Shoo-fly pie recipe, made vegan!

A half-devoured slice of shoo fly pie.

A few months ago, I got Isa Chandra Moskowitz's "Vegan Pie in the Sky" cookbook*. Shortly after that, my husband and I went to the York Fair, where he announced he's always really liked shoo-fly pie. We live about 45 minutes from Lancaster County, so shoo-fly pie is kind of a big deal here.  Unfortunately, there was no recipe for vegan shoo-fly pie that I could find, so I made my own.

I used ground flaxseed for an egg substitute, and it worked really well! In my vegan cooking adventures, I've found flaxseed is a more reliable binder than actual egg. Real eggs are so temperamental, and there's no point in buying eggs when chicken farms aren't that nice to their chickens. All you have to do is pulverize a tablespoon of flaxseed in a coffee grinder and whisk 3 tablespoons of water into it. Refrigerate it while you're assembling the rest of the pie ingredients.  Here's a good tutorial for making flax eggs.

In my recipe, the filling is spongy and damp, with a thick, powdery layer of crumbs on the top. The bottom crust virtually disappears. It's a "wet bottom" pie, but it's not runny.

Sliced pie shot of the shoo-fly pie. The filling
is spongy and wet when baked, but not runny.
The crust practically disappears.

Vegan Shoo-Fly Pie

Ingredients:

1 unbaked pie crust for a 9-inch pie. The basic pie crust recipe in "Vegan Pie In The Sky" is my favorite, but my mom likes to use Betty Crocker's. For the love of all things holy, don't use frozen pie crust. You might as well line your pie plate with cardboard. Just learn how to make your own. It's not that hard.

Topping:
1 1/4 c. flour
3 T. Earth Balance butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. ginger
1/8 t. cloves

Filling:
1 t. baking soda
2/3 c. boiling water
3/4 c. molasses
1 flax egg

1.) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees farenheit
2.) Make your pie crust and put it in your pie pan.
3.) Pulse topping ingredients in a food processor.
4.) In a separate bowl, combine baking soda with water and whisk to dissolve. Add molasses and flax egg and whisk until completely incorporated. The molasses mixture will be kind of viscous.
5.) Pour the molasses mixture into the crust. Sprinkle the topping on top. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool for 1 hour before cutting and serving.

*OMG, if you don't have "Vegan Pie In The Sky" or any other of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's books, GO GET THEM/IT NOW. I've discovered a whole new addiction: baking without animal products. It can be tough, but it's so much fun. Vegan cooking and baking has opened up a whole new world of flavors, methods and ingredients I would have never considered as a meat eater.