I Love Shoofly

The molasses classic

What is shoofly pie?

Shoofly pie is a Pennsylvania Dutch molasses pie built in three parts: a flaky pastry crust, a dark syrupy filling, and a buttery brown-sugar crumb topping. The molasses gives it a deep caramel flavor while the crumbs bake into a soft, streusel-like top.

Two classic styles

Wet bottom vs. dry bottom.

Both styles begin with pastry, molasses, and a brown-sugar crumb. The difference is what happens inside the slice: one stays sticky and layered; the other bakes into an even, cake-like crumb.

01 Ā· The gooey one

Wet bottom

A dark molasses layer settles along the crust while the crumb mixture bakes into a soft, cakey top. The result is distinctly layered, sticky, and almost custard-like at the base.

Texture
Gooey below, cakey above
Look for
A glossy bottom layer
A slice of wet-bottom shoofly pie showing a glossy molasses layer beneath a crumb top
Photo: The Kitchn ā†—

02 Ā· The cakey one

Dry bottom

The molasses and crumbs bake together more uniformly, leaving little or no syrupy layer at the base. It eats more like a tender molasses coffee cake tucked inside a pastry crust.

Texture
Evenly firm and cakey
Look for
One consistent crumb
A slice of dry-bottom shoofly pie showing its more evenly baked interior
Photo: LancasterOnline ā†—

The people have spoken

Wet wins the vote.
Both win at the table.

96%chose wet bottom

In a LancasterOnline reader survey, the gooey molasses layer was the clear favoriteā€”but dry bottom’s tender, coffee-cake crumb is delicious in its own right.

Neither style is the ā€œrightā€ oneā€”it comes down to family recipe and personal preference. Read more about the distinction at Epicurious and Shady Maple.

LancasterOnline survey graphic showing 96 percent prefer wet-bottom shoofly pie and 4 percent prefer dry bottom
Graphic: LancasterOnline reader survey ā†—

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