Julie Clark
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Quakertown Molasses Crumb Pie
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Quakertown Molasses Crumb Pie is an old-fashioned recipe that is similar to shoo-fly pie. Rich, gooey molasses filling baked with a crumb topping.
Calling all molasses lovers!
No, seriously.
This pie is for those who just can’t get enough of the molasses flavor. If you don’t like molasses, I’ll just tell you to move on to maybe our favorite cherry pie or classic apple pie.
But if you like unique, old-fashioned recipes and are willing to try something new? This pie is for you.
This Quakertown Molasses Crumb Pie is a traditional Pennsylvania Mennonite recipe and comes from one of my favorite cookbooks. It’s similar to a shoo-fly pie, but is just a little bit more gooey and has a crazy amount of crumb topping. This molasses crumb pie is traditionally served at breakfast. Think coffee cake. But really, crumb topping? I’ll take it any time of the day.
As I said before, the flavor of this pie is no doubt molasses. It’s unlike any pie I’d ever eaten. We served it at a party and there were those who loved it (the molasses lovers!) and those who took one bite and said, “No thanks!”.
Although normally I want everyone to fall in love with our recipes before we share them, I have to realize that there are just some ingredients that people will not like. And that’s OK. Molasses seems to be one that people either love or hate.
With that said, this pie is simple and unique, yet classic. Too special not to share.
I used whole wheat pie crust as a base for this crumb pie, but my grandma’s pie crust recipe would be fabulous as well. Whichever you choose, you’ll only need to make a ½ recipe since this pie calls for just a bottom crust.
This pie has two parts: the gooey bottom and the crumb pie topping.
The bottom is simply brown sugar, molasses, egg, water, flour and vanilla. You’ll cook these on the stove over medium heat, whisking often, until the mixture has thickened slightly. This is not going to get super thick, but it will thicken a little. I’d cook it for 5-10 minutes, watching it closely. I let mine come to a very low boil, but I didn’t let it boil for long. Each stovetop is different, so just watch carefully and allow the mixture to thicken to a runny gravy consistency.
Pour the molasses mixture into your prepared (but unbaked) pie shell, then make the crumb topping. It’s just flour, brown sugar, melted butter and baking soda that you’ll mix together. Sprinkle these crumbs over the molasses mixture and bake the pie at 375 for 40-45 minutes.
Because this pie has a gooey filling, you’ll want to let it cool before you slice it. This will allow the filling to set and firm up. Even then, this crumb pie is considered a “wet-bottom” pie. It’s gooey and may have a little syrup dripping out as you slice your piece of pie.
I enjoyed my slice with dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. The whipped cream helped tone down the molasses flavor a bit for me. Ice cream would be a great pairing, too!
Ready to give this Quakertown Molasses Crumb Pie a try? Let me know what you think!
Q: Do you like the flavor of molasses?
Quakertown Molasses Crumb Pie
Quakertown Molasses Crumb Pie is an old-fashioned recipe that is similar to shoo-fly pie. Rich, gooey molasses filling baked with a crumb topping.
Servings 8 people
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Crumb Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 unbaked 9" pie shell
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine the ingredients for the molasses layer. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture has thickened. This will take about 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove. Allow it to come to a low boil, but not a full boil. Allow the mixture to cool while you prepare the topping.
- For the topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, melted butter and baking soda. Mix well.
- Pour the molasses mixture into the unbaked pie shell.
- Sprinkle the crumbs on top of the molasses mixture.
- Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the center starts to puff up.
- Allow the pie to cool before slicing. This is considered a "wet-bottom" pie, so when you slice it, the bottom may be slightly "wet" and that's OK.
Notes
*I like using dark brown sugar in this recipe for an extra boost of flavor. *I also think that adding a touch of cinnamon in the crumb topping would be delicious!
Nutrition
Serving: 143g | Calories: 397kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g
My grandfather grew up in Pennsylvania and his mom always made Quakertown Crumb Pie. It’s my favorite pie and so I learned to make it myself. My great-grandmother’s recipe uses Karo syrup instead of molasses (I’ve tried both ways). It’s so good with Karo! Maybe an option for people who don’t like molasses.
Best-est pie ever!!!
Looks delish – have you ever tried using another kind of molasses, like date or carob molasses. They are sweeter, so you’d need to reduce the sugar – but they have such a delicious flavor
What kind of molasses do you use?
I love molasses, in fact I have a molasses sucker sitting in the counter just waiting to be devoured, I’ve never tried shoo fly pie, but this pie for breakfast sounds heavenly!!
I can’t believe you made this pie! I actually live about 20 minutes away from Quakertown, PA and I worked there at one point. Looks like you nailed this recipe! Looks like the real deal! 😉