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Shoofly Cupcakes

September 19, 2016 by Amanda 13 Comments

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Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster County favorite made into fun little cakes. Oh, and this delicious treat is vegan if using shortening (which is traditional) instead of butter.

Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster favorite made into fun little cakes. Vegan friendly | www.craftycookingmama.com

A Quick Lesson on Shoofly

Today I’m sharing my recipe for Shoofly Cupcakes. Sweet, moist, molasses flavored mini cakes with a crumb topping. All the shoofly flavors in a convenient, easy to eat or on the go sweet snack.

A few notes on Shoofly. It’s a Pennsylvania Dutch pie that has gained some popularity the past few years. With it’s gooey molasses bottom, it’s moist center and it’s light crumb topping – it’s a unique dessert you’ll either love or hate. As a local – if you love it, you’ll never grow tired trying the endless variations of it.

Just to clear up much internet confusion – all Shoofly Pie is (and should be) “wet bottom”. If it’s not a wet bottom pie, then it’s pretty much a Shoofly Cake in a pie crust. That’s no good….

Most folks make a Shoofly Cake as a simple moist cake, like these Shoofly Cupcakes. But….if you’re in the know….you know that many Lancaster County residents love this cake made with a wet bottom, served warm straight from the baking dish.

Confession time. It’s been over 10 years that I’ve been working on this blog and I have yet to share my Shoofly Pie recipe. I need to do better lol

Love molasses flavored desserts? You can also check out theses recipes: Old Fashioned Molasses Pie & Mary Washington’s 1784 Gingerbread Cake !

Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster favorite made into fun little cakes. Vegan friendly | www.craftycookingmama.com

Basic Instructions for Shoofly Cupcakes

These shoofly cupcakes have none of this magical wet bottom I speak of. I’ve tried making them before, but they pretty much just stick to the cupcake liner. Instead they have all the warm & wonderful Shoofly flavors in a cute little cake.

Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster favorite made into fun little cakes. Vegan friendly | www.craftycookingmama.com

Shoofly cupcakes, much like the pie, are quick and simple to make. You’ll find this with much Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. The food comes from a culture that was built upon hard work & minimalism. Everything was cooked from scratch and nothing was wasted.  

Thing is, the PA Dutch women of yesteryears didn’t have time to stand around and fuss in the kitchen all day. Many were farmers or hard at work in the family business plus managed a household – kids, cooking & cleaning. They perfected the simplest methods whenever possible.

Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster favorite made into fun little cakes. Vegan friendly | www.craftycookingmama.com

All that being said, these cupcakes take only a few minutes to mix up and about 20 minutes to bake. These moist little Shoofly cupcakes are a fun, delicious & unique treat.

I hope you enjoy this Pennsylvania Dutch treat. Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Baking!

Amanda ♥

Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster favorite made into fun little cakes. Vegan friendly | www.craftycookingmama.com
Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster favorite made into fun little cakes. Vegan friendly | www.craftycookingmama.com

Shoofly Cupcakes Recipe

Amanda
Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster County favorite made into fun little cakes. Oh, and this delicious treat can easily be made vegan by using shortening (which is traditional) instead of butter.
3.67 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Course baked goods
Cuisine Pennsylvania Dutch
Servings 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
  

  • Crumb / Dry Mixture:
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
  • 1/2 cup shortening or butter room temp
  • Liquid Mixture:
  • 1 1/2 cups boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup unsulphured molasses

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
  • In a mixing bowl, combine flour and brown sugar.
  • Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening/butter until pea sized crumbles.
  • Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture. Set all aside.
  • Boil water. Stir baking soda into water. Stir in molasses, remove from heat.
  • Add liquid mixture into bowl of dry mixture. Stir until thoroughly combined.
  • Fill paper lined muffin tins half full with batter.
  • Sprinkle reserved 1 cup of crumb mixture evenly over tops of cupcakes.
  • Bake for 20 minutes.
  • Remove from oven, put tins on wire rack. Let rest for about 5 minutes and then remove cupcakes from tins and allow to cool completely on wire rack. Store covered.
  • Enjoy 🙂
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster favorite made into fun little cakes. Vegan friendly | www.craftycookingmama.com
Shoofly Cupcakes. A sweet, moist molasses PA Dutch & Lancaster favorite made into fun little cakes. Vegan friendly | www.craftycookingmama.com

Filed Under: Baked Goods, Cakes, Desserts, Recipes, Vegan

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dawn - Girl Heart Food

    September 21, 2016 at 11:15 am

    Wet bottom or no wet bottom, these look delicious! I’ve never heard of shoofly cupcakes before, but all the ingredients sound perfect to me and I LOVE molasses!! We can forgive ya for not posting these until now 😉 Pinned and can’t wait to try. Bet they would be awesome with my morning coffee and if I’m feeling extra indulgent, a little smear of butter. Hope your week is going good! xo

    Reply
    • Amanda

      September 23, 2016 at 10:05 pm

      Ohhhh….I hope you try them! If you love molasses, you’ll love all things Shoofly. These cupcakes are good – not as good as a Shoofly Pie – but pretty darn close.
      Hope you have a wonderful weekend ♥

      Reply
  2. Stephanie | Worth Whisking

    September 21, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    Oooh, Amanda, I love this take on Shoofly Cake! It’s amazing how something so delicious can come out of so few ingredients, but it definitely works. Great variation!

    Reply
    • Amanda

      September 23, 2016 at 10:10 pm

      Thanks so much Stephanie! You wouldn’t believe the endless amounts of Shoofly variations there are in these parts 🙂

      Reply
  3. Dawn @ Words Of Deliciousness

    September 21, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    5 stars
    I have never eaten shoofly cake or pie. Boy, it looks like I am missing out. Your shoofly cupcakes look yummy!

    Reply
    • Amanda

      September 23, 2016 at 10:11 pm

      Thanks Dawn! I hope you try it out sometime 🙂

      Reply
  4. Ruth

    October 20, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    They are in the oven now!

    Reply
    • Amanda

      October 26, 2017 at 12:09 am

      Hope you enjoy!

      Reply
  5. jenna

    November 27, 2017 at 9:48 am

    I so need to make this. I LOVE shoofly pie (wet bottom of course!). What an excellent idea to translate it into little cupcakes. Have you tried freezing these? Since they’re not “wet,” it seems like they would freeze well, which would spare me from eating the entire batch in a few days.

    Reply
  6. Terri Curtis

    September 21, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    5 stars
    I made the Shoofly Cupcakes today. They are so easy and taste just like the Shoofly pies my grandmother used to make. They bring back wonderful memories of growing up in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

    Reply
  7. Meesha

    October 10, 2018 at 5:23 pm

    1 star
    I really wanted to like these! I followed the directions exactly, unfortunately they came out pretty flavorless and the texture was a disaster. I made these for my neighbors but I definitely can’t serve these to anyone. But idk, born and raised as a PA Dutch Mennonite, my expectations for shoo fly pie may be a bit high.

    Reply
  8. rhoda

    December 16, 2019 at 9:16 am

    i made these last week and there is not a one left. I had unsulfured molasses on hand but, now I can’t find it. I wanted to make another batch and I need more molasses. What to do. These are so good, my husband just could not stay away from them. Next time I will double the recipe and freeze some of them. Thank you for the recipe

    Reply
  9. Tracie

    July 27, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    Can these be made ahead and frozen.

    Reply

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