Homemade Moon Pies
Homemade moon pies are a traditional Southern treat. Marshmallows are nestled between two graham cracker cookies and covered in chocolate.
Holy sinful goodness ya’ll . . .
After almost eight years of marriage, I have learned that if I send The Husband to the store for one thing, he’s going to come back with three other things that weren’t on the list. That’s why I don’t let him do the weekly grocery shopping. I can’t afford it.
I don’t even remember what I sent him to the store for last summer when he came home with a copy of Garden & Gun. But after that, I started to notice that the new issues somehow always made their way into our house. This past Christmas, I finally just bought him a subscription.
Ever since the February / March issue showed up in our mailbox, The Husband has been bugging me requesting that I make the homemade moon pies featured in this month’s issue.
You’re familiar with a MoonPie right? It’s not just a Southern thing, is it? Moon Pies became popular during the 1930’s because they were cheap and they were filling. Tradition dictates you are supposed to eat them with a cold RC Cola in hand. And they are commonly thrown from parade floats, along with beads, during Mardi Gras.
Yes, the magazine spread looked awesome. But the recipe also looked like a lot of work and just about impossible to make with a three-year-old constantly underfoot. This past weekend, Little Tot went to stay with his grandmother. I figured now was the time to honor The Husband’s request.
I am a sucker for anything with graham crackers and melted butter. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t recruit Little Tot to be my assistant on this one. He definitely would have been sticking his fingers in the mixing bowl, because his mama sure was.
I did cheat a little bit with the recipe. I was not going to tackle making homemade marshmallow. I bought a jar of marshmallow creme from the store and called it a day. But, if you would like to make the homemade marshmallow, G&G’s original recipe can be found here. These came together a lot easier than I thought they would. The end result was a super rich and decadent treat. Holy, sinful goodness.
Homemade Moon Pies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 6 ounces unsalted butter
- ¼ cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- ¼ cup cane syrup
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cups about 1 sleeve graham cracker crumbs, ground fine
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon whole milk
For the marshmallow center:
- 1 12 ounce container marshmallow crème
For the chocolate Coating:
- 1 16 ounces bag bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, syrup, and vanilla until mixture is fluffy, about 1 minute.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, kosher salt, baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. In a slow, steady stream, add the milk. Continue to mix until the dough comes together and leave the side of the bowl.
- Turn dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten with the palm of your hand. Wrap the edges of the plastic wrap around the dough. Refrigerate for up to1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Turn chilled dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. You may need to let the dough sit a room temperature for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to work with. Roll the dough until it is ¼ inch thick. Cut out cookies using a 3-inch round cookie cutter. Place cookies on a prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies 10-12 minutes. They will still be soft when you remove them from the oven. Allow cookies to cool 10-15 minutes until you can carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely before beginning the next step.
- Once your cookies have cooled, spoon approximately ¼ cup of marshmallow crème into the center of 12 cookies. Top marshmallow with a second cookie, then gently press down until the marshmallow just touches the edge. Place sandwiches on a cookie sheet and chill for at least 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a small pan of boiling water. Once the chocolate has melted, remove pan from the heat and allow the chocolate to cool until it is still warm to the touch, but not longer hot. Slowly whisk in the oil.
- Using two forks, gently place once sandwich cookie into the warm chocolate. Turn until thoroughly coated. Then remove cookies to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Let cookies stand until chocolate shell has completely hardened.
I’m glad you enjoyed them Melissa! And yes, they are messy. But worth it!
I made these over the weekend and am so very pleased. I didn’t have any problem with the cookies falling apart or rising beyond a manageable level. The cookies themselves are fabulous and I would make them on their own again. The whole combination is amazing and about 300 times better than the store-bought mass-produced version. But…goodness, are they messy! I wish I could post a photo to show the marshmallow ooze mine became. I did put mine in the freezer for about 10 minutes before covering in chocolate and then another 10 minutes or so in the freezer to try to contain the marshmallow as the chocolate set. Even after storing in the fridge overnight, the marshmallow creme made a run for it, though. Still, they taste out of this world and exceeded my expectations. I wouldn’t hesitate to make them again.
How cute! That’s a great idea!
Thanks for this recipe. My husband is in a nerdy telescope club and I am going to make his club some moon pies because it has the word moon in it.
Thank you for the tip, Elvira! I wonder if humidity could be the reason for the cookies coming out too soft. Glad to know that baking them a little longer solved the problem. So glad you enjoyed them!
I was looking around for a good yet simple moon pie recipe and I decided to try yours! After reading the comments I was slightly worried because of Lauryn’s comment. I experienced the same problem with baking the dough but managed to solve it by baking it for an additional ten minutes and they turned out great! The end result was awesome and they probably won’t last long since they’re delicious! Thanks you and have a great day! 🙂
Thank you, Katy!
Wow, I’m really impressed by your politeness in dealing with a rude and uneducated person. Your recipe turned out very nicely …the results were great!
Seems Lauryn’s lack of cooking ability is matched only by her illiteracy.
Lauryn, I’m sorry you did not have success with this recipe. I have made this recipe several times since this post and have not run into the problems you described. The pictures you see are my actual results. I can’t say why your cookies did not turn out.
THIS RECIPE IS A LOAD OF CRAP!!! MOST OF THE COMMENTS ARE FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T MADE IT YET SO I TELL YOU IN ADVANCE, DON’T DO IT!!!!!!! I FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY AND MY COOKIES WERE MUSHY AND FALLING APART, MY CHOCOLATE WAS HARD, AND EVEN AFTER I MADE THEM AND LET THEM COOL, THEY WERE FALLING APART, EVEN WITH THE MARSHMALLOW!!!! AND IF YOU WANT THEM TO BE A DECENT SIZE, — USE A 1 INCH DIAMETER COOKIE CUTTER BECA– USE THEY TRIPLE IN SIZE IN THE OVEN!!!!!!!! NEVER MAKE THESE!!!!!! THERE ARE DOZENS OF OTHER RECIPES OUT THERE. TO CONCLUDE THIS, I SAY AGAIN, DON’T TRY THIS RECIPE WHATSOEVER!!!!!!