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Posted: 10/11/2023

PA Dutch Shoofly Pie Recipe

Create the best authentic PA Dutch shoo fly pie!

Shoofly pie. Shoo-fly pie. Shoo fly pie.

Shoofly pie is a fluffy molasses pie that's a traditional dessert here in Lancaster County, PA. The pie got it's name because the molasses in it attracts flies, so when you'd sit the pie on the window sill to cool, you'd constantly be shooing the flies away. Sometimes when the Amish are having a large picnic, they will bake extra shoofly pies to put around the perimeter of their group, so that the flies are drawn away from their food.

Most people eat "wet bottom" shoofly pie, which differentiates from "dry bottom" shoofly pies because there's a gooey bottom layer that forms when the pie bakes. "Dry bottom" shoofly pie is more cake like.

Enjoy baking this authentic PA Dutch recipe at home! Be sure to head over to Amish Country and pick up a Amish-made pie to see how yours compares.

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Ingredients

  • 1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell
  • 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten

FILLING:

  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup boiling water

TOPPING:

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • Dash salt
  • 6 tablespoons cold butter
DIRECTIONS:

1. Line pastry with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove foil; brush crust with egg yolk. Bake 5 minutes longer; cool on a wire rack.

2. For filling, in a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, molasses, egg, flour and baking soda; gradually add boiling water. Cool to room temperature; pour into prepared crust.

3. For topping, in a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and filling is set. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.

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