This pie crust can replace a classic pie crust in any pie recipe. It goes so well with cream pies, custard pies, and fruit pies too. Here I’ll show you how to make this fantastic crust with foolproof results with a step by step recipe.
Why I love this recipe
Just like my classic pie crust recipe, this recipe will provide detailed step by step instructions on how to make this pie crust. I provide tips on how to make perfect pie crusts that are easy to follow, even if you’re a complete beginner! Graham cracker pie crust has more flavor and a texture that I love, and it’ll make your pies even better! This pie crust can be blind-baked, par-baked, or baked with the filling too, just like regular pie crust.
Having trouble with pie crusts? I got you!
Have you tried making homemade pie crusts, but they always end up,
Rubbery and too thick and hard? Not flaky or crumbly? Misshapen and shrunken in your pie dish?
Then you absolutely need to check out my guide to Perfect Pie Crusts for beginners! I cover everything in that post, including,
Ingredients and why they are important. How to make a flaky pie crust AND a mealy pie crust (like shortcrust pastry). What to look for when adding liquid, to make sure your pie dough has just enough water. This is important because depending on the type of flour, weather etc., the amount of liquid you add can slightly vary. How to fix pie dough that has either too much or too little moisture. Pro tips on rolling out the dough and lining pie dishes, without causing the dough to shrink. How to bake a pie crust with absolutely perfect results, every time. Plus more troubleshooting advice.
Generally, most people who know how to make pie crusts learned how to do so from their parents or grandparents (at least from my observations). However, they can’t always explain what to do, what to look for, and why they do what they do to get perfect pie crust results. But with my recipe posts, I provide all that information and more. With plenty of trial and error, and after following 100s of pie crust tips and tricks, I’ve found what helps for beginners! What makes sense, and why it works. So, I compiled all those tips and tricks in one article with a foolproof recipe in my perfect pie crust post. The same tips and advice apply to this graham flour pie crust as well. So let’s get started.
Ingredients to make graham flour pie crust
Ingredients for the dough
AP flour – All purpose flour has medium protein content and is the most suitable flour to use for various baking recipes. Traditionally it can contain between 10 – 12% protein content. Graham crackers – For this pie crust, I use the classic honey graham crackers. However, you can use cinnamon or other flavors as well. The crackers are processed in a food processor so that they are ground into fine crumbs. Unsalted butter – Just like my classic pie crust, this will also be an all butter crust. I use unsalted butter that is chilled and cubed. But you can use salted butter as well. Just reduce (or eliminate) the amount of salt you add. Salt – I prefer my crust to have some saltiness (over sweetness). So salt is non-negotiable for me. It’s the difference between a delicious crust and a bland crust. Reduce the salt if you use salted butter. Sugar – I add sugar for flavor and to bring out the nutty flavor of the graham crackers. Ice water – One of the most important steps in making pie crusts is to keep the dough nice and cold. So, it’s important to use ice cold water. I use ice cubes to keep the water chilled. The flour will also form gluten in the presence of water in the dough. So it’s important to only add just enough to hydrate the dough. Otherwise the dough might form TOO MUCH gluten. Iced vodka – I use just a small amount of chilled vodka in my pie crust when I can. While using vodka is optional, it does help to keep the pie crust tender and flaky, because it prevents some gluten formation in the dough. This is because vodka doesn’t have much water, but it still helps to hydrate the dough.
Other equipment and ingredients needed
Pie plates – A traditional pie plate can be between 9 and 10 inches in diameter. A regular pie plate will have a depth of about 1.5 inches, and a shallow pie plate will be about 1 inch in depth. A deep pie plate will have a depth of around 2 inches (maybe up to 2.25 inches). This pie crust recipe will be enough to cover a 2 inch deep pie plate, and to have a top crust as well (i.e. double crust pie). Spray bottle with cold water – This is totally optional. But if you’re a beginner, and you have had issues with adding too much water to your pie crust before, then a spray bottle will be your savior! You can use this to mist the water into dry spots on your dough so that you can control the hydration, without adding too much AND without handling the dough too often. Rolling pin – To roll out the pie dough. Egg wash – An egg wash is optional when making pie crust, but it can be beneficial in some applications. An egg wash will give the crust a beautiful golden sheen when baked through. An egg wash can also help to “seal” the crust, and slow down the crust from getting soggy when filled with a cooked filling. Foil or parchment paper – When blind-baking a pie crust, you will need either foil or parchment paper to place inside the crust. This will act as the barrier between the crust and the pie weights. I prefer to use foil. Pie weights – Absolutely necessary when blind-baking or par-baking. You can purchase ceramic pie weights, but after using many different types of pie weights, I have two favorites. Both of these are small enough to cover a larger surface area, and be more efficient in keeping the crust in place while it bakes. Baking tray or pizza stone – This equipment will help you get that beautiful golden crust on the bottom of your pie as you bake it. Trust me!
Step by step recipe for making the graham flour pie dough and pie crust
Making the dough
It’s imperative that the butter and liquid ingredients are all chilled prior to making the pie dough. This will make sure that the dough (and most importantly, the butter) will be nice and cold. To keep the butter cold, cut it into cubes, weigh, and then keep them chilled in the fridge until needed. Place the graham crackers in the food processor and process until you have fine crumbs that resemble coarse flour. You could also purchase graham cracker crumbs separately. Place the graham flour, AP flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to mix it all together as shown below.
Mixing the butter
Add the butter and toss the cubes to coat with the dry inredients. Working quickly, cut the butter into the dry flour. This can be done in several different ways. The larger the butter pieces, the more flaky the pie crust. And the smaller the butter pieces, the more mealy and crumbly the pie crust. I aim to have butter pieces that are about the size of hazelnuts, or large flattened pieces of butter, along with smaller coarse sand-like pieces. If at any point the butter is too soft, please place the entire bowl in the fridge of freezer until the butter firms up again. This happens to me during summer, because the kitchen is warm and my hands also warm up quite a bit. I just cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge or transfer the flour and butter in to a freezer bag, and then place this in the fridge or freezer.
Adding the liquid
After you cut the butter into the dough, you can mix in the liquid. Make sure the butter is still nice and cold, and the vodka (if using) and water are also chilled. Mix the vodka with about 1/2 of the water and add this to the flour – butter mixture, and gently mix it in. Only use your fingertips to mix the dough because you don’t want to handle the dough more than you need to. Then stream in the rest of the ice cold water in small amounts and mix it in with your fingers as well. Do not knead the dough. The dough should just hold together, while still having some dry spots. If the whole dough is saturated with water and is even a little sticky to the touch, then you’ve added too much water. I’ve shared tips on how you can make sure to add just enough water to your dough in my article on how to make perfect pie crusts. This is where a spray bottle comes in handy. When I was learning how perfect my pie crusts, this was the hardest part to learn. So I share how I learned to get this step right in that pie crust guide. The same techniques apply in this graham flour pie crust as well.
Creating the layers for flaky graham flour pie crust
Once you have formed the dough, flatten it into a disc or square shape. Cut the dough into four pieces and stack them on top of each other. Slightly flatten the dough again and cut it in half. Form each portion into a round disc and wrap each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I prefer to let it rest in the fridge overnight.
Rolling out the dough
For more detailed information, you can read the tips I have shared here. But here’s a quick overview. Roll out the pie dough on a well-floured countertop or work surface. If your dough had too much water added to it, you can add more flour to your countertop to prevent the dough from sticking. If the butter and dough are too solid, use your rolling pin to slap the dough a few times to make it more malleable. Roll out the dough in mostly one direction, from the center towards the outside. Rotate the dough 90 degrees each time, and also remember to flip the dough over and repeat on the other side too. Cracks will appear in the dough, so just pinch them together to close any cracks as you roll it out. It’s very important that, Once the dough has been rolled out, you can transfer the dough to line your pie dish.
Lining the pie dish
Carefully transfer the rolled out pie dough into the pie dish.
This will prevent the dough from shrinking as it bakes.
Roll up the dough onto the rolling pin, and then unravel it over the pie dish.
Gently fold the dough into quarters (roughly), and then place the dough in the pie dish with the corner close to the center of the pie dish. Then unfold so that the rolled out dough is centered better in the pie dish.
When fitting the dough into the pie dish, DO NOT stretch the dough to fit the plate. Instead, gently lift the dough and let it gently fall onto the pie dish. Then using the back of your fingers, gently press it into the inside edges of the pie dish WITHOUT stretching the dough.
Stretching the pie dough will cause the pie crust to shrink as it bakes.
Cut the overhang of the pie dish so that there is at least 0.5 inch over the edge of the pie dish. If you’re a beginner, it’s safer to have a 1 inch overhang. Any scraps can be used to repair any holes in the pie dish, and to also mend any edges that don’t have enough dough to create a fluted edge.
Roll the pie crust overhang underneath to create a thickened pie crust that is flush against the edge of the pie dish. Then you can create a decorative pie crust edge as well. The classic method is to use your fingers to create a fluted pie crust edge. However, you can also use a fork to crimp it.
Cover the pie crust and pie plate and let it refrigerate for at least 45 – 60 minutes before baking. You must ensure that the crust is nice and chilled when you bake it. This helps to create a crust that is wonderfully flaky, and prevents the crust from shrinking as well.
Baking the graham flour pie crust
While the pie crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Place the oven rack in the lower third of your oven. Keep a baking tray or a pizza stone on the oven rack as the oven preheats. If you’re using a pizza stone, make sure that it preheats for at least 45 minutes, ideally 60 minutes. The baking tray should preheat for about 30 – 40 minutes as well. Line your pie crust with foil or parchment paper, ensuring that the whole crust is covered. You may need to use two pieces of foil as well. Then fill it with white sugar or rice. Make sure that you fill the pie plate at least 3/4 of the way up, or right up to the point before the fluted edge starts. This is because you want the sugar to weigh down the crust and flatten it against the pie plate. This will prevent the crust from shrinking, or creating air bubbles below the crust. If you’re using a pizza stone, I still recommend using a baking tray under the pie plate, so that it can catch and contain any melted butter. Otherwise the melted butter will create too much smoke as it drips. Place the pie plate in the oven and bake for about 60 minutes. Then remove the pie plate from the oven and carefully lift out the foil WITH the sugar or rice inside. Be careful not to rip the foil so that the rice and sugar won’t spill all over the pie crust. That would be VERY hard to clean up! Prick all over the bottom of the par-baked crust with a fork. Then bake the pie crust in the oven for a further 5 – 10 minutes until the crust has lost the glossy look from the melted butter. The surface should have a more matte look. Prick all over the bottom of the par-baked crust with a fork. Return the pie crust into the oven and bake it for a further 15 – 20 minutes. Optionally, in the last 5 minutes, you can brush an egg wash over the crust and let it bake the final 5 minutes until the crust turns a glossy golden color. If you’re looking to make a double crusted pie, you can follow the tips I share here to make double crusted pies perfectly. There you have it! Now you can make a flaky, buttery pie crust that tastes like graham crackers! The graham flour added to the pie dough will give the crust a darker color than regular pie crust – almost like it was made with wheat flour. The flavor is nutty, sweet, and definitely tastes like graham crackers!
Pie recipes you can make with this graham cracker pie crust
This pie crust can replace almost ANY pie crust! But it’s obviously more suited to be used with sweet dessert pies. I made this incredible banana cream pie using this graham cracker pie crust. You could also make a delicious graham cracker mixed berry slab pie! Just substitute some of the flour with graham flour (by weight). This butterscotch apple pie would be AMAZING with this graham flour pie crust too. You could even make a galette with this version of pie dough. Like this strawberry galette or peach galette.
Pro tips for getting perfect graham flour pie crusts
Make sure that the butter, water, and vodka (if using), are chilled before using. You could even chill the flour and the bowl if you like. The butter should be firm throughout the whole process of making the pie crust, even after cutting the butter into the flour. This ensures that you get flaky, butter layers! If at any point in the recipe, the butter softens too much, return the dough to the fridge or freezer to let the butter harden again. When mixing the dough, do not overwork the dough. Do not knead it. Mix it just enough to form the dough. Pie dough does require some gluten, but too much gluten will make the dough too rubbery and hard to roll out. Vodka will help with limiting gluten development, but you can leave it out if you like. However, be extra careful about not overhandling the dough if you’re not using vodka. Flour your worktop and move the dough around while rolling it out to prevent it from sticking to the worktop. Also roll it out on both sides to help with getting a smooth rolled out dough. Do not stretch out the dough to fit it in the pie plate. Gently ease the dough into the pie plate instead. Blind bake / par bake the pie crust in a low heat oven! Not at high heat. Place the pie dish on a pie plate and/or baking tray. This will help the pie crust form a golden crust at the bottom. If you’re using a pizza stone, keep the pie plate on a baking tray while baking, so that any melted butter won’t drip onto the pizza stone or the oven and create too much smoke.
Storage instructions
This graham flour pie dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days, if wrapped very well. You can also store the pie dough in the freezer for about 2 months. Let the dough thaw out in the fridge overnight before using. A baked graham flour pie crust will be good at room temperature for about 3 days (stored in an air-tight container, with no filling), but it will get soggy. It will last in the fridge for about 5 days, but it will get soggy there as well. If you need to “re-fresh” the crust, you will need to reheat it in the oven for a few minutes.
