Salted Graham Cracker Crust

With less sugar and more salt than other versions, this buttery homemade graham cracker crust recipe highlights just how good the nutty, malty flavor of graham crackers can be. Baked until toasty, the crust is neutral enough to work with most no-bake pie fillings, from Key lime pie to virtually any cream pie recipe (banana cream pie, chocolate pudding pie, peanut butter pie) to no-bake cheesecake. Plus, it’s significantly tastier than any store-bought crust.

A few tips to help achieve a perfect graham cracker crust: Use a food processor to pulverize the crackers into even, fine crumbs, then pulse in the melted butter and remaining ingredients for even distribution. Finely ground graham cracker crumbs will result in a pie crust that slices neatly; while using a rolling pin to crush the crackers would result in irregular pieces that are more likely to crumble when formed and sliced. Second, remember to heat the butter just until it’s melted. We’re fans of brown butter as much as anyone, but if the butter even sizzles or pops here, you’ll have lost too much moisture, and the final pie crust will slump unforgivingly down the sides of the pie plate.

Finally, this pie crust recipe was engineered to work with whole graham crackers, which are relatively dry and lower in fat and sugar than most other store-bought cookies. You can riff on the flavors using chocolate graham crackers, cinnamon grahams, or digestive biscuits, or by using brown sugar in place of white. Other cookies like Oreos, gingersnaps, or vanilla wafers will perform differently, sometimes losing shape as the crust bakes, since they have vastly more fat and sugar.

Try out this graham cracker crust in our Simply Brilliant Banoffee Pie, or check out more of our best Thanksgiving dessert recipes →