Animal Crackers Make Great Pie Crust

They’re one of our favorite crumb crust ingredients for two important reasons: their not-too-sweet flavor and their structurally sound texture.

In the flavor category, animal crackers’ mild vanilla sweetness won’t overshadow a pie’s filling. It pairs particularly well with citrus ingredients such as lemon and sour orange, and it’s perfectly comfortable being the supporting player and not the main character.

But texture is just as important. Animal crackers contain about 39 percent fat and sugar, so they produce sturdy, even crusts that won’t slump. 

This percentage of fat and sugar makes them versatile, too. It’s similar to that of graham crackers, so we found that animal crackers are the best substitute for graham crackers in crumb crusts. When we tested using gingersnaps, Lorna Doones, and Nilla Wafers in place of graham crackers, the crusts slid down the sides of the pie plate—the result of their higher fat and sugar content.

Ready to taste animal crackers in action? Here is a list of our favorite ways to use animal crackers in a pie crust:

For the lightest flavors, use a less intrusive pie crust and sweeten as needed.

An animal cracker crust provided a sweet, crunchy contrast to the creamy, tangy sour orange filling in this unique pie.

Imagine an ice cream sandwich where the cookies stay crunchy.

Here, animal crackers are pulsed with sugar and used to dust the work surface before rolling out the pie dough. Then the remaining mixture tops the pie crust before baking.

Here, animal crackers are used to make a crust thick enough to stand up to all that tangy cheesecake filling.