How to make a homemade graham cracker crust, an easy recipe that's perfect for all your favorite desserts, including pie and cheesecake.
It's pretty easy to buy an already made graham cracker crust. But sometimes you need more than the small graham cracker pie crust you find in the store.
Making a homemade graham cracker crust really isn't all that difficult. In fact, it's pretty simple and easy, only requiring 4 simple ingredients.
This graham cracker crust recipe makes a great pie crust or cheesecake crust. With a cheesecake, you need that deeper, somewhat thicker crust, and this one definitely fits the bill.
You can pair this graham cracker crust with yummy desserts like blueberry cream cheese pie, Instant Pot pumpkin spice cheesecake, strawberry swirl cheesecake, or this creamy no bake blueberry dessert. Or switch out the chocolate cookie crust for a graham cracker crust in white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.
WHERE CAN I FIND THE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST RECIPE?
If you’d rather skip all of my cooking tips, important cooking info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the delicious recipe for a graham cracker crust – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.
EASY WAYS TO CRUSH GRAHAM CRACKERS
You can crush the graham crackers a couple of ways.
My favorite way is to put them in a Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Just make sure you have all the air out of the bag before attempting to crush the crackers.
Another way is to use a food processor to grind up the crackers. This will give you an even finer mix of graham cracker crumbs.
HOW CAN I MAKE A GLUTEN FREE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST?
You can make a gluten free graham cracker crust for your desserts by using gluten free graham crackers or gluten free graham crumbs.
TIPS FOR HOW TO MAKE AN EASY GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
Once you've gathered your ingredients, making this crust is a pretty simple process.
- Crush the graham crackers first. You'll need about 2 packs (or 18 sheets) of graham crackers.
- Mix together the crushed grahams, sugar, brown sugar, and melted butter.
- Spray your pan with cooking spray, and press the mixture into your pan.
- Then bake the graham cracker crust according to the recipe instructions below.
WHY DO I HAVE TO BAKE THE CRUST?
You don't technically have to bake the crust, but if you don't, it will be quite soft and crumbly.
Baking a graham cracker crust allows the ingredients to fuse together in such a way that it will hold your dessert well and not fall apart when you take it out of the fridge.
And it only takes about 10 minutes to bake, so it's super quick and easy.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS FOR A GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
There are a few ways you can switch up a graham cracker crust for cheesecake, pie, and all your favorite desserts.
- Use cookies instead of graham crackers. You can use crisp lemon cookies, butter cookies, chocolate cookies, Golden Oreos, ginger snaps, etc.
- Instead of regular honey graham crackers, try using cinnamon grahams or chocolate graham crackers.
- Depending on the type of dessert you're making, add spices to your crust mixture, including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, or pumpkin pie spice.
- Add a tiny bit of citrus flavoring to your crust with a bit of lemon zest.
CAN I FREEZE A GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST?
Yes, you can. Just make sure it's covered well so it doesn't get freezer burn.
This crust should keep in the freezer for about 3 months.
MORE CRUST RECIPES YOU MAY ENJOY
I really love this chocolate cookie crust I make with my favorite raspberry cheesecake.
And when it comes to pie crust, we've got you covered with this pecan nut pie crust, this traditional pie crust recipe, and this easy shortcut no-roll pie crust.
DESSERTS YOU CAN PAIR WITH A GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
Strawberry Miracle Cheesecake is an easy no bake dessert you can pair with a graham crust.
Make a caramel topped pumpkin cheesecake with this recipe from Mommy Hates Cooking.
Strawberry Jello pie, from Flour on My Fingers, is a quick and easy no bake dessert that pairs perfectly with a graham cracker crust.
KITCHEN TOOLS YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE A GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST:
Baking Pan – In this case, I used a 9-inch springform pan, since I was making a cheesecake.
Gallon Ziploc Bags with Rolling Pin or Food Processor– This makes it easy to crush the graham crackers.
Large Mixing Bowl – You’ll need a bowl for mixing the crushed grahams, sugars, and melted butter together.
GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST RECIPE
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Easy Graham Cracker Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups graham crackers *crushed
- 1 tablespoon pure cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons salted butter melted
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
- Crush the graham crackers, using a rolling pin and Ziploc bag, or a food processor.
- Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, pure cane sugar, and brown sugar.
- Add in the melted butter and mix together well.
- Spray your pan with cooking spray, and press the mixture into your pan**.
- Bake the crust at 350°F for about 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool before filling.
