Confetti Crumb Crust, say that three times fast! This is a crumb crust with nonpareils (crunchy tiny round sprinkles). Not only does it add a nice crunch to any frozen pie, like Vanilla Milkshake Pie or Sidewalk Sundae, the color is FUN! It’s a quick way to liven up any crumb crust. And, if crunch is not your thing, just use jimmies. There’s more explanation about jimmies below.
Nonpareils vs Jimmies
Nonpareils are the tiny round crunch sprinkles; they stay crunchy when baked in a crumb crust. They’re like bouncy bubbles when you spill them (like me).
Jimmies, also called sprinkles, are elongated and stay chewy when baked in a crumb crust. They’re at their best for colorful baked cakes, whereas the nonpareils melt away. But we are making pie crust, not cake.
I wanted crunchy, therefore, rainbow tiny round nonpareils it is today.
Above is Vanilla Milkshake Pie and below is Sidewalk Sundae Frozen Pie; creamy insides with a confetti crunch crust!
Marshmallow Moondust Pie is another colorful pie great for confetti crust.
Vanilla wafers and graham crusts (chocolate, cinnamon, or honey) are my favorites for Confetti Crumb Crust. I love creamy icebox pies or frozen pies especially with a crunchy crust. The trick to keeping the crunchy bits are the tiny rounds-nonpareil sprinkles. I wanted crunch and color, especially from a frozen state. And who doesn’t love sprinkles? In this case, crunchy confetti rainbow nonpareils are perfect.
To any 9-inch crumb crust, after mixing in the melted butter to get the crust the right “damp sand” consistency, add in the sprinkles. Press into a 9-inch pie plate and bake for 5 minutes at 350 F.
The sprinkles are added AFTER crumb mixture is mixed is to avoid possible color melting. When sprinkles are exposed to any “wet” ingredient, they tend to bleed their colors if they sit or mixed too long.
The only difference between the cookie/cracker crumbs is the amount of melted butter used and the addition of sugar in graham crusts. The recipe below has instructions for each type of crust crumbs used.
Completely cool before adding filling. Can I just say this is just such a festive fun crust, anything to induce pure joyful happiness!
Confetti Crumb Crust
Course: DessertCuisine: FUN8
servings15
minutes5
minutesAdd crunch and some FUN color with rainbow confetti nonpareils to any crumb crust for your icebox cream pies or frozen pies!
Ingredients
- Vanilla Wafer Confetti Crust
1-1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs or graham cracker crumbs-any flavor**
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons sprinkles (nonpareils tiny rounds for crunch, jimmies for tender chewy)
- Graham Cracker Confetti Crust
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (any flavor)
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons sprinkles (nonpareils tiny rounds for crunch, jimmies for tender chewy)
- Sandwich Cookie Confetti Crust
25 sandwich cookies, use food processor to make into crumbs (equal to about 2 cups of crumbs)***
4 tablespoons butter melted
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Place the cookie/cracker crumbs of choice in a medium size bowl. Use and fork to stir and toss the crumbs (with sugar if using graham) and then stir as you drizzle in the melted butter.
- Once the butter is thoroughly mixed into the crumb it should have the consistency of damp/wet sand. Stir in the sprinkles.
- Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate, using a custard cup or bottom of a measuring cup to press in bottoms and sides.
- Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and completely cool before adding any filling.
Notes
- **Keep an extra few tablespoons of cookie crumbs or graham cracker crumbs handy. If measurements were slightly off and the crust is too “wet” from melted butter before pressing into pan, just add a small amount of the extra crumbs. This fixes the mixture perfectly!
- ***Don’t be fooled and think that 2 cups of crumbs for sandwich cookie crust is too much, that extra “half cup” when compared to graham or vanilla wafers is due to the frosting centers.
