Key lime pie, banana cream pie, and cheesecake are among the more popular ways to showcase a homemade graham cracker crust, but they’re hardly your only options. This no-bake pie crust recipe is as versatile as it is easy to make. Pop whole graham crackers into a food processor and blitz into fine crumbs. Stir the graham cracker crumbs into melted butter, granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt and then press the crumb mixture into a pie plate, springform pan, or tart pan. That’s it. Without so much as glancing at your oven or a rolling pin, you’ve already got the makings of a stellar dessert.
Fill your graham cracker pie crust with pretty much any flavor of softened ice cream—strawberry is nice, but it’s up to you—and chill for two hours for a delightfully retro summertime treat. Spoon in store-bought or homemade chocolate pudding for an easy dessert recipe that hardly qualifies as a recipe at all. Swap in chocolate graham crackers and marshmallow whip to make a s’mores-inspired pie, or use cinnamon grahams to give classic pumpkin pie a kicky twist. Ditch the graham crackers entirely and try this pie crust recipe with Oreos, gingersnaps, digestive biscuits, or any other crisp cookies you like.
Some people choose to bake graham cracker crusts for a toastier flavor (and because doing so melts the sugar, which, when cooled, helps hold the crust together). It’s not strictly necessary, but if you’d like, slide the crust into an oven preheated to 350° and bake for 8–10 minutes.
Recipe information
Total Time
10 minutes
Yield
Makes enough for one 9" pie pan, 24-cm springform pan, or 10" tart pan
Ingredients
Preparation
Combine 1½ cups (5 oz.) finely ground graham crackers, 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, ⅓ cup (67 g) sugar, and ⅛ tsp. kosher salt in a medium mixing bowl. Transfer to a 9" pie dish, 24-cm springform pan, or 10" tart pan and press crumbs onto bottom and up sides of the pan (if using springform, the crust will only go about 1" up the sides). To even out the crust, press it down using the bottom of a measuring cup. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.
Variations: Swap the graham cracker crumbs for an equal amount of cookie crumbs such as chocolate or vanilla wafers or gingersnaps; swap the granulated sugar for light brown sugar; or add up to 1 tsp. spice such as ground cinnamon.
Editor’s note: This recipe was first printed in the November 1999 issue of ‘Gourmet’ as ‘Crumb Crust.’ Head this way for our favorite easy pie recipes →
Leave a Review
Reviews (47)
Back to TopThis recipe for crumb crust is the companion recipe to the Three Cities of Spain cheesecake that originally appeared in Gourmet and is also available on Epicurious. Knowing that may alleviate some confusion when reading these reviews. I made the crust with animal crackers, adding a hint of ground nutmeg, for a banana cream pie. There was plenty of crumb mixture for a standard 9” pie plate. Before adding the filling, I baked it at 350* for about 10 minutes. The crust turned out to be very crisp and buttery tasting and complemented the creamy filling well.
wolfperson
St. Louis, Mo
6/12/2021
I used this crust recipe in 1955 when I was a freshman at Duke. Back then the cheese used in the pie was cottage cheese, which was pressed through a semi-fine sieve. It was a standard at my Christmas parties from 1967 until 2009.
duganmcdermon2
Chapel Hill, NC 23 yrs& 5 yrs/Boston, MA 51 yrs
11/30/2018
If using cinnamon in the recipe, how much? Thanks
t_cup
Toronto, Canada
9/20/2018
Proust had his Madelines and I have this cheesecake recipe. My mom used to make this recipe, having received it from a college friend in the early 60s. I loved it as a kid and still love it. The only changes I've made over the years is to add cinnamon to the crust ingredients and some grated lemon rind to the cream cheese filling. The tangy, soft sour cream topping is a wonderful flavor complement to the richness of the other components, and it totally obviates the need for a pesky water bath. If you want to guild the lily, you could make a simple blueberry or raspberry coulis.
charlottea
Eastern NC
8/4/2018
I used no sugar at all, and substituted Lotus Biscoff cookies (American Airlines hands these out to passengers), which are noted as the original Speculoos cookies in Europe. Plus used about one third Jules Destrooper Ginger Thins, also a Belgian cookie. Turned out to be fabulous!!!!
jsakellariadis
Amagansett, NY
7/6/2018
I used vanilla wafers and followed the recipe and it was WONDERFUL!!!
Itsamissy
Midland, TX
11/12/2017
I used ginger snaps for crust came out perfect not to sweet.
moekerk
New Orleans
12/18/2016
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