What Exactly Is Shoofly Pie Anyway?

This sweet treat is a staple of Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, but where exactly did this recipe — and name — come from?

Apple, pumpkin, pecan and sweet potato pie have become staple desserts on Thanksgiving tables across the U.S. But there are seemingly endless local and regional pies enjoyed by Americans on Turkey Day and even year round.

One of the more interestingly named examples is “shoofly pie.” Although it’s not traditionally served at holidays, Google data revealed that shoofly was in fact the most uniquely searched pie in Pennsylvania around Thanksgiving last year.

You might not have heard of this confection if you didn’t grow up around southeastern Pennsylvania, but that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate the sugary treat. Below, experts break down what goes into making a delicious shoofly pie and how its name came about.

What is shoofly pie?

“Shoofly pie is a molasses crumb cake baked in a pie crust,” William Woys Weaver, an expert in Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine and culture and author of “As American as Shoofly Pie,” told HuffPost. “It consists of molasses mixed with baking soda on the bottom. Crumbs made from butter and flour, a little brown sugar, and your spices of choice ― usually nutmeg ― are sprinkled over this. This is then baked in a hot oven for perhaps 15 minutes, then the heat is reduced. The molasses mixture foams up and forms a cake.”