I’m new to posting and would really appreciate some help.  I do a lot of baking but can’t seem to get the graham cracker crust to turn out right in a mini tart form.  Am trying to make mini tarts (tried both 4” mini tart pans and mini muffin tin) but can’t get the graham cracker crust to come out of the pans without sticking (read: falling apart).  The recipe is 9 whole graham crackers, crushed,  5 Table butter and 2 T of sugar.  I press into the tins, refrigerate (freeze), bake for 6-7 minutes each and then cool and refrigerate.  The first few times I sprayed with Baker’s Joy and the last time coated with butter.  I tried freezing the crusts after they come out of the oven and couldn’t get them to release from the pan.  The filling in this case is not baked.  Any ideas?
Thanks in advance

Are you filling them before unmolding?  I think this type of crust probably needs the support of a filling in order to survive the unmolding process.  It may also need a thicker layer of crust.

If you made them in cupcake pans you could use paper liners.  Coffee filters can act like paper liners for slightly larger tarts.

Compared to your recipe, Rose’s recipe for a grahm cracker crust uses more grahm crackers for the same amount of butter and sugar, so you might want to check the Pie/Pastry Bible.  Butter and sugar are tenderizing ingredients, so it makes sense that your recipe would be very, very fragile with proportionately more tenderizers.

Thank you.  I’m going to try to do that.  I’ve lost my copy of the Pie and Pastry Bible (we lived in our motorhome for 3.5 years while building our house and I practiced a lot of baking) but I’ll try a higher proportion of crumbs to butter and sugar and see if it helps.  I hadn’t filled it yet and that probably will help immensely.  As to the mini muffin tins, if using a regular pie crust should I plan to use paper liners too or will it be sufficient to spray it first?  The regular pie crusts will be baked with filing in them.

Thanks again

I make a cookie-nut crust for my cheesecakes. I don’t know how what I make for a 9” cheesecake translates to what is needed for your mini tarts (quantity-wise), but this is my recipe and how I bake and unmold it:

1 1/2 cups cookie/nuts
3 tablespoons melted butter

First, I generously butter my cake pan on the bottom and sides. Then I insert a 9” parchment round and butter that well, too. Next, I melt the butter and add it to the crumbs, and I mix those until the butter is well incorporated and all the crumbs have absorbed butter. I then press the crumb/butter mix into the bottom of the pan and use the bottom of a measuring cup to smooth and press it firmly. I bake this crust in a 350F oven for 10 minutes, then remove and cool it on a rack.

After I make my batter, I pour it into the cooled crust and bake. Then I remove the cake and cool it on a rack, followed by an overnight stay in the refrigerator.

When I want to unmold it, I set the cold cake on a range burner for about 15 seconds to melt the butter I lined the pan with in the first step. I heat a knife under hot water and run that around the edge of the cake, too. Another method is to dip the pan carefully in a pan of hot water. The whole idea is to melt the butter so the cake releases.

Finally, I place a cake round over the top of the pan, invert the pan and let it drop firmly from a couple of inches above the counter. If done right, the cake should slide out from the pan onto the cake round, after which I turn it right-side-up.

Hopefully, some of this will help you.

Mike

Yes, if you hadn’t filled the graham cracker crusts, I think that doing that will make a huge difference.

Greasing should be enough for a standard pie crust, they normally have enough butter to make them unmold easily.  The cream cheese flaky crust recipe over on the blog is very, very delicious

I’ve sent you a Private Message as well.