Shoo fly.
I didn’t bring any leftovers back to NY (drag), but while I was in PA, in the spirit of family, I did bake two shoo fly pies. Shoo fly is the most Pennsylvania Dutch food I know. I even bought the molasses from a PA farmer.
The first recipe I tried turned out to be the better pie, so that’s the one I’ll show here. If you’ve never had shoo fly, you must enter into this aware that shoo fly pie is an acquired taste. In my experience, it’s an extremely sweet dessert, best eaten in small slivers with a big mug of bold, dark coffee.
Shoo Fly Pie (wet bottom)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
a few heaping tablespoons of butter
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 tsp vinegar
3/4 cup cold water
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a bowl, mix the flour with the brown sugar. Add butter and mix with hands or fork until there are large crumbs.
3. Add the cold water to the molasses and stir. Dissolve the baking soda in the vinegar and add to the molasses.
4. Pour the molasses mixture into the crust. Sprinkle the flour/sugar/butter mixture on top. It should be thick.
5. Bake 10-15 minutes at 375. Then lower oven heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes.
