Shoofly Pie

Name: Shoofly Pie
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour; 1/2 cup dark brown sugar; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter; 3/4 cup molasses; 3/4 cup boiling water; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1 single crust pie pastry (see recipe), rolled flat and placed in a 9-inch pie plate

By Sara Bonisteel

Updated Dec. 16, 2024

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(1,076)
Comments: Read comments

Shoofly pie is often thought of as the cake baked in a pie shell, or so wrote Jean Hewitt, The New York Times food writer who offered this recipe in the paper in 1965. This pie was served at a Pennsylvania Dutch luncheon hosted by the International Cuisine Group of the College Woman’s Club of Westfield, N.J., in the spring of that year. One of the organizers dug up the recipe from her mother’s “Housekeeper’s Scrap Book, 1896.” There were four versions of the pie in the book; this was the one marked: “We like this one better.”

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

1½cups flour
½cup dark brown sugar
1teaspoon cinnamon
½teaspoon nutmeg
⅛teaspoon salt
¼pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
¾cup molasses
¾cup boiling water
½teaspoon baking soda
1single crust pie pastry (see recipe), rolled flat and placed in a 9-inch pie plate

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Step 2
Make the crumb topping: Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the consistency resembles cornmeal.
Step 3
Combine molasses, water and baking soda and pour into pastry shell. Spoon the crumb mixture evenly over the top. Bake 15 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake 20 minutes longer, or until set and firm.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,076 user ratings

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Comments

Carole7 years ago

Hey grandmothers recipe is a bit different...but I usually mix equal parts dark and light molasses...perfect combo for us...not overly bitter or too sweet.

LEL7 years ago

Blackstrap molasses is too strong for most people's taste. I use product called Supreme Baking Molasses from Golden Barrel--a company based in heart of PA Amish territory. Other brands of medium to light molasses will work.

Tabitha7 years ago

make sure to mix some of the topping with the molasses mixture to thicken it slightly - I didn't and followed the recipe to a T and now have a smoke filled apartment from molasses spilling into my hot oven.

Julie Hag4 months ago

I didn't even think I liked shoofly pie, but I LOVED this wet bottom recipe! It tastes like a molasses cookie in pie form. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great. My only recommendation is to follow another commenter's suggestion and put a cookie sheet under the pie while it's baking, because mine overflowed onto the bottom of my oven, too. Will make again.

philly joe1 year ago

I learned a major lesson here. Read the comments before doing any recipe from here! The pie boiled over (as commented) and it was much too molasses flavored than any other shoo fly Ive had. I used Grandma’s molasses and I can see it would be better to use maybe 1/3 molasses and 2/3 dark karo syrup? The temp was too high for my oven but that’s just the way many recipes work with the GE Profile.

Nicole_Canada1 year ago

Made as is. Really liked it. I’ve never tried anything like it before but I love molasses so wanted to give it a try. Glad I did! Super easy. Definitely follow the recommendations of others to put a tray underneath it because it does boil over s bit. That being said, the candied part that boils over is DEE-LISH!

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