In a small mixing bowl, mix all crust ingredients. I like to do this by hand. Stop when the ingredients start to stick together; do not over mix.
Press the mixture into the bottom of a baking pan.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Prepare the crumbs.
In a small mixing bowl, mix all of the crumb ingredients together. I also do this part by hand. These crumbs won't stick together the way that the shortbread crust did. The crumbs will be small and loose, like fine breadcrumbs.
Prepare the syrup filling.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all of the syrup filling ingredients.
Put it all together.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Place about 1/3 of the crumbs over the pre-baked shortbread base.
Pour half the syrup over the crumbs.
Place another 1/3 of the crumbs over the syrup. It will all glom together. Don't worry. You're not trying to create distinct layers.
Top with the remaining half of the syrup.
Top the whole thing with the remaining 1/3 of the crumbs.
Baking instructions
Bake for 10 minutes.
Lower heat to 350 F and bake for another 20 minutes.
Wait for the shoofly pie bars to cool and then cut, eat, smile, and share.