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Learn how to make a Graham Cracker Crust from scratch. Homemade Graham Cracker Crust is sweet, buttery, and miles ahead of anything you can buy at the store.
From cheesecakes to custard pies, so make of my favorite dessert recipes start with a Graham Cracker Crust.
Sure, you could buy one in the baking aisle at the grocery store. But you’ll never want to again after you see how easy it is to make homemade Graham Cracker Crust with just three ingredients in a mere 20 minutes. In addition to being a breeze to whip up from scratch, my easy Graham Cracker Crust recipe allows you to customize your cracker flavor, sweetener, and pan shape.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Graham crackers: Honey-flavored, cinnamon, or even chocolate graham crackers all work well. If graham crackers aren’t available in your part of the world, you can substitute 1 ½ cups crushed digestive biscuits. (9 sheets of graham crackers yields about 1 ½ cups of crumbs.)
- Sugar: Or substitute 2 tablespoons brown sugar or omit from the crust entirely.
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, blender, or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, finely crush graham crackers (you will have about 1 ½ cups crumbs).
- In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar.
- Pour into a 9-inch springform pan. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, press the crust evenly and firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
- Bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Graham Cracker Crust recipe creates enough to fill a 9-inch springform pan, which will serve about 12 to 16 slices. Or, use this recipe for a 9-inch square baking pan.
- Make ahead: After baking, cool completely and then store covered (or wrapped in plastic) in the refrigerator up to 3 days in advance.
- Freezer: Freeze the baked, cooled crust up to 3 months in advance. Thaw at room temperature before using.
Recipe FAQs
Sure. Keep your kitchen cool and the oven off; simply chill the crust (to solidify the melted butter and sugar mixture) for at least 2 hours before filling it.
You can’t go wrong with Chocolate Cream Pie, No Bake Lemon Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie, Pumpkin Cheesecake, or Cheesecake Bars with Strawberry Topping. Or soften and scoop any ice cream flavor inside and finish with your favorite sundae toppings for a semi-homemade ice cream pie.
This crust works great for desserts assembled in a 9-inch square pan, too.
Homemade Graham Crackers
An easy recipe for Homemade Graham Crackers. Made with 100% whole wheat flour and brown sugar, these are so much better than store-bought crackers!
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Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
- 9 graham crackers (see note 1)
- 5 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (see note 2)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, blender, or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, finely crush graham crackers (you will have about 1 ½ cups crumbs).
- In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar. Pour into a 9-inch springform pan. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, press the crust evenly and firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
- Bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Graham crackers: Honey-flavored, cinnamon, or even chocolate graham crackers all work well. If graham crackers aren’t available in your part of the world, you can substitute 1 ½ cups crushed digestive biscuits (9 sheets of graham crackers yields about 1 ½ cups of crumbs).
- Sugar: Or substitute 2 tablespoons brown sugar or omit sugar from the crust entirely.
- Yield: This Graham Cracker Crust recipe creates enough to fill a 9-inch springform pan, which will serve about 12 to 16 slices. Or, use this recipe for a 9-inch square baking pan.
- Make ahead: After baking, cool completely and then store covered (or wrapped in plastic) in the refrigerator up to 3 days in advance.
- Freezer: Freeze the baked, cooled crust up to 3 months in advance. Thaw at room temperature before using.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Hi Meggan,
I see that some people use light brown sugar when making graham cracker crust. What is the difference between using brown or white sugar? What is best? Thank you.
Hi Tee, using brown sugar and white sugar when making a graham cracker crust depends on personal preference. White sugar is neutrally sweet and helps the crust have a crumbly texture. Brown sugar adds a molasses flavors, moisture, some more light brown color to the crust, and helps the crust have a more chewy texture. Best is whichever you prefer! You can always experiment with one, the other, or a combination of both to find the texture you like best. I hope this helps! Please write with any more questions! – Meggan
Do you bake ahead if using for a pie filling that needs to be baked?
Hi Sherri, yes, possibly. The time it needs to bake may vary depending on the type of pie you are making, so I would recommend following the directions in the recipe. – Meggan
Crazy how easy this is to make and turns out so much better than the store bought stuff! Yum