Foodie Friday – Shoofly Pie

Shoofly Pie is a traditional pie made by the Pensylvannia Dutch.  It can be wet or dry bottomed.  The pie was often eaten for breakfast (using hands) with a cup of coffee.

It is a sweet molassey treat.  I suspect it would be too sweet for me.

Why does it have its name?  Best guess is that when it came out of the oven it had pools of molasses which attracted flies which had to be shooed away.

Here is a traditional recipe for Shoofly Pie (wet bottomed) from What's Cooking America:

Ingredients:

Pastry for 9-inch one crust pie
3 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening or butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup hot water
1 cup King Syrup or dark molasses*
1 egg

* Can substitute 1/2 cup dark molasses and 1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Prepare pie pastry.  Using a floured rolling pin, roll pastry 2 inches larger than an inverted pie plate.  Fold pastry into quarter folds and ease into pie plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side; set aside.

In a large bowl, using a pastry blender or two knives, cut shortening or butter into flour, brown sugar, and salt until mixture is crumble and particles are the size of small peas; set aside.

In a large bowl, add baking soda and hot water; stir until baking soda is dissolved.  Add molasses (or molasses and corn syrup combination) and egg; beat until well blended.  Pour into prepared unbaked pie shell, filling half full (you may not need to use all of the filling - if you overfill the shell, it will overflow during baking). Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate.

Gently sprinkle prepared crumb mixture evenly over top of the pie (crumbs will both partly sink and partly float).

Bake 10 minutes and then reduce oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until the internal temperature registers at least 160 degrees F. on your cooking thermometer and a knife inserted in center comes out clean

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack before serving.  This pie is best served at room temperature.

Makes 8 servings.