Amish Amazon: Stoll Family Cookbook, Shoofly Pie, Peach Butter, and Some Recipes!

By Kevin Williams

Okay, time for another voyage down the Amazon to see what Amish interesting things we can find!

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:  Chocolate chip cookies are a dime a dozen. There are REALLY good chocolate chip cookies, just OK chocolate chip cookies, and really bad ones.  The problem is you don't really know what you have until you taste it.  You can order chocolate chip cookies hand-made by Amish bakers from the Bread Box Bakery in Shipshewana.  It's intriguing...but not sure if I'd do it.  It's $10 for the cookies, another $10 for the shipping....click here to see more.

PEACH BUTTER:  I love anything peach.  I'd have to think this would taste amazing just spread on a piece of homemade white bread with regular butter. $5 for a jar, that's not terrible for a homemade product. Click here.

ONION RELISH:  Byler's is a Mennonite family that makes, cans, and sells some great relishes and spreads. I'd have to think this onion relish is amazing.  I'd probably spread it on a sandwich.  Wow.  Perfect picnic partner. Click here to read more.

AUTHENTIC AMISH SHOOFLY PIE:  You know, shipping a pie seems a bit extreme but if you are reading this from California or Washington or some other place that is far from Amish country and you just don't think you'll ever really make it to an Amish community this really is a viable option.  Yes, you could make your own. But getting a shoofly pie right is tough. I've made several over the years and it's not an easy recipe in the sense that everything has to be perfect to get that right balance.  You can actually order a pie from the Bird-in-Hand Bakery in the heart of Pennsylvania's Amish Country.  Click here to give it a try!

Shoofly mix....

SHOOFLY PIE MIX:  The other option if you don't want to spring for a full pie to be mailed to you, is to order some of this mix.  You can make it at home, but you'll have a better shot of achieving that perfect balance.  Click here.

Now for the adventurous who want to make it from scratch, I've posted the recipe for a classic Amish shoofly below!

The Stoll Family Cookbook, a treasure trove?

STOLL FAMILY COOKBOOK:  Out of all the items this week this is the one that intrigues me the most.  I am an Amish cookbook aficionado because of their cultural ethnography value.  The recipes can convey so much about an Amish settlement's traditions, history, and even the local economy.  The Stoll name among the Amish is distinctive.  The family name has its roots in southern Indiana's Amish community and is imbued with good-natured evangelical zeal, entrepreneurship, and intellect.  My hope is that this cookbook contains some of the family story as well as the recipes.  That would be what really interests me.  A quick glance at the free pages available on Amazon left me a little unimpressed. That said, it's tough to judge too much by a few pages.  Someone like me doesn't buy a cookbook like this for recipes like "Applebee's Copycat Wonton Taco."   I want a taste of the culture, of generations-old recipes, etc.  Now, in fairness, I think it's probably a mix.  Recipes like "Stoll Apple Butter" and "Stoll Apple Punch" listed in the contents are more what I am searching for, plus overnight cookies and Bride's Cake with raspberry filling, those are intrigued.  I just hope there is some narrative interspersed with the recipes to give them context.  So, if you want to roll the dice and get the book, click here.

Here is a sample recipe from the book, this is more what I was hoping to find:

CLARA STOLL'S BACON STUFFED MUSHROOMS

Clara Stoll's Stuffed Mushrooms

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Ingredients

  

• 1 pound fresh mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1 slice bread
• 1 cup bacon fried crisp and crumbled
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Instructions

 

• Wash and remove stems from mushrooms.
• Set aside.
• Cook with butter and onions and chopped stems until tender
• Add bread.
• Remove from heat, add bacon and cheese
• Spoon filling into mushroom caps
• Place on a cookie sheet
• bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted
• Serve warm!

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

CLASSIC SHOOFLY PIE

• 1 9-inch pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
• 1 cup molasses
• ⅔ cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Topping:
• 3½cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ¾ cup shortening, softened
• Dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, combine the molasses, boiling water, and baking soda.

Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie shell.

To make the topping: In a large bowl, mix the flour with the sugar, shortening, and salt.

Spread this on top of the molasses mixture in the pie shell.

Bake until the center of the pie is set, about 45 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack or windowsill