It is hard to beat old fashioned recipes like Graham Cracker Pie that have stood the test of time.
I had actually never heard of it until my girlfriend sent me a message asking if I knew about it or ‘if it was a British thing’ that her Mom used to make.
To be honest, I had to look it up. Turns out it was a recipe that used to be on the Graham Cracker package. It is a Graham Cracker crust filled with vanilla custard, topped with meringue and a healthy sprinkle of Graham crumbs.
Sounds yummy, right? And the other bonus is, like many ‘old fashioned’ recipes it uses only a few basic ingredients.
That certainly worked for me in these days of furtive trips to the grocery store and spotty shelves!
And, we all know a bit of butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla can produce some pretty amazing things!!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
Filling
- 2 cups whole milk divided 1 3/4 and 1/4 cup
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 Tbsps corn starch
- 3 egg yolks (reserve whites for the meringue topping)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping
- 3 egg whites
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup graham crumbs
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix the graham crumbs, butter and 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a deep pie 9" plate using a fork or back of a spoon.
- Bake 6 minutes then remove and set aside.
Filling
- Heat 1 3/4 cups of milk in a saucepan until just boiling. Reduce heat to medium.
- Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup of milk. Whisk till smooth. Gradually whisk the cornstarch mixture into the hot milk and cook about 2 minutes till the mixture gets creamy.
- Whisk the egg yolks vigorously till well blended and slightly foamy. Stir a small amount of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, stirring the whole time so you don't cook the egg yolks. Stir the egg yolk mixture into the hot milk stirring constantly. Continue to stir constantly and cook another 1-2 minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When the mixture is cool stir in the vanilla. Pour the cooled custard into the cooled pie crust.
Topping
- Beat the egg whites with the tablespoon of sugar, until stiff peaks form. Spread gently over the custard filling. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of graham crumbs over the meringue.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 2-3 minutes until the meringue is lightly browned.
- Chill at least 4 hours before serving.