shoo-fly pie

[shoo-flahy]

noun

1. an open pie filled with a sweet crumb and molasses mixture and baked.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shoo-fly pie¹

First recorded in 1925–30; so called in allusion to the attractiveness of the molasses to unwanted flies

Example Sentences

Nora F.: Here it is, my mother’s recipe for Shoo-Fly Pie.

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Dear Heloise: My husband loves your recipe for Shoo-Fly Pie, but I've lost it.

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Dear Heloise: You used to have a recipe for shoo-fly pie.

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In her 1965 book “Red-Flannel Hash and Shoo-Fly Pie,” Lila Perl claimed that the dessert arose during the Civil War when housewives in Washington couldn’t get lard for pie crusts.

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These days, the best places to find shoo-fly pie are the same ones we’ve always sought out: Pennsylvania Dutch bakeries, which, as the name implies, are usually found way, way north of the D.C. border.

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