Pennsylvania Dutch shoofly pie
Photo: Syounan Taji · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Shoofly pie is the canonical Pennsylvania Dutch dessert, born in 18th-century Lancaster County kitchens that had molasses and flour but not chocolate. The name comes from the cooks shooing flies away from the sticky molasses surface as the pie cooled. Two styles run: wet-bottom (the molasses layer stays soft and gooey beneath a crumb top) and dry-bottom (the molasses bakes into the crust). Lancaster's Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse bakeries each claim their own version; in Philadelphia, Beiler's Bakery at Reading Terminal Market and Dutch Eating Place have run wet-bottom shoofly pies since 1984 and 1974 respectively. The pie pairs with strong black coffee at breakfast or as a 3pm snack.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield 8Hands-on 25 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 unbaked 23cm shortcrust pie shell
  • 250ml unsulphured molasses
  • 250ml boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 200g plain flour
  • 150g light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 80g cold unsalted butter, cubed

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200C (390F). Line a 23cm pie tin with the shortcrust pastry and crimp the edges.
  2. Whisk the molasses, boiling water, bicarbonate of soda, egg and vanilla in a bowl. Set aside.
  3. Rub the flour, brown sugar, spices and cold butter together with your fingertips until you have a coarse crumb. Reserve.
  4. Pour the molasses mixture into the pie shell. Scatter the crumb topping evenly across the surface, all the way to the edges.
  5. Bake 15 minutes at 200C, then drop to 180C (355F) and bake a further 35 to 40 minutes until the top is deep brown and the centre wobbles only slightly. Cool fully on a rack before slicing; the wet bottom needs time to set.

Tip from the editors. Use real unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap. Blackstrap is too bitter. The wet bottom is the goal: a soft, gluey layer under crumb.

Where to eat pennsylvania dutch shoofly pie

Pennsylvania Dutch shoofly pie in Philadelphia

Beiler's Doughnuts ★ 4.5

$ Dutch

Beiler's Doughnuts in Philadelphia is the Pennsylvania Dutch Reading Terminal Market bakery since 1984, with hand-cut yeasted doughnuts for 3 dollars.

TryHand-cut yeasted doughnut

Directions

Reading Terminal Market ★ 4.8

$ Market

Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia is the 1893 enclosed public market under the old Reading Railroad train shed at 12th and Arch, with 80 vendors.

Directions

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