Shoo fly, don’t bother me for I belong to somebody!
Shoofly Pie, a pie named after a fly. For real. I loved that song when I was a young elementary little gal.
Obviously there are no flies in the pie, but any flying around will get a hold of the aroma of this sweet sassy molassy pie. And yes, you will be shooing them away.
Shoofly Pie is simple, easy, no nuts, and no fruit. It is cupboard “bare” type of pie made regularly by Mennonites and Amish. Shoofly Pie was also popular during the depression when refined sugar was scarce, so other sweeteners were used.
I made the crust with butter instead of the standard shortening, and who doesn’t love a flaky butter crust? The combination is pie perfection; a butter crust always makes a good pie great!
Here are some tips on making your perfect single crust pie:
Trim the edges about 1/2 to 3/4 inch past the edge of the pie plate. The pie planets aligned that day and I didn’t have to trim the edge at all. Yes, I just happened to roll out the perfectly-sized crust.
Tuck under the edge of the dough before crimping. I do this for ALL SINGLE CRUST PIES! It serves two purposes: 1) Easier to crimp with more dough to work with. 2) Less chance of burning because it’s thicker. If you look at the picture of the whole pie, I did not use a pie shield or foil and it withstood a good 45 minutes in the oven, not even close to a burn.
You can also make Shoofly Pie Gluten free by using my gluten free flour mix. I would hope the creators of Shoofly Pie were able to have a slice a la mode. Let me tell you a dip of vanilla ice cream with the molasses was heavenly.
Any way you try a slice, have a fabulous baking week pie peeps!
Shoofly Pie
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup dark molasses
- 3/4 cup hot tap water
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- One 9-inch unbaked pie shell
Grandma's Pie Crust
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter, if cold, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup cold water
Instructions
Pie Crust
- In a large bowl stir together all dry ingredients.
- Using a large serving fork (or pastry cutter) cut in the shortening until crumbly & pea size.
- Add the cold water all at once, stir just until combined (a few stirs is all it should take).
- On a floured surface, roll out dough and place in a 9-inch pie plate. Cut and crimp edges by hand or fork. Set aside for filling.
Shoofly Molasses Filling
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add molasses and whisk in egg, thoroughly, set aside
- In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar and flour, and cut in butter with a fork until crumbly.
- Reserve 1/2 cup for topping.
- Pour 1/3 of the liquid into an unbaked pie crust. Sprinkle on 1/3 of the crumb mixture and continue alternating layers, ending with crumbs on top.
- Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top. Bake at 375 F. for about 40-45 minutes.
This tasted just like the best versions of shoofly pie we’ve had in Amish country or the Poconos. I am gluten free, so I made a different pie crust and used gluten free flour for the filling. It came out wonderful.
This makes me so happy! It’s a different type of pie that is not seen in the NW very often. Thank you for sharing!
WOW! That’s steep!
I have never heard of this! Looks unusual but awesome. BTW I saw some pies at the farmers market this morning. $18 ea.