What’s Cooking in Pennsylvania Dutch Country?

Below are some of our favorite recipes hailing from Pennsylvania Dutch Country. 

I grew up an hour away from the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and Dutch apple pie was always a staple in my family’s fridge. There was a great Amish bakery down the street from where I lived that sold them fresh or frozen. This pie, inspired by Holly Ricciardi of the now-shuttered Magpie Bakery in Philadelphia, rivals the ones from that local bakery. The flaky crust is easy to roll and bakes up golden brown and tender. Sliced apples are macerated in cinnamon, sugar, lemon juice, and melted vanilla ice cream (you read that right), so a lot of apples can be packed into the crust. A mixture of melted butter, flour, brown sugar, and salt sprinkled over the macerated apples makes for a buttery, crisp streusel topping. If you can wait the 4-hour (or better yet, overnight) cooling time, you’ll be rewarded with a pie that slices beautifully, boasts a big apple flavor, and has layers of textures. 

Amish Cinnamon Bread is also known as friendship bread. Traditionally, this bread is made with a starter that can be passed along to friends. My mom always gave little containers of starters to neighbors, friends, and family with a copy of her recipe. This quick recipe skips the need for a starter and can be made on a whim. The baked loaves ride the fine line between bread and cake. A cinnamon-sugar coating sprinkled into the pan and on top of the batter before baking gives the finished bread a crackly, sweet crust. Keeping with the spirit of the original, the recipe makes two loaves so you’ll have one to give to friends. 

Shoofly pie is a Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast staple and one of my very first and favorite childhood food taste memories. Seen all over Dutch Country in home kitchens, diners, and truckstops, it is a wonderfully sweet way to start the day. It gets its flavor and signature wet-bottom texture from rich, dark, bittersweet molasses. Combined with warm spices and enough flour to barely set, the pie has distinct layers with different textures and pairs exceptionally with a hot cup of coffee.

This hearty soup highlights sweet summer corn, one of my favorite ingredients. It maximizes corn flavor three ways. Half of the fresh corn kernels are grated to release more juice, flavor, and starch. The cobs are steeped in the broth as the chicken poaches, infusing the broth and chicken with corn flavor. The kernels are cooked just long enough to let their sweetness shine without sacrificing texture. Rivels, tiny poached balls of dough, add texture and thicken the broth as they simmer. 

Protestant Czech immigrants brought the Moravian chicken pie with them, and I’m glad they did. It is a double-crusted pie filled with tender, shredded chicken and gravy. In this clever recipe one hand certainly feeds the other. The chicken is seared to build a foundation of flavor; the searing renders a good amount of chicken fat, which is then used to make a roux to thicken the gravy. Poaching the chicken in chicken broth until it is cooked through keeps the chicken juicy and boosts the broth flavor. Coating the chicken with some of the gravy base keeps it moist during baking. This is truly an irresistible, showstopping pie that feels like home. 

Stuffing and mashed potatoes; why have one when you can have both? Golden-brown cubes of toasted bread tossed with sautéed mirepoix, poultry seasoning, and chicken broth bound with silky mashed Yukon Gold potatoes make their way into a casserole dish. Just wait; there’s more. Melted butter fills the uneven surface, helping the top bake up spotty brown and crunchy, the perfect contrast for the hearty goodness below.