Shoo Fly Pie — Usual and Ordinary

A Pennsylvania Dutch thing, this is basically a molasses and
brown sugar pie and it's SO GOOD.

Shoo-Fly Pie

("wet-bottom" version, although I don't think I've ever had a "dry-bottom" shoo-fly pie)

This recipe is adapted from "Cookin' With The Lion," a Penn State alumni recipe collection for tailgating (which is almost its own sport at Beaver Stadium).

You will need:

One 9" unbaked pie crust
1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS butter
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup water
1 cup molasses
1 egg

Notes: I use the yellow jar of molasses - "Grandma's Gold Standard All Natural Unsulphured Original." I say this because there is a green jar that is "robust" - darker, stronger flavor, and that would be fine to use as well, but maybe not if you are a shoo fly pie novice.

Pre-heat oven to 400.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar and butter to make crumbs. Set aside 1/2 cup of this mixture.

Dissolve the basking soda in the water.

In another bowl, mix water, molasses and egg. Add to crumb mixture and mix to make pie filling.

Sprinkle about 2 TBS of crumb mixture on bottom of pie crust. Add the filling. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake another 30 minutes. Center of pie should spring back when pressed, almost like cake; pie has a cake-like texture.