Wet Bottom Shoo-fly Pie

18 years ago when I married and moved to Pa. I was pretty sure that Shoo-fly pie would never be on the menu at my house! I used to work in the retail department of a restaurant bakery and we sold them occasionally. I would always look at them distastefully and think to myself, "who could possibly ever crave those dry looking things?!"

It's the name, you know. It just doesn't really conjure up anything delectable. Well... as it turns out if you live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania you will probably at some point come face-to-face with Shoo-fly Pie because that is one of the things Lancaster County is known for. Plus this particular pie was one of Linford's favorites. ☺So I decided to give it a shot and see what the fuss is all about.

Boy, was I in for a surprise! ☺

Turns out it WAS delicious! Especially if it's gooey. But, Shoo-fly pies are NOT all the same! Some are dry and not really gooey at all and it's kinda like eating dust. But the gooey ones are delicious! I prefer them with ice cream or just plain but the rest of my family enjoys them in a bowl with milk.

 

When I make them I usually make more than one because making only one is never enough to satisfy. They eat them for breakfast, at meal times, or for snacks. So three or four is always a better use of my time if I'm going to be making them anyway. And they freeze very well! The other thing I learned by trial and error is that they bake best as a shallow pie. The deeper ones just don't quite bake through before they are too dark and a bit over baked around the edges.

 

3 (9 inch) unbaked pie shells

Perfect Pie Crust

4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups brown sugar

4 Tablespoons butter, soft

4 cups molasses (King Syrup)

3 cups boiling water

4 eggs, beaten

4 teaspoons baking soda

 

Combine the flour, sugar, and butter. Rub the butter into the sugar/flour mixture with your fingertips until no butter is visible anymore and it looks like dry crumbs. Reserve 2 cups; set aside.

 

Add the molasses and beaten eggs and mix. Add most of the boiling water and stir again. Dissolve the baking soda in the rest of the water and add immediately to the mixture in the bowl and stir well.

 

Pour into unbaked crusts and sprinkle with the reserved crumbs, divided evenly between the three pies. I like to start at the outer edge of the pie so that the crumbs are touching the crust all around the pie and work my way toward the center.

 

Bake @ 375° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake for an additional 30 minutes or till the center barely moves when you jiggle the pie a bit. Cool completely before cutting and serving to give the gooey bottom time to set up. 

 

♥Blessings!♥