by The Pennsylvania Dutch region of south central Pennsylvania around Lancaster County features a large number of culinary delights. Besides scrapple (it’s best to try it before you look at the recipe), chicken corn soup, hog maw (see note about scrapple), chow-chow, pretzels, red beet eggs, loose chicken pot pie (no crust, but with noodles), apple butter, and Lebanon bologna, there is also a tasty dessert called shoofly pie.
No one can say for sure how shoofly pie got its name. Some say the sticky filling attracts flies, while another theory is that it’s connected to a brand of molasses that was popular in the 19th century. Today it’s commonly found in grocery stores and farmers markets in the region, and despite some variations in recipes, all start with molasses.
Besides molasses, brown sugar and water complete the usual filling, which is then poured into a pastry crust, topped with a crumb mixture and then baked. Aficionados differentiate between “wet bottom” pies — where the filling settles to the bottom in a gooey consistency — or “dry bottom” pies — where the filling and crumbs bake into a crumb-cake-like texture.
Singer Dinah Shore recorded a popular song called “Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy” in the 1940s, likely introducing many Americans to the pie–at least in name if not on their kitchen tables.
Just like ice cream can sometimes be dinner, shoofly pie is often served for breakfast! The dry-bottom version is solid enough to be dunked in a cup of hot coffee–a perfect start to your day.
Whenever we’re in Pennsylvania, I make a special point of picking up a shoofly pie at a Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant or grocery store for a unique treat. One stall at the Lancaster Central Market had the real deal in a small serving (perfect since no one else in my family seems to care for shoofly pie). A dollop of whipped cream is perfect on a warmed up slice.
