This gluten free, paleo and keto graham cracker pie crust is incredibly tasty, instant and you can either freeze it solid or bake it up!
Paleo & Keto Graham Cracker Pie Crust 🥧
Instant (Bake or No-Bake!)
This instant ‘graham cracker’ crust is bomb! The taste, courtesy of the toasted almond flour, is explosive. And well, it doesn’t hurt that it’s one of the easiest recipes in the entire blog.
Make a batch for 1 or 8, and keep in the freezer handy for a rainy day.
So feel free to use it anywhere from pies, cheesecakes, fat bombs or sprinkle it over ice cream or chia pudding.
It’s versatile-to-boot, and you guys keep leaving raving reviews about it throughout my cheesecakes-for-1!
p.s. the mini blueberry cheesecake (or fat bombs!) are from my Keto Summer Favorites eCookbook!
The Flours
Almond flour, that’s it! In fact, this is probably the only recipe on the site where you an get away with using almond meal (less expensive and arguably more nutritional value!).
Or even homemade almond meal (i.e. ground up almonds!). And you can mix it up with half hazelnut meal, peanut flour, or ground up pecans.
The only rule?! You must toast the nut flours until lightly golden. This is non-negotiable guys!
Want an ‘oreo’ crust instead? Simply add in 2 tsp cocoa powder, and switch the cinnamon forespresso powder or instant coffee.
The Sweetener
You can pretty much use whatever sweetener floats your boat. But it must be powdered (unless you’re into the crunchy crystals that is!). So anything from allulose (my favorite because no aftertaste and zero GI!), erythritol (some slight cooling aftertaste, but no biggie!), xylitol (ensure its not corn derived to avoid tummy troubles!)
So get your blender out, make sure it’s completely dry, and process your sweetener of choice until powdered. Just make sure you wait a few moments for the dust to settle before opening the blender or food processor.
Or you can always grab a bag of powdered Lakanto (just note that its twice as sweet… i.e. use half!).
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 
(Bake Or No-Bake!) Instant Paleo & Keto Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
For the keto 'graham cracker' crust
- 200 g almond flour
- 1/3/-1/2 cup powdered allulose erythritol or xylitol (to taste)**
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 112 g melted unsalted grass-fed butter
Instructions
- Lightly toast almond flour in a dry skillet or pan over medium heat, until fully golden and fragrant (2-4 minutes). Make sure you're stiring it frequently to ensure its evenly golden, you know?! This is very important taste-wise, so don't skip!
- Transfer toasted almond flour to a small bowl (or go straight for the serving glass), and mix in sweetener, cinnamon and salt. Add in butter, mix until thoroughly combined. Press in to the pie dish or serving glass and refrigerate while you make the filling.
- NOTE: you can alternatively use this crust for a baked pie or tart too. The crust itself (i.e. blind-baked) will cook in about 10-18 minutes at 350°F/180°C (depending on size).
In the crust can you use monk fruit sugar?
Yes!
This is crazy good, and toasting the almond is soooooooooooo important, it makes this da bomb, honestly! :))) Some observations – I used this for your ridiculously good NY cheesecake (separate review for that) and noticed that it did brown very quickly during blind bakingwhen using allulose, so next time I might try this with erythritol and also see if that makes or crunchy. It’s quite soft as a cheesecake base, so maybe erythritol is the answer. Also, I did freeze this for a little while before blind baking, but maybe I didn’t freeze it enough, because when I made the cheesecake the butter (or something else???) seeped out of the bottom of the pan… Thankfully I had placed my spring form pan on top of a baking tray lined with aluminium foil. After cooling, most of this liquid seemed to get sucked back into the spring form pan, so I don’t really know what happened there. Who cares though… This is SOOOO GOOD! Thank you so much! :))))
Hi can I use this crust from pumpkin pie (which will need to be in the oven for about 40 min)?
The BEST keto ie crust I’ve made! It’s all about toasting the almond flour as you said. I’m looking forward to making the chocolate version.
I’ve made this recipe several times and love it! Today I decided to try it with browned butter instead of just melted -SO GOOD! This crust is perfect for my “keto cool whip” (whipped cream & cream cheese) dessert.
can I use powdered coconut sugar in place of the other sweeteners? Thank you
Yes! Just note its paleo not keto xo!
Delicious and extremely easy! I think I prefer this to regular pie crust. It’s quicker, easier, and just as good. Chilled it in the fridge before using it for the pumpkin pie recipe.
Can you bake this crust to make it extra crunchy (before filling)? I’ve used it for cheesecake and it was great put gets a bit soggy especially if you freeze and then thaw.
Thank you for all your awesome recipes!
Hello, I don’t see that the editor replied to you. Did you ever blind bake it to see if the crust gets crispy? I saw a tip on a YouTube channel to swipe some egg white wash (not with the yolk) on the pie crust before the blind bake to seal it. I haven’t tried that yet but it seems to make sense.
I multiply even the sugar by 8? So I’d use 8 tablespoons for the crust?
Do you think this recipe would be okay to use for the bottom of cheesecake that is cooked in a spring-form pan in water bath in oven for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours?
Could I substitute Cassava flour for the almond? My husband can’t have gluten or tree nuts (it’s difficult to find flours he can have)!
I just made this but i used great day nut flour blend and it was fantastic! Such a genius idea to toast it first! Im going to use it with pumpkin pie!
I have a nut allergy but I wana try this recipe out so badly. Sigh.
Can I get away with using coconut flour, eggs & some starch perhaps? Should I roast that too?
Awaiting your reply, thanks a ton. Love & gratitude.
Hi Paula, having a guest with a nut allergy this weekend, do you think I can sub the almond flour with something else? Thanks a lot.
I”m trying this now.. Making a double full batch (x16) to freeze part for later. I want to make some in cupcake liners to give away. I’m thinking pre bake about 8 minutes? Anyone did this?
I love your recipes! They always turn out. I have made this pie crust many times and it is always a hit! If I want to freeze it, can I put it in. ziplock in the freezer or does it have to be in a pan? If I can freeze the crumbs, do I then just thaw it and press it into the pan?
Thanks ahead of time.
Hi, can i check if the crust is crispy like graham cracker crust?
Hi there Paola, I am allergic to almonds. What is the next best thing? I am not allergic to any other nuts.]
The web site is super annoying. Ads popping up all over the place, pushing the recipe up and down pics loading pushing the text clear off the screen. I just moved on.
This crust was amazing! I’m not a Keto/gluten free person, but I made this crust for a friend and sweetened with swerve and it baked great! What a great tip to toast the almond flour before baking!
I’m confused…nothing new, lol. If making a full size pie crust are we multiplying each ingredient X 8? So, 16 teaspoons of erythritol? Is that correct? Just don’t want to waste ingredients by making a flop. Thanks in advance!
Paola, Since you just toasted almond flour for the graham crust flavor, could we also substitute toasted almond flour in the graham cracker recipe for the graham flour?? Curious as graham flour can be a very difficult ingredient in my part of the world. Love all you do, look forward to all you have coming for us in the future. Thanks for all your wonderful work.
Thank you for your comment! Toasting the almond flour gives it a different flavor, tbh it’s not too graham-like but it’s so wonderful that I know many readers say they prefer it in their curst. So yup, you can definitely toast the almond flour for the cookies (I do it in the shortbread)- it’s wonderful, but not too graham like 😉 xo!
Paola, Thanks so much for your QUICK reply. Since I mostly use the crackers for making crust, this will save me money when I can find the graham flour, and MUCH MUCH ingredient frustration. Living in Asia the Keto diet interest has not taken much root, and so many ingredients are impossible to find. If there is anything you can in future suggest for us “out of the loopers” would be greatly appreciated. Could I beg you to include a photo of your finished product on the “print” option, I love to have one as a reference that I”m on the right track of what I’m trying to prepare. God bless your hard work.
Can I use another nut flour altogether? I can’t have almonds
Hi Paola. Thank you for this recipe!😍 I wanted to ask if I opt to bake the crust instead, do I still have to toast the almond flour?
Definitely! You’ll know what I mean once you incorporate the toasted almonds with the butter and ‘sugar’ 😉 xo!
Here in HEB, Texas I Cn buy a walnut crustnor pecan crust.
Paola, we so love most of your recipes, will be using this for a NY style baked cheesecake, soooo we are wondering when you are going to come up with a baked cheesecake, one with blueberries or rasberries baked into the cake Thanks again for great recipes.
PS when I make your doughnuts instead of frosting I simply melt a half bar of 90% chocolate add a pinch of cinnamon and a little bit of butter and spread of the top of the doughnuts. Super gnom-gnom
Awesome to hear Kathleen! a baked cheesecake is in the pipeline for the next few weeks xo!
When I switch to US cups it says 2-3 Tablespoons powdered erythritol or xylitol instead of teaspoons. I’m assuming teaspoons is correct, but you might check on that. I am looking forward to trying this!
Thanks so much for the heads up Janice! xo!
Oh no! I just made a pumpkin pie with this recipe yesterday and didn’t realize it was actually supposed to be teaspoons! Oh well, I guess we’ll see how it turns out today 😛
Did you taste it Solora?! I’ve had readers comment on previous posts that they added a lot more sweetener to the base (taste buds vary a lot on keto). Though I’m very sorry about the typo- I totally missed it! 🙁
It’s okay, it happens! I did try it, it’s a bit too sweet for my taste but it’s still good! 🙂
Oh man I’m sorry! 🙈
LOVE your recipes! Also of note: having just found out I cannot digest gluten, you should post that almost if not all your recipes are gluten free! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Welcome to the club Bonnie 😂! I have Celiacs, so ALL the new recipes are gluten free! There are just about 5 from when I started the blog the first time around (about 6 years ago before I was diagnosed). Enjoy!
Hi Paola! I could eat this crust all by itself. I just have one question. Can I use all hazelnut flour/meal? Why or why not?
You can LaWanda, just keep in mind the flavor (some find hazelnut overpowering). So depending on the dessert I’m making, I’ll add in some almond to lighten it up xo!
As always, I love your recipes and this one is delicious! Just one question: When it refers to one serving as “one generous slice” would that be 1/5 of the recipe, 1/8, 1/10, or what? I’d love to know the nutrition for either the whole thing or a specific fraction. Thanks!
Awesome Diana! The nutrition info is calculated for the entire batch you see in the recipe card = enough for a generously sized slice or mini pie. As stated in the instructions, if you want to make a full-sized pie just multiply by 8. xo!
Thank you! I missed the first instruction that said “make a batch for 1 or 8”. I’m going to make a whole crust for my lemon cheesecake today!
🙂
So for a full size pie crust, it would be 16 cups of almond flour?
My hubby and I make your cheesecake weekly! The first couple times I made the mistake of skipping the crust, but its for sure the best part. I would even say its better than the real deal for sure. Thank you for all that you do and hope you get better soon, know that you´re in our prayers sweet Paola.
Oh thank you so much Marie, I’m so moved by your good wishes! Truly thank you.
And so awesome to hear about the cheesecake! And I’m with you, for me the crust is the best part 😉 xo!!