I may not have mastered a regular pie crust, but a graham cracker crust is much easier. It is also the perfect vehicle for a key lime pie (my favorite!).

Obviously you will need some graham crackers. My mom said that this crust recipe is on the box of graham crackers she has at her house, but mine has a raspberry-cream bar recipe. That clearly would not do.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can put the graham crackers in a heavy Ziploc bag and smash it up with a rolling pin or other blunt object.

Toasted coconut is optional, but oh-so-yummy. It works well if you are making a tropical pie like key lime… maybe not so much for other types of pie.

You also will need melted butter. I didn’t take a picture of the butter, because I am assuming you know what butter looks like. I used salted butter this time (which is quite uncharacteristic for me) but unsalted will work, too.

I usually melt my butter in a 2-cup measuring cup, and I originally tried to mix all the ingredients together in that. It didn’t work too well. So you should suck it up and dirty another bowl. Once you dump the mixed ingredients into the pie pan, you can use a spoon to form it into pie-crust shape. Don’t go crazy — you don’t want it to be too hard.

Graham cracker crust
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1/3 box)
1/4 cup sugar (don’t use brown sugar unless you want your pie crust to taste maple-y)
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup toasted coconut (optional)

To toast the coconut: Preheat oven to 350. Spread sweetened flake coconut on a baking pan (Baker’s brand, not generic!). Bake, stirring occasionally, until toasted (about 6 minutes).

For crust: Stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar and toasted coconut (if using) in a small bowl. Dump into pie plate and form into crust shape, using a spoon or your hands. Pre-bake crust for 10-15 minutes before adding filling.