Don’t buy a graham cracker crust. Seriously. It’s not that hard to make one from scratch and the preservatives in one of the store-bought crusts make me nervous. Graham cracker crusts are so easy to make and if you keep a huge batch of graham cracker crumbs on hand, you can make it in seconds.

By the way, if you’re wondering about that weird little tool up there, it’s called a dough mixer. You would usually use to … you guessed it… mix dough. But I love to use it when I make graham cracker crusts. When I use a fork, the graham cracker and butter mixture gets all gummed up in the tongs and makes me crazy. When I use this little tool, it all mixes perfectly with no gumminess or craziness. It’s certainly not necessary to have one of these, but if you do, use it when you make a graham cracker crust and you’ll never go back.

graham cracker crust

from Pie, by Kevin Haedrich

• 6 tbsp melted butter
• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• big pinch salt

Melt the butter in the pie plate in the microwave.

In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the graham cracker crumb mixture to the pie plate and, using a fork, coat them all evenly with the butter. Then, using your hands, starting with the middle, press the crumbs outward up the sides of the pie plate. No baking needed!