What Is Graham Cracker Crust Made Of
A graham cracker crust is made of crushed graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter. The ingredients are mixed together and then pressed into a pie pan. The crust is baked at 375° F for 5 to 7 minutes. Prebaking the crust helps the crust keep its shape.
A store-bought premade graham cracker crust is made with similar ingredients. The difference is that a premade graham crust is not always made with crushed graham crackers. Instead, it is made with graham cracker ingredients like flour, graham flour, molasses, palm oil, and baking soda. Plus, additives for freshness and preservation.
How To Make A Sugar Free Graham Cracker Pie Crust
I while back I mentioned that I would soon be posting a recipe for how to make this crust.This crust works great with cheesecakes and pies. I like to make more than one at a time and freeze away when I am not going to be using at the moment.
Most people do not factor in the crust when it comes to factoring sugar content.We do not always think of the crust as a contributor to the much more than the taste or structure of out creations. However, many crusts do have sugar added to them. This holds especially true for those inexpensive pre-made crusts that we see in the grocery stores. The really do seem like a convenient thing to use as they are pre-made and also come in their own pie tin. However, I find that it is important to know what is in that crust before I will serve it.
Tips For The Best Graham Cracker Crust
Read through these tips for some help with the best homemade graham cracker crust:
- Crushed Graham Cracker Crumbs: If youd rather skip the food processor or crushing the graham crackers by hand, you can buy store brand graham cracker crumbs instead.
- Baked Crust is Less Crumbly: If you want to make a no bake pie, thats totally fine, but know that the crust will be a little bit more crumbly when youre slicing the pie.
- The Trick to an Evenly Distributed Crust: First use your fingers to spread the crumbs out, and then use the measuring cup to press them firmly into place.
- Variations: You can use cookies instead of graham crackers, add in cinnamon, or even use a butter substitute for a vegan-friendly crust.
- Brown Sugar vs Granulated Sugar: you can use either, its personal preference.
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This Is The Best Homemade Graham Cracker Crust
All delicious pies start with a fundamental step making a good pie crust. And this Graham Cracker Pie Crust? Its one of the best.
You can use this homemade pie crust to make any pie you like. Apple pie, chocolate pudding pie, lemon meringue pie, cherry pie literally whatever flavor you like will work. If youre still trying to decide what kind of pie to make, dont sweat it! Just make this pie crust ahead of time, freeze it, and figure out the rest later!
Making freezer-friendly pie crusts, like this graham cracker one, is such a timesaver. If I get a sudden craving for pie , or need to whip together a quick dessert for guests, Ive already got half the dessert ready!
I could honestly eat just this crust, though. Thats it. Thats the dessert. Its the perfect amount of crumbly, its buttery, its sweet its all that you could ask for.
Lets get it in the oven so you can see what Im talking about!
Do You Have To Bake A Graham Cracker Crust
You have two options for preparing this crust. You can par-bake it or freeze it. There are pros and cons to each. But first, let’s understand that the butter and the sugar play important roles in making sure the crumb crust stays together for each of these methods. Then, you’ll know which method is best for your pie.
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Now Master 5 More Easy Crumb Crusts
We experimented with different pantry items to create a whole team of crunchy crusts. Theres something here for everyone.
1. Saltine Cracker Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush about 60 saltine crackers in a zip-top bag to make 2-3/4 cups crumbs. Mix crumbs with 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar. Transfer to an ungreased 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Press on the bottom and up the sides. Bake 15-18 minutes.
Saltine crust is amazing with a no-bake, tart-sweet strawberry lemonade filling.
2. Sugar Cone Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush about 18 sugar cones in a zip-top bag to make 2-3/4 cups crumbs. Mix crumbs with 1/2 cup melted butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes.
Sugar cone crust makes a pie that tastes like birthday cake when you add a colorful, no-bake confetti filling.
3. Capn Crunch Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush about 4 cups Capn Crunch cereal in a zip-top bag to make 2-3/4 cups crumbs. Mix crumbs with 1/2 cup melted butter. Bake 10-12 minutes.
Capn Crunch crust goes great with a mixed berry no-bake filling.
4. Pretzel Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 2-3/4 cups crushed pretzel sticks with 3/4 cup melted butter and 1/3 cup sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes.
Crispy, salty pretzel crust is just begging for a creamy no-bake peanut butter filling and a layer of chocolate ganache.
5. Teddy Grahams Crust
Chocolate Teddy Graham crust is extra special with a cool no-bake mocha filling.
How Do You Keep Store
Premade graham cracker crust can be sturdy and hold its shape in the pie tin with the plastic lid. However, it shows its fragility if you tilt the tin when the crust doesnt have filling in it yet. It will crumble out of the pan.
The best way to keep store-bought graham cracker crust from crumbling is to bake it, coat it, and cut it with a serrated knife. Oh, and dont tilt the crust if it has no filling in it.
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How To Make A Graham Cracker Crust
To start, youll need your graham cracker crumbs. I used to grind my own graham crackers and always hated all the cleaning and measuring involved. The first time I realized I could buy graham cracker crumbs, I was on it and never looked back.
However, if youre into making your own, pop about 11-12 full sheets of graham crackers into a food processor and grind them up. If you dont have a food processor you could crush up the graham crackers in a plastic bag, but just be sure to get things nice and crushed. A solid crusts enemy is big chunks that can cause crumbling.
I also like to have a decently thick crust on my pies and cheesecakes. Not so much that it takes over, but not so little that it doesnt add the natural flair that it should. I typically use more crust in cheesecakes than pies, since they are taller and require more to cover the sides. Not to mention that with their height, they can handle a littler thicker crust without taking over. So to make sure we have measurements correct and avoid confusion, I separated out the two crusts in the recipe below. One for pie and one for cheesecake.
To the graham cracker crumbs, we will add some sugar. You can use granulated or brown sugar. I most often use granulated, but when making something that seems like a good fit for brown sugar, like this Bananas Foster Cheesecake, I will use it.
Do You Have To Bake Keebler Ready Crust
Instructions: Helpful Hints: Your Ready Crust Pie Crust is ready to use! However, if you want to give your no-bake recipe a golden crust, brush it with a beaten egg or egg whites and bake at 375 F for 5 minutes. Cool before filling. Always place the curst on a cookie sheet prior to filling for all your baked recipes.
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Graham Cracker Crust Tips
- Press the graham cracker mixture firmly into the pie dish, building up the sides.
- When baking with the pie filling, if you notice the crust getting a little too dark, simply add foil over the exposed crust and then continue baking.
- If you dont want to make your own graham cracker pie crust, feel free to buy one from the store- no judgement here!
What Is The Best Way To Press The Graham Cracker Crumbs Into The Pie Plate
Forget everything you know about pressing in a homemade crumb crust into your pie plate because we’ve all been doing it wrong! While logic might tell you to place the crumb mixture in the middle of your pie plate and start pressing it in there, this process makes it messy and hard to get an even crumb base all the way up the sides. The easier and faster way to do it is to start forming the edges of the pie crust first, and then press the crumb mixture down into the bottom of the plate.
Here are the steps:
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Make It In Advance & Freeze It
This graham cracker pie crust is a great make ahead recipe! It stores so well in the fridge or the freezer, so you can make it a few days ahead of time, and then fill it up later, as mentioned above. If you want to freeze the crust, I recommend waiting to bake it. Press it into the pan, then cover it tightly with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
Keywords:: graham cracker pie crust, homemade pie crust recipe
How To Form And Bake Your Keto Graham Cracker Crust:
I like to focus on enhancing the flavors of this pie crust recipe while keeping textures in tact for the final product. One way I like to do this is to carefully brown the almond flour before forming it into the crust.
Add your almond flour to a small sauté pan and place on medium low heat. Be extra careful if youre using coconut flour because it can burn very easily. Once its in the pan, have a little patience to cook on lower heat and move it often in the pan with a heat proof rubber spatula.
Once it looks slightly golden brown and smells somewhat fragrant, remove it from the heat and set it aside. Melt your butter and let that cool slightly as well.
Next, just simply combine you toasted almond flour, sweetener of choice, and the cinnamon together into a bowl. Pour the melted butter and then the vanilla over the dry ingredients and fold everything in until the mixture looks like slightly damp sand. You want everything to be fully coated in the butter!
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The Best Graham Cracker Crust Recipe
I know, I know. Wheres the filling? But heres the thing. A great pie crust is the secret to the best pies, whether theyre no bake or just your classic apple pie. This Graham Cracker Crust is the base you need to fulfill your wildest dessert dreams.
Using just 4 ingredients, you can form this homemade pie crust in just about 20 minutes once you have that, then we can talk pie fillings!
What Happens If You Put Too Much Butter In Graham Cracker Crust
WHY IS MY GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST HARD? You may have added too much butter to the recipe, which hardens when refrigerated. Pressing too hard when forming the crust to your pan. You want to press hard enough to get a good shape and keep the crumbs in place, but dont go overboard.
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How Big Is A 6 Oz Pie Crust
A 6-oz pie crust is advertised as 9 inches. In reality, the crust is not quite that large.
Shrinkflation when less comes in the package, but the price remains the same is hard at work here.
A 6 oz pie is approximately 9 inches. However, it is not quite that large. In tiny print, Keebler is the only brand that specified the size of 9 inches.
A 6 oz pie will hold approximately 4 cups of filling.
Make The Cream Cheese Mixture
- Place the Neufchatel or cream cheese in a large bowl and grab a hand mixer with beaters.
- Beat the cream cheese with the electric mixer on medium speed until it is smooth and creamy.
- Squeeze the lemon juice into a small bowl.
- Blend the juice, vanilla extract, and sweetened condensed milk into the cream cheese.
- Use a spatula to fold in the Cool Whip. Blend on low speed until the mixture is well combined.
- Taste and sweeten to your liking with sweetened condensed milk or sugar.
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How To Speed Up The Pie Setting Time
These are a few tips you might find helpful to speed up the pie setting time.
- Use Neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese. It is a softer cheese and is ready to beat in a shorter time.
- Chill the pie crust after baking it to cool it down quicker.
- After smoothing the cheese filling into the pie crust, freeze for 15 minutes. Then remove it from the freezer and top it with the cherry pie filling. Continue to chill in the refrigerator for another 45 minutes to an hour.