Shoofly pie is the symbol of Amish cooking. Named because flies had to be shooed away from the sweet molasses.
Recipe
Filling: 1 cup molasses + 1 cup boiling water + 1 tsp baking soda (dissolved). Crumb: 1.5 cups flour + 0.5 cup brown sugar + 1/3 cup butter/lard — rub together. In pie crust alternate: filling layer — crumb — filling — crumb on top. Bake 35-40 min at 175°C.
Two Versions
Wet bottom: more molasses — bottom layer stays moist, sticky. Dry bottom: more crumb — whole pie crumbly. Communities debate: which is correct.
Why Molasses
The Amish don't discard byproducts. Molasses is sugar production waste, cheap, nutritious (iron, calcium). What sugar factories called waste, the Amish made into dessert.