Graham Cracker Crust
- Total Time
- About 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:One 9-inch crust
- 5ounces/140 grams graham crackers (one 9-cracker sleeve), pulsed into fine crumbs in a food processor (about 1 cup)
- 3tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼cup/55 grams unsalted butter (½ stick), melted
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)
1159 calories; 61 grams fat; 31 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 148 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 73 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 738 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt. Stir in the melted butter. (Mixture will look like wet sand.) Press into the bottom and up the sides of a standard (not deep-dish) 9-inch pie pan. Fill and bake according to your recipe. (If your recipe calls for a prebaked crust, bake for 6 to 9 minutes at 375 degrees until just lightly browned. Let cool completely on wire rack before filling.)
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Sam
Hard disagree on doubling the butter. Maybe use more, but I ended up with a layer of congealed butter on the outside of the crust with doubled butter! Not ideal.
Elisabeth
Perfect as-is. Don’t mess with measurements. I have used this recipe many times for key lime pie, and it is perfect. Rave reviews for my pie, but this crust takes some of credit.
erin
For 9.5in pan, did 1.5x recipe with slight adjustments (less sugar, more butter) for a nice thick crust: 1.5 sleeves graham crackers 1 stick butter 4 tbsp sugar 3/4 tsp salt Par baked according to instructions for the full 9min. Was perfect base for NYT matcha pie.
Ann
Coming from someone who listened to the double butter advice, DO NOT double the butter. Make as is.
Janice Lindegard
Tastes great, but I had to remake it using more butter. I doubled the amount of butter. Following the recipe exactly, I wound up with a crust that fell apart at a touch. That said, the proportions of everything else are perfect. I especially like the addition of salt.
Christa
Perfect as is. No need to double the butter, the mix will be crumbly. Gently press it into the pie plate and slowly build up the sides. Tap the crust gently at the top of the sides to “finish” the edges. I baked it slightly (then let it cool for about 15 minutes) before adding my Key Lime filling. The crust taste is fantastic and absolutely adds to the pie.
Clare
This really was delicious and easy. I loved the bit of salt in the crust but only had salted butter so would cut in half next time.
Catherine
Do NOT double the butter! My crust was oozing as I pressed it into the pan, and after baking in the oven it all slumped to the bottom of the pan in a bubbling wet mess. It smelled wonderful, but was unusable as a pie crust. I had to dump it and start again. As written, the recipe works just fine. It holds together and has a lovely light and sandy texture.
David Hard
Hey NYT Cooking video content team! I think this recipe is a good candidate for a helpful baking video. Or at least the notes need to give people who are making this crust for the first time that they are doing it right. I made this crust and did everything by weight, so was pretty sure I was doing it right. But when I tried to “press” the mixture into my pie plate, it was more like very delicately touching the mixture because if I pressed, my fingers would just go right through.
MG
I am usually a salt fiend, but with unsalted butter, 1/2 tsp of salt was way too much.
NanB
Delicious crust. You don’t have to double the butter but adding a little more doesn’t hurt and does help it stand up a bit. I added some lime zest and a little powdered ginger (was making it for key lime pie). Suggest making extra so you will still have enough for your pie dish after you finish “tasting”.
capgar
Definitely do not double the butter. Made it as is and it was perfect…used it with a chocolate pie recipe and the slight saltiness was perfect to enhance the chocolate filling. Delicious!
Lauren
I used unsalted butter but found the crust too salty, I would make again but will use less salt next time!
Hannan
This crust was a huge hit with my family. Great balance of sweet and salty. Only issue was that it shrank quite a bit as it baked.
BabsD
I used more crackers (Pam’s honey graham gluten free), 1 TB more butter, less sugar (I think this cracker is a bit sweeter). Because I baked it again the rim got a bit too much color : / Next time double baking will protect crust rim. Used this with Atlantic Beach Pie. The bomb
Anne
I've made this recipe twice, using a metal measuring cup to carefully press the crust into place and baking exactly as directed. It's crumbled apart upon slicing both times--and when I say crumbled, I mean like a toppled sand castle. I'll look for a different recipe next time.
ken
i love it
Debe
I've made this a number of times. This is the exact amount of butter needed. After combining, use a metal dry measuring cup to press down and up the sides of pie or springform to compress.
Emily
I always add extra butter to a Graham crust after doing by accident once and loving the results. Makes the dough easier to press into place & the taste much richer. I didn’t quite double the butter, and about 1/3C ground toasted pecans w a bit of cinnamon. Great base recipe to play with!
Sally W H
After par-baking crust, I did feel compelled to blot the excess butter that emerged on the inside bottom surface of the crust before filling the shell. It certainly didn’t hurt.
Brandie
There were enough conflicting comments regarding the recipe needing additional butter that I took the middle road and made this with 5 tbsp of butter instead of 4 and the crust held together decently well at room temperature and was perfect after the (banana cream) pie had chilled in the fridge for a few hours.
Christa
Perfect as is. No need to double the butter, the mix will be crumbly. Gently press it into the pie plate and slowly build up the sides. Tap the crust gently at the top of the sides to “finish” the edges. I baked it slightly (then let it cool for about 15 minutes) before adding my Key Lime filling. The crust taste is fantastic and absolutely adds to the pie.
Diane
Is it 1/4 cup (55 grams) or half a stick of butter (1/2 cup)? Ingredient list is conflicting.
Suzan
To Diane--Recipe is not conflicting. A stick of butter equals 1/2 cup. So 1/2 a stick = 1/4 cup.
Puffed up
This didn’t work for me, it puffed up in the oven and the butter seeped. I think it was too much butter per graham cracker ratio and at too warm of a temp (melted rather than room temp) to be structurally sound.
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