The Pennsylvania Dutch are responsible for this gooey molasses pie, made easily from pantry ingredients to satisfy a sweet tooth any time of the year. The deep, slightly bitter molasses flavor, coupled with a sandy topping, is pure perfection. This recipe for Shoofly Pie has a gooey molasses bottom and is one of the very best that you will find anywhere.
Shoofly Pie can be served as dessert or breakfast with tea or coffee. This is a sticky-sweet pie, baked in a pastry crust with a gooey, almost cake-like bottom and a crumby, streusel-like topping. Gooey and rich with molasses flavor, Shoofly Pie is best served warm, and even better when topped with ice cream or whipped cream!
As with most recipes, there are as many versions — each with a little change in ingredients — as there are bakers, bakeries, and restaurants who whip up this classic delight throughout Pennsylvania. Shoofly Pie is found in two versions – dry bottom which is much more coffee cake-like, and wet-bottom, like this one that features a sweet, molasses-laden bottom layer topped with crunchy crumbs.
Molasses is known for its iron content—one tablespoon contains about 20% of the daily value—but it is also a rich source of natural calcium, magnesium, and potassium. It is also a good source of manganese, vitamin B6, and selenium. And one tablespoon has only 42 calories.
Shoofly pie is a type of American pie associated with Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. Related to the Jenny Lind pie, it may have originated among the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 1880’s as molasses crumb cake. It was traditionally served not as a dessert pie, but as a breakfast food with hot coffee.[1][2] The modern form of shoofly pie as a crumb cake served in pie crust was a post-Civil War innovation, when cast iron cookware and stoves made pie crust more accessible for home cooks.[3] It is also known as molasses crumb pie. The name Shoofly pie is taken from a brand of molasses that was popular in parts of the US during the late 19th century.[2]
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PrintShoofly Pie
The Pennsylvania Dutch are responsible for this gooey molasses pie, made easily from pantry ingredients to satisfy a sweet tooth any time of the year.
- Prep Time: :15
- Cook Time: :50
- Total Time: 9:05
- Yield: 8 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Pennsylvania Dutch
Ingredients
Pie:
Topping:
Instructions
- For the pie: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Unroll the pie dough and fit into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Trim the edges if necessary and crimp. Place on a baking sheet.
- Combine the molasses, flour and egg in a bowl. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and stir into the molasses. Pour the filling into the pie crust.
- For the topping: Mix together the flour, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Rub the butter into the flour until crumbly; the mixture will be like sand. Sprinkle over the pie filling. Bake until the filling is set and the edges of the crust are browned, about 50 minutes. Let cool completely or up to overnight before cutting. Serve with whipped cream, if desired. Store loosely covered at room temperature.