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Allrecipes / Abbey Littlejohn
When I was a freshman in college, I was lucky enough to be introduced to the world of Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine by my best friend Sarah. We both played field hockey, which meant we were constantly starving after practices and games, and she always had the best snacks. Lucky for me, she was incredibly kind and generous, and always shared her bounty of treats. She also used to get incredible care packages from her grandmother, who was part of the Mennonite community. Each box was filled with monster cookies, homemade granola, handmade candies, and bags and bags of the most delicious sourdough pretzels I had ever tasted.
In one particularly special care package, her grandmother sent a whole Shoofly Pie, a dessert I’d never seen or heard of before. If I’m being honest, it didn’t look all that appealing at first glance, a bit like a pecanless pecan pie (to be fair, it had traveled from Lancaster County all the way to Connecticut). Once I took a bite, though, I couldn’t believe a treat this good had evaded me for a full 18 years! It tasted almost forbidden—the flavor and texture instantly reminded me of raw cookie dough. The filling was so sweet, I just knew my dentist would soon be calling to schedule me for a cavity appointment. One little slice was all I needed to become a lifelong fan.
What Is Shoofly Pie?
While some try to link the origins of Shoofly Pie to early Pennsylvania settlers, there’s no direct evidence of those origins. Here’s what we do know, according to food historian and cookbook writer William Woys Weaver, who did a deep dive into traditional foodways of the region: “Shoofly pie did not exist before the Civil War,” Weaver writes in “As American as Shoofly Pie: The Foodlore and Fakelore of Pennsylvania Dutch Cuisine.” “The pie appears to be the end-product of an evolution that began with Jenny Lind pie [a gingerbread creation],” he adds. “Shoofly pie is one of those eggless (thus frugal) by-products of the baking-powder revolution that took hold of Pennsylvania Dutch cookery during the 1870s.”
The original recipe, according to Weaver, came together in the form of a “Centennial Cake” to celebrate the nation’s first big anniversary: a thick, molasses-heavy cake that was often referred to as coffee cake and marketed as a breakfast treat. The "Shoofly" moniker arrived in the 1880s, Weaver says, but didn’t really take hold until much later.
“Regardless of its hybrid origins, shoofly pie is a breakfast coffee cake,” Weaver writes. “It is very odd to see it served as dessert after dinner in the tourist spots of Pennsylvania and Ohio unless you are eating it with strong black coffee or, better for the digestion, with a small shot of pear or raspberry schnapps.”
So breakfast in my house, from now on, it’s going to be!
Why Is It Called Shoofly Pie?
Like many uniquely named food items, there is a lot of lore when it comes to this particular moniker, and most are considered more folk than fact (including a tale of “shooing” flies away from molasses puddling on the pie’s top and an early brand of molasses with the same name). In any event, the name—fun to say and easy to remember—is now synonymous with the recipe.
Wet or Dry Shoofly Pie?
Here’s a real distinction for culinary nerds and bakers: A dry Shoofly Pie means the filling will be more set. It contains flour and is baked longer, so the texture is more akin to cake. A wet Shoofly Pie is baked just until set, much like a pumpkin or Key lime pie, so the texture is more custard-like. In my humble opinion, both renditions are delicious—it just comes down to a matter of preference.
How to Make Shoofly Pie
Shoofly Pie is a great dessert for beginner bakers to try as it comes together relatively easily. You do need to make a pie crust, but once you have that rolled out and placed in your pie plate, the filling comes together in a snap. The filling is made with molasses, hot water, baking soda for a bit of lift, and an egg to help it set up. Once this is whisked well, it’s poured into the prepared crust and finished with an easy crumb topping. The pie is baked for about 45 minutes, or until just set. Be sure to use a deep dish pie plate to accommodate the filling, and always bake Shoofly Pie on top of a sturdy rimmed sheet pan to catch any drips.
What to Serve with Shoofly Pie
Since the pie is so sweet, I love to serve it with a dollop of very lightly sweetened whipped cream, but a scoop of vanilla ice cream never hurts either! I do find that while the filling is totally irresistible when warm, it’s much easier to slice and serve when it’s been chilled in the fridge for a few hours.
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