Shoofly Pie

By Sara Bonisteel

Updated December 15, 2024

  • Craig Lee for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(1,090)
Comments
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Shoofly pie is often thought of as the cake baked in a pie shell, or so wrote Jean Hewitt, The New York Times food writer who offered this recipe in the paper in 1965. This pie was served at a Pennsylvania Dutch luncheon hosted by the International Cuisine Group of the College Woman’s Club of Westfield, N.J., in the spring of that year. One of the organizers dug up the recipe from her mother’s “Housekeeper’s Scrap Book, 1896.” There were four versions of the pie in the book; this was the one marked: “We like this one better.”

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

  • 1 ½ cups flour

  • ½ cup dark brown sugar

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg

  • ⅛ teaspoon salt

  • ¼ pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter

  • ¾ cup molasses

  • ¾ cup boiling water

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 single crust pie pastry (see recipe), rolled flat and placed in a 9-inch pie plate

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

65 grams carbs; 30 milligrams cholesterol; 440 calories; 6 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 19 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 249 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 32 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 450 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Make the crumb topping: Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the consistency resembles cornmeal.

  3. Step 3

    Combine molasses, water and baking soda and pour into pastry shell. Spoon the crumb mixture evenly over the top. Bake 15 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake 20 minutes longer, or until set and firm.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,090 user ratings
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Comments

Carole

Hey grandmothers recipe is a bit different...but I usually mix equal parts dark and light molasses...perfect combo for us...not overly bitter or too sweet.

LEL

Blackstrap molasses is too strong for most people's taste. I use product called Supreme Baking Molasses from Golden Barrel--a company based in heart of PA Amish territory. Other brands of medium to light molasses will work.

Tabitha

make sure to mix some of the topping with the molasses mixture to thicken it slightly - I didn't and followed the recipe to a T and now have a smoke filled apartment from molasses spilling into my hot oven.

Ken Franklin

This is the first time I made this kind of pie. I lost a 20 game winning streak on the Connections game last week because I had never heard of a "shoofly" pie. It is good, but I feel it is missing something. I wonder if a little vanilla or lemon, or perhaps a half teaspoon of ground ginger might add something.

Anonymous

I made it as written, but it did not work for me. The molasses bubbled over on one side and the filling just became hard and crunchy. The molasses was thin and syrupy. I’ll look for another recipe, I must have done something wrong !

Julie Hag

I didn't even think I liked shoofly pie, but I LOVED this wet bottom recipe! It tastes like a molasses cookie in pie form. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great. My only recommendation is to follow another commenter's suggestion and put a cookie sheet under the pie while it's baking, because mine overflowed onto the bottom of my oven, too. Will make again.

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