Shoofly Pie

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 3/4 cup hot water
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Fit the crust into a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges.
2. Whisk the filling ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth.
3. Pour the filling into the crust.
4. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the edges are set and the center jiggles only slightly when the pan is nudged.
5. Cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate at least 2 hours before slicing.

The Tale of Shoofly Pie

Story updated September 15, 2026

Shoofly pie belongs to the Pennsylvania Dutch, the German-speaking Anabaptist and Protestant communities who settled around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, beginning in the early 1700s. It likely developed in the late nineteenth century out of an older molasses crumb cake, pressed into a pie shell around the 1880s to make it easier to carry to the table or the field. Built from little more than molasses, flour, butter, and spice, it was considered a humble, even poor, dish, often eaten for breakfast or as a coffee-time snack rather than a formal dessert. Its odd name is debated: the popular story holds that its sticky molasses filling drew flies that had to be shooed away, though some historians instead trace it to 'Shoo Fly,' a molasses brand once sold in the region. Either way, the pie remains one of the most recognizable dishes to come out of Pennsylvania Dutch country.