Ingredients
- 1 basic flaky pie pastry , single crust
- Filling
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter , cut into 1/4 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup molasses (unsulfured or blackstrap)
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg , beaten
Directions
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Roll out refrigerated prepared pastry, fit into 9-inch pie pan; sculpt edges into an upstanding ridge; place in freezer for 15 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 425°.
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In a bowl, combine flour, ½ cup brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon; add butter and rub or cut into the dry ingredients with you fingers or a pastry blender, mixing until the mixture resembles fine meal that forms small clumps when you pinch it together; set aside.
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In another bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup brown sugar and molasses; add in boiling water and stir to dissolve sugar.
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Whisk in the baking soda, vanilla, and egg.
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Pour the mixture into the chilled pie shell.
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Scatter the crumbs evenly over the filling; do not tamp them down.
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Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 10 minutes; decrease the oven temperature to 350° and rotate pie 180°; continue to bake until filling is set, about 25 minutes (cover crust edges with foil if start to overbrown).
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When done, the filling should wobble as a whole, and the center should not be soupy.
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Transfer pie to a wire rack and let cool thoroughly before serving.