Graham Cracker Crust (Cookie Crumb Crust)

Name: Graham Cracker Crust (Cookie Crumb Crust)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 full sheet graham crackers, see Recipe Notes); ¼ cup granulated sugar (see Recipe Notes); 5 tablespoons butter (melted)

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This easy graham cracker crust for pies, bars, and cheesecakes only needs 3 ingredients. Substitute cookie crumbs for a fun variation, and either type can be baked or chilled as needed. Match your crust base to your filling for fun flavor combinations!

Half chocolate cream pie in the pan with 2 forks on a plate in background on a green polka dot towel.

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Why this recipe works
Recipe Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Cookie crumb crust variations
How to make a graham cracker crust
Uses for graham cracker crusts and cookie crusts
Questions asked and answered
More pie, tart, & cobbler recipes to try
Recipe
Comments

Why this recipe works

An easy and versatile crust that needs only 3 ingredients
You can blind-bake a graham cracker crust or make a chilled no-bake crust depending on your needs
Substitute cookies for the graham crackers to make a cookie crumb crust

Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles

What is this, a statement of hopelessness? Futility? Nay, gentle reader, I say nay! This is a statement of hopefulness, of goodness and light, because now we have a way to make a wonderful crust for pies, bars, and cheesecakes.

And we get to beat the hell out of graham crackers and/or cookies in the process!

Making graham cracker or cookie crusts are also a great way to use up graham crackers or cookies that are going (or have gone) stale, so you don’t have to waste them.

So go ahead and let that cookie crumble. It will be the start of something delicious!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I haven’t made it yet but oh boy I’m going to!! Thanks Tammy!!!!

- Dawn

Recipe Ingredients

You'll need the following ingredients to make this graham cracker crust recipe:

Graham cracker crust ingredients portioned in bowls on a wooden tray.

Ingredient Notes

Graham crackers: For this recipe, you'll need 1½ cups of graham cracker crumbs - that translates to about 10 full sheet graham crackers.

You can also make a cookie pie crust by replacing the graham crackers with 2 cups (170 grams) of your choice of cookie crumbs.

Butter: Binds the crust together. You can use either salted or unsalted butter.

Sugar: You can adjust the amount of sugar you use to suit your taste. If you're making a cookie crust, remember to adjust the amount of sugar to taste based on how sweet the cookie is. If you're using sandwich cookies with the filling, adjust both the sugar and the butter to taste.

See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

You can make pie crust with graham crackers, but you have another option - cookie crumbs also make an excellent base. A graham cracker crust goes with most anything, as do crusts made with vanilla wafers, shortbread, and chocolate cookie crumbs (especially pudding-type pies).

Replace the graham crackers with 2 cups (170 grams) of your choice of cookie crumbs. You can even add cookies to the graham cracker crumbs or combine different cookies together if you want. Just remember to adjust the amount of sugar to taste based on how sweet the cookie is. If you're using sandwich cookies with the filling, adjust both the sugar and the butter to taste.

Vanilla Wafers
Shortbread
Chocolate cookie crumbs
Oreos
Gingersnaps
Pretzels
Saltine Crackers

10 graham cracker sheets will yield 1¾ cups
40 chocolate cookies (255 grams) will yield 2 cups
71 vanilla wafer crackers (250 grams) will yield 2 cups of crumbs
43 gingersnaps (304 grams) will yield 2 cups of crumbs.

Nanaimo bars stacked on a white plate in front of a blue draped scarf. — Nanaimo Bars have a chocolate graham cracker crumb base

How to make a graham cracker crust

Making a graham cracker pie crust is easier than a pastry pie crust. There's no cutting in butter or kneading involved, or rolling out dough. Best of all, you can choose whether to blind bake it or make a no-bake graham cracker crust to get it ready to fill.

Step 1: Make the crumb mixture

Using a food processor, crush the graham crackers into crumbs (photo 1). You can use a mallet and a plastic bag, especially if you're not having a good day. Transfer the crumbs to a medium bowl if you're not using the food processor.

Collage of turning graham cracker into crumbs in a food processor. — A food processor makes quick work of turning the graham crackers into crumbs

Pour in the melted butter and sugar and pulse (or mix with a spoon) until the crumb mixture is combined (photo 2). It will have a sandy texture, but be wet enough to hold together when pressed.

Collage of adding sugar & melted butter to graham cracker crumbs in a food processor. — Mixing together the crumbs, melted butter, and sugar

Step 2: Press crumb mixture into pan

Press the mixture firmly into the bottom and partway up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan, a 9-inch round springform pan, or whatever sized baking pan you're using for your recipe. Use a pastry dough tart tamper, the bottom of a measuring cup, or a straight sided glass tumbler to pack the crust down tightly (photo 3).

If you're using a standard 9-inch dish pan (not deep dish), you'll likely have ¼ to ½ cup of extra crumb mixture. This can become a garnish for the final product you're making, if you like.

Collage of tamping a graham cracker crumb mixture into a 7-inch pie pan. — It's important to really press the crumbs in firmly so the final crust holds together.

Step 3: Finish the crust

You have 2 options on how to prepare the crust for filling: no-bake and blind bake.

Method 1: No-bake crust

Chill the pie crust in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to firm up the melted butter (photo 4). Fill as desired.

An unbaked graham cracker crust a 7-inch pie pan from overhead. — All tamped down and ready to chill

Baking the crust gives a toasty flavor to the crust, but be sure to have the crumb mixture tamped down really well so the final crust holds together (you don't need baking beads).

Place the crust in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 minutes until the crumb mixture is set and you smell the graham crackers toasting. Remove the pan from the oven, and gently tamp down the crust if it puffed up in the oven (photo 5).

Cool on a rack if your recipe calls for that, and fill as desired.

A baked graham cracker crust a 7-inch pie pan from overhead. — A cooled baked graham cracker crust ready to fill

Storage instructions

Graham cracker crusts (fully cooled, if blind baked) can be stored tightly wrapped with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 3 days, or in the freezer for 3 months.

There are so many pies that will be delicious from being combined with a graham cracker or cookie crust. Both baked cheesecakes and no-bake pudding pies, like Chocolate Cream Pie and Cheesecake Pudding Pie, are obvious choices. By matching the pie filling flavor with a cookie flavor, you have a lot of flavor combinations to play with!

Questions asked and answered

Here are some questions you might have...

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

The answer lies with the type of filling you'll be making. Generally speaking, a pie, cheesecake, or other pastry that needs to be baked would use a baked crust. It's a good idea to blind bake the crust first so that you know it's properly set before adding your filling.

A chilled filling can use either a blind-baked (and completely cooled) crust or a chilled no-bake crust.

Why does my graham cracker crust fall apart?

One reason is that the crumb mixture may not have had enough melted butter to set the crust when it was baked or chilled. Or, the crumb mixture wasn't tamped down firmly enough in the baking pan.

What size pan does this recipe fit?

This recipe will fill an 8-inch, 9-inch, or 10-inch pie pan, round cake pan, springform pan, or square baking pan. For a 9- x 13-inch baking pan, scale up to make 1½ times the recipe. For a 7-inch pie pan, make ½ the recipe.