Amish Shoofly Pie

Shoofly Pie is an American classic from Amish country, where the sticky molasses filling is a tradition among the Pennsylvania Dutch and others familiar with the region. It bakes up perfectly moist and has the perfect balances of spices, rich molasses, and a buttery, flaky crust.

Shoofly pie is one of the most unique pie recipes you will find and it is as much fun to make as it is to eat. If you love all things gingerbread, then this similarly flavored pie is going to be right up your alley.

There are two approaches to shoofly pie – “wet bottom” or “dry bottom” – and while both are delicious I like wet bottom shoofly pie best, which is what I’m sharing here. It has an almost gooey layer of molasses topped with a crumb topping that sort of bakes into the filling for stable slices.

This pie comes together in a jiffy and bakes in under an hour. I think it’s fantastic with a scoop of ice cream, but you could also serve it plain or with sweetened whipped cream on top.

What You’ll Need

This is a brief overview of what goes into my shoofly pie recipe. Be sure to scroll to the printable recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and instructions.

• Molasses: You’ll want unsulphered molasses for this recipe, not blackstrap molasses.
• Pie Crust: You can use a storebought crust, but my flaky homemade pie crust is the best there is and practically foolproof!
• Brown Sugar: Adds just the right amount of sweetness to the filling.
• Flour: I prefer using regular unbleached all-purpose flour in most of my bakes.
• Salted Butter: If you only have unsalted butter, add an extra ¼ teaspoon of salt to the filling mixture.
• Vanilla Extract: Balances out all the other flavors and ties things together.
• Spices: I use just a little cinnamon and ground nutmeg, but you could play with adding a little ground ginger or allspice if you like a more intense flavor.
• Baking Soda: This will react with the molasses causing it to foam up. Yay science!

How to Make Shoofly Pie

1. Prep your crust. While the oven is preheating, roll out your pie crust on a floured surface and use it to line a 9-inch pie plate (affiliate link). Crimp the edges with your favorite decorative crump, then set the crust aside in the fridge to chill while working on the filling.
2. Make a sandy topping. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Then use a pastry cutter to cut in some cubed cold butter until the mixture resembles small crumbs. Alternatively you could grate your cold butter on a box grater, then toss it together by hand to evenly distribute the butter.

3. Make the molasses layer. In another bowl, whisk together molasses and boiling water, followed immediately by the baking soda. You’ll notice an immediate reaction where the mixture will foam and increase in volume pretty significantly. Pour this mixture into the prepared pie crust.

4. Add sandy topping and bake. Gently sprinkle the flour mixture evenly over the liquid filling in the pie crust, then bake for 20 minutes at 425°F. After the initial bake, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F without opening the oven door and continue to bake for another 22-28 minutes just until the filling is set. It’s okay if there is still a slight jiggle to the center of the pie. You may need to add a pie protector around your crust partway through the bake if it looks like it is browning too quickly.

Recipe Tips Tricks

• Always bake on a cookie sheet! This protects your oven from any spills should the pie bake over at all and makes cleanup so much easier.
• Keep your pie crust chilled. You want it nice and cold so when you add the filling and pop it in the oven it bakes up flaky.
• Make sure your water is boiling. It needs to be truly hot for the right chemical reaction to occur so don’t just use hot tap water.

More Pie Recipes

• Atlantic Beach Pie
• Kentucky Sawdust Pie
• Milk Bar Pumpkin Caramel Pie