20 Minute Brown Butter Graham Cracker Crust

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this super easy graham cracker pie crust recipe with you!

I love making a crumb crust for pies, and this homemade graham cracker crust is particularly good. It utilises brown butter for a super toasty finish, which gives amazing depth of flavour to whatever recipe you are using it for.

I use this graham cracker crust as the base of my Key Lime Pie and my Lemon pie, but it can be used in a bunch of different formats - it works great as the base of a bar or a cheesecake too.

I have made a bunch of crumb crusts in my time as a baking blogger, and have picked up a couple of tips and tricks along the way on how to get a perfect graham cracker crust that holds its shape that I will share with you!

Ingredients in Graham Cracker Crust

The ingredients list in graham cracker crust is super simple:

• Graham Crackers. Gotta have them. There are notes further down the post on what to use if you don't have easy access to graham crackers in your country. I get mine from one of the US stores in New Zealand or get friends to bring them over to me.
• Sugar. I use regular granulated sugar. This helps to act as some glue in the crust to help it to hold together when it bakes.
• Salt. Just a little. I often use salted butter, and if you do you only need a tiny bit of additional salt.
• Butter. This is a situation in which brown butter makes everything better. Browning the butter only takes an extra five minutes, and it is so, so worth it.

What sized pan does this graham cracker crust fit?

This recipe makes enough graham cracker crust to make a thick 8-inch or 9-inch pie crust, or a slightly thinner 10-inch pie crust. I like to use it in a removable bottom 9-inch tart pan too as it does a great job at sticking to the fluted sides to make a really nice pattern.

This recipe can also be used to line a 9-inch springform pan, or the base of a 9-inch square pan.

Can Graham Cracker Crust be made ahead of time?

Yes - this crust is great to make ahead of time. I have tested storing it for up to 24 hours in the fridge before using.

Bake the crust as directed, then leave to cool completely, then transfer to the fridge until ready to use. I leave mine uncovered but you can cover yours if you like.

What is the best pan to use for graham cracker crust?

I am a metal pie pan girl when it comes to making a pie with a classic pastry crust, but for a crumb crust like this graham cracker crust or my oreo pie crust, I highly recommend a ceramic pan. Metal pans can be a little too slippery and the crust can slip down the sides. This crust works great in a metal tart pan, but tart pans have much straighter sides than a sloped pie pan.

I tested this recipe in my go-to non stick pan and the crust fully slumped down to the bottom of the pan. I have had the best success using this crust either in a ceramic pan or a tart pan (or it works great in a square pan too).

Graham Cracker Alternatives

This is one of the most common questions I get asked - what can I use instead of graham crackers?

I tested this recipe using digestive biscuits and it worked great. You just need to reduce the butter quantity down to 75g of brown butter in order to account for the fact that digestives aren't as absorbent as graham crackers. You will need to add an extra 2-3 minutes onto the bake time too.

How to shape a graham cracker crust.

I have made many graham cracker crusts before, and have found that the easiest way to get a nice even crust is to start with the sides. You can either dump all the crust in at once and go for it, or I find it much easier to weigh out some of the crust and then form the sides first, before adding the rest of the crust to form the bottom.

Depending on the pan that you use the crust will be thicker or thinner, so adjust the amount you use for the sides if needed.

The great thing about making a graham cracker crust is that you can work at it as much as you like - if you find that you aren't happy with how it is coming out, just transfer the crumbs back into the bowl and start again.

Flatten things down.

Another good little tip when making a graham cracker crust is to use something nice and flat. I like to use either a flat bottomed measuring cup (my good friend the ⅓ cup, if you've been here a while you will know she is my favourite for a crumb crust), or you can use a drinking glass or something similar. Make sure that the crust is nice and compacted in the pan to reduce crumbling. I also have a wooden tamper which is helpful to use.

I like to use the thumb or finger on my opposite hand to help shape the top edge of the crust - I push down lightly to stop it from rising too much up the sides of the pan and to keep everything nice and flat and tidy.

The ideal consistency for a sturdy graham cracker crust - wet sand.

Not all graham crackers have the same level of absorbency, so you may need to adjust the amount of butter that you use in the recipe.

The amount I call for in the recipe generally works, but as I haven't been able to test with every brand of graham cracker out there, you may need to just keep an eye on things.

You are aiming for the consistency to be like wet sand - if you see in the image below, when you squeeze some of the crust mixture together, it should hold its shape.

Why are there two quantities of butter in the recipe?

You will notice that there are two different quantities of butter in the recipe - the initial quantity (125g) in the ingredients list, then a smaller measure of brown butter within the body of the recipe.

Different butters have different moisture levels, which affects the yield of brown butter. American style butter has a higher water content, so will produce less brown butter when the water is cooked off. European or New Zealand-style butter, which is higher in fat than American butter, will have less water that needs cooking off, so you will end up with a higher yield of brown butter.

Because of this, the most accurate way to measure this is with a scale. I have accounted for the loss in moisture when calculating the initial quantity of butter to use in the recipe.

Do I have to brown the butter?

No - if you don't want to brown the butter you can just use 95g melted butter in the recipe and skip the browning step.

What wooden tool do you use for the crust?
I use a tamper - a drinking glass or measuring cup will work great too! Just make sure you have a nice seal between the edges and bottom of the crust.