If you can’t be bothered with making a pastry crust, don’t despair! Many pies work just as well with a graham cracker crust pressed into your handy 8×8-inch baking dish. It’s so simple to do, too.
First of all, look for an all-natural graham cracker. Be sure to read the labels to find out if they are indeed all natural, since that label doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Make sure molasses is in the ingredient list, for an authentic graham cracker taste. The brands we like include Mi-del, Annie’s, Hain and some gluten-free versions like Pamela’s and Glutino.
The next step is making crumbs from the crackers. We used the entire 7.5-ounce box of Pamela’s gluten-free graham crackers shown above. There’s a recipe for a crust on the box which you could use, but we made a few alterations that we’ll indicate in our recipe. Usually graham crackers are not divided in half like these are, so one normal graham cracker equals two of the above.
Lay down a sheet of waxed paper, place some of the crackers on top, and cover them with another sheet of waxed paper:
Using a rolling pin or some other cylindrical object, crush the graham crackers into fine crumbs:
Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a saucepan over low heat:
Add the crushed graham cracker crumbs (about 1-3/4 cups):
Add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, honey or sugar, and stir to combine well:
Press into a greased pie plate or 8×8-inch baking dish:
If the filling is to be baked, go ahead and pour it in and bake per your instructions. If you’re making a no-bake pie, bake the crust at 350°F for 10 minutes then cool before pouring in the pie filling.
See the full recipe: Graham Cracker Crust
