How Much Butter For Graham Cracker Crust?

Question

I bought a bag of cookies that were basically ginger snaps without the ginger. They have a small amount of artificial pumpkin pie flavor. I plan to process them and use the crumbs to make a pie crust. I will add some cinnamon or allspice as I will use the crust for a sweet potato pie.

I've been comparing several recipes for a graham cracker pie crust. They all call for 1 1/2 cups crumbs. From there, they vary a lot. The amount of sugar is from 2 tablespoons to a third cup. The amount of butter is from 6 to 8 tablespoons.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried these different amounts of butter and sugar and which they felt was the best.

Likekinds · Answer

Yes. This would be much better than the 8 tablespoon recipe I just tried.Thanks

702551 · Answer

I don't think there's a "magic ratio" for a graham cracker crust. It's still depend on factors like cookie moisture, air humidity, temperature, the butter, etc.

Personally I would lean toward less butter (I don't adore greasy pie crusts) and just add enough for it to hold its shape.

Nancy · Answer

Interesting. The version at all recipes site (used and liked by over a thousand home cooks) uses 6 tablespoons butter for 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs.

Likekinds · Answer

Actually, I was more interested in learning preferences in ratios of ingredients rather than total yield. Through further testing since posting my question, I did at least find that 8 tablespoons is far too much butter for one and a half cups of crumbs. I had to add so much more crumbs, I ended up with two pie crusts. Salvaging that, nothing was wasted.

I agree with you as to the extreme sweetness of many American desserts. In post war times with many ingredients unavailable, my mother topped most of her cakes with 7 minute or boiled icing. It was so rich, some would call it decadent. To me it was almost yucky.

Thanks.

702551 · Answer

Rather than trying to pick a number within a range, I would rather follow a well tested recipe from a reputable source.

Baking dishes come in various sizes anyhow so the amounts of resultant pie dough can be different depending on what size dish the dough is intended to fill.

Personally, I would seek out a recipe that had relatively little sugar. I find that most American dessert recipes are too sweet for my tastes (admittedly I am in the minority of Americans) so I often find myself cutting back on the listed sweetener quantities listed. But that's just me...

Anyhow best of luck.

How Much Butter For Graham Cracker Crust?

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