezer,?
Cover it WELL with plastic wrap. It should keep well in refrigerator up to five days or freezer two weeks.
Hi,
What flavor Graham Crackers is the best for cheesecake crust?
I use Honey graham crackers 🙂
Honey flavor is what I use, but how do you stop it from getting soft when it is stored in the fridge?
Store it on the countertop, instead of the fridge. Then it wont get soft 🙂
I always use vanilla wafers, crushed,and about 7 Tabsp of melted butter, no need to add sugar. Use about 62 crushed vanilla wafers.
I followed this graham cracker pie crust recipe exactly. After cooling, I added banana slices, banana pudding and cool whip. After about 10 hours in the refrigerator I prepared to serve the pie. Was very disappointed to find the crust to be hard and stuck to the glass pie plate. What did I do wrong?
Hi Mary,
I am so sorry your crust was too hard. It’s possible that the crust was pressed too tightly to the pan. Also make sure the butter measurements were exact!
I made this recipe with ground-up Cheerios, so that it would be gluten-free. Everyone loved it!
I’m baking a cheese cake and it requires baking for 40 minutes at 350..will the crust do ok for that amount of time ??
Yes, absolutely! Enjoy!
If I am making several in advance, do they need to be frozen, fridge, or good on countertop after baking?
I’d keep them in the fridge for up to a few days, or else you can freeze them. Thaw before using in your recipe 🙂
Hi
How would I prepare this recipe along with a baked cheesecake recipe ? With the separate baking for each?
Bake it at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes, then add your cheesecake filling and bake again 🙂
Hi! Does the crust need to be cooled off first before I put the cream cheese filling?
I’m not sure which cream cheese filling for pie you are referring to. If it will be baked again, then no it doesn’t need to cool. If it is a no-bake filling then yes I would allow it to cool first. Hope that helps!
Can you use digestive biscuits instead?
I imagine they would work–never tried it 🙂
Delicious!
What would the Graham cracker crust recipe be for a 9×13 pan?
I would double the recipe.
I have been looking for a new pie crust. I wanted something different, but I wasn’t necessarily looking for a graham cracker crust. I had everything I needed so I thought I would try it. I was amazed at how well it turned out! It was so easy to make and held together so well. Can’t wait to try this on some of my pies.
We made your key lime pie with this graham cracker crust and it was SOO GOOD!! This recipe is a keeper for sure!