A nostalgic cookie like treat. A graham cookie sandwich filled with a dreamy marshmallow creme dipped in chocolate = Homemade Moon Pies.
I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weekend!
I spent the better part of Sunday making a treat for my hubby. You see, he’s a big sweet eater, but oddly enough, he doesn’t eat a lof of my baked goods. He likes candy and some nostalgic treats from his childhood, like MoonPies! If you’ve never had a Moon Pie, this beloved little snack consists of two round graham cracker cookies, with marshmallow filling in the center, dipped in chocolate. It’s the kind of stuff kids dream of!
A few months ago he asked if I could make him some Moon Pies! Not wanting to disappoint my hubby ( you never know when he might do something totally awesome like Bridget’s husband) I quickly added it to my list!
Well, the last few weeks have been a little crazy around here, I flew to Monterey, I baked cookies for the grand opening of a new salon and spa where my oldest is working, we’ve endured crazy weather, I got my first iPhone and if you follow me on twitter, you will know that my nail girl took off out of town with NO warning and we attended a beautiful wedding last weekend that our daughter was in! So I figured NOW was the perfect time to indulge a little.
Now I’m not going to lie…….they aren’t pretty. I cried to some of my friends that I had NO idea how I was going to photograph them!……….but let’s be honest, does it really matter when they taste incredible? Be warned……..they are RICH, so if you choose to try them out, you may want to make them a little smaller.
*remember the Blogger handwriting fonts Amanda made? That’s MY handwriting on this picture! so fun!
I’ll share some of my thoughts below the recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2-1/2 cups graham flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks)
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 (7.5 oz jar) Marshmallow creme
- 15 oz semi sweet chocolate
- 1/4 cup oil
Instructions
- Mix flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl until fully incorporated.
- Cut butter in to cubes and beat in stand mixer until fluffy.
- Add sugar, and extract to butter and beat until well combined.
- Add dry ingredients and beat until a crumbly mixture evolves.
- Add molasses, then milk until a stiff dough forms.
- Chill dough for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Roll out dough, about 1/4? thick (or a little less) on lightly dusted surface.
- Cut circles out with cookie cutter.
- Bake until edges are slightly brown, about 15 minutes.
- Let cool completely.
- Spread marshmallow creme on half of the cooled cookies and top with another cookie, making a sandwich.
- Place marshmallow sandwiches in freezer for about 30 minutes.
- Using a double boiler (or a bowl set over barely simmering water) melt/temper chocolate and oil, stirring occasionally.
- Carefully dip each sandwich in the chocolate until covered.
- Transfer to a cooling rack with parchment paper underneath (to catch the drippings)
- after about 20 minutes transfer to a parchment lined pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm (this may take several hours)
- Store in air tight container.
Notes
I rolled out the cookie dough, just like I do for my sugar cookies, between two pieces of waxed paper (see my video)
Cookies could be a little thinner than the 1/4" that I rolled them
I used jarred Marshmallow Fluff, and could have used more on each sandwich. Brown Eyed Baker has a recipe where you can make your own marshmallow filling if you want to give that a try.
I used my 4" round Wilton Cookie Cutter, I think they would be great a little smaller, so if you have a 3" or even 2" cookie cutter I would try that (just keep an eye on the baking time though)- a 3" scalloped cookie cutter would work and look cute!
Dipping in the chocolate is the hardest and messiest part – I dipped 1/2 and covered the edges, then picked them up again and did the top side – you could also spoon chocolate over the top side, or not even dip them, and just pour chocolate over them, leaving the bottom not covered.
Graham flour was a hard find for me (I went to 5 different grocery stores including Whole Foods), if you can’t find it locally, you can order on Amazon, or ask Bridget to pick you up some and mail it to you, like I did! {wink} Thanks B!
I forgot to buy molasses, so I used dark brown sugar with a little water to make 1/2 of thick liquid as a substitute for molasses.
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http://tidymom.net/2011/moon-pie-recipe/
My thoughts/notes after making them.
- I rolled out the cookie dough, just like I do for my sugar cookies, between two pieces of waxed paper (see my video)
- cookies could be a little thinner than the 1/4″ that I rolled them
- I used jarred Marshmallow Fluff, and could have used more on each sandwich. Brown Eyed Baker has a recipe where you can make your own marshmallow filling if you want to give that a try.
- I used my 4″ round Wilton Cookie Cutter, I think they would be great a little smaller, so if you have a 3″ or even 2″ cookie cutter I would try that (just keep an eye on the baking time though)- a 3″ scalloped cookie cutter would work and look cute!
- Dipping in the chocolate is the hardest and messiest part – I dipped 1/2 and covered the edges, then picked them up again and did the top side – you could also spoon chocolate over the top side, or not even dip them, and just pour chocolate over them, leaving the bottom not covered.
- Graham flour was a hard find for me (I went to 5 different grocery stores including Whole Foods), if you can’t find it locally, you can order on Amazon, or ask Bridget to pick you up some and mail it to you, like I did! {wink} Thanks B!
- I forgot to buy molasses, so I used dark brown sugar with a little water to make 1/2 of thick liquid as a substitute for molasses
So how about you………any nostalgic treats you enjoy? are you a MoonPie fan? I’d love to hear if you give these a try!
About TidyMom
May I have one, please? These look simply amazing. I remember moon pies from high school…don’t think anyone ever actually baked them at home though. What a great idea. Perfect for bringing to a potluck or BBQ…or just enjoying at home with family and friends.
Cheryl, these moon pies are not only gorgeous, but I am can almost imagine myself biting into one!! What a great idea… and what a fun post! I think my favorite treat from my youth was little debbie treats. I still get memory flash backs if I eat one today!
Oh yeah, Little Debbie’s are good too! I like those little raspberry cakes
I LOVE these!! Love the step by step, you made them look so easy
Love these! They look so delicious.
They look darn good to me! The marshmallow filling oozing out just makes them all the more tempting.
How fun! I’m definitely making these the next time the grandkids come over.
Cheryl these look sooooo yummy!! I want one for breakfast
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and these look pretty darn good to me. I’ll be the smile on your husband’s face when he saw these was beautiful too. Love that you used your own handwriting fonts in this post and your link back to Bridget’s visit with you makes me think that you have or may be getting an airline ticket to Texas!
nope, but I WISH I had a ticket to TX
What a fun treat, Cheryl. My kids would go crazy for these. I always appreciate the tips and tricks you add at the end.
I should have added a warning that they are even better on day 2 and 3!…I need these out of my house! haha
I just love this post!! My Pa-paw (in his overalls) used to take me down to the little store near his home for Moon Pies & Coca-Cola in the bottles. Picture an old general store out of the 40′s with hardwood floors, rolled glass cabinets, seed bins and old famers sitting around the wood stove telling big yarns. It was magically
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
my hubby LOOOVES Coke even more than Moon Pies!!
These do not look ugly at all, just delicious!!!
It has been ages since I’ve had a moon pie. This looks soooo good!
Cheryl- Those moon pies sound wonderful. Sometimes it is hard if you make a dish that tastes fantastic but the picture don’t turn out like you wanted. But, I think your pictures look good. I wanted to invite you to show off your moon pies at These Chicks Cooked Recipe Spotlight tomorrow (Wednesday). Have a great day
Katie
These sound absolutely delightful, and mess or not, they look AMAZING.
YUM!!! MOON PIES.. YUMMMMMMMMM This looks really really delicious!! I haven’t had one in a really long time.
Be. Still. My. Heart. I love me some yummy moon pies.
I think my husband would marry me all over again if I made these for him!
Those look delicious! I’m stopping by to say hi from the Switch & Save website.
Anna
Yummy!!!! Those look amazing!
I think they are gorgeous! We are always our own worst critic! They look so good too! Was hubby surprised?!
have to admit that i never liked moon pies as a kid but that’s probably because the moon pies i DID try tasted stale . . . and dry . . . with crappy marshmallow . . . but these? these i could love!!
In my opinion, there is truly nothing better than a moon pie. I need to put these on my “must do” list!
What a fun recipe. Love it!
Cheryl!!! *gasp* Those Moon Pies look amazing! Not pretty? Are you kidding? They’re beautiful! I wish I could jump through the screen!
Love everything about this post…the recipe, the pictures, the story behind them, your handwriting font(!), etc. AND, since MY grocery store has graham flour, I think that means next time you make them, it has to be at MY house!!!
These look incredible…seriously, if I had all of the ingredients, I’d be making them right now. Lovely photo too, Cheryl!
They look amazing. I have several friends who would love these. I will be making them very soon! Thanks for the recipe!
These are so fun! You know what I saw at the convenience store in Florida that I’d never seen before? Peanut Butter Moon Pies. I didn’t get one, but it looked like a normal moon pie with peanut butter marshmallow cream. Yum!
I made a different version of these last year for a bake sale. First effort, so I didn’t know how well they would go over. My recipe made a drop cookie and matching two drop cookies together was a real challenge. And my filling was an actual big fat marshmallow that was slightly toasted and then smashed between the two cookies. I had trouble with the dip situation too and ended up just spooning over each side which worked. It also allowed the marshmallow to show through and pique interest.
They were a huge hit at the sale. One guy ended up buying more than half of them just for himself.
But I’m thinking next time, I’m gonna try this cookie recipe and roll them out.
I remember moon pies, and loved them! Your homemade version looks fantastic!
Nom, Nom, Nom…. We will have to try these for Father’s Day – they are my Daddy’s favorite!
I love these!
Hi Cheryl,
Your Moon Pies look awesome, I really wish I had one right now. Great recipe!
I would like to invite you to link up a recipe at Full Plate Thursday. Thanks for sharing and have a great week!
Miz Helen
YUM YUM and more YUM! I’ve never tried these, but can’t wait!! It has all the yummy ingredients our family loves!! THANK YOU for sharing!
http://www.jandmseyecandy.blogspot.com
These look delish! Ooey gooey goodness in my opinion!
Ashley
http://www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com
I love this recipe. I would love for you to link it up to my party that is running now. Any linky goes.
Oh my! These look fabulous! I wish there was some way we could make some banana ones!
In your notes, you mention not being able to easily find graham flour. For years, I’ve gotten it from Bob’s Red Mill, http://www.bobsredmill.com, where you can find most baking products in organic varieties, also. The shipping cost the only problem. I’ll check on Amazon to see if shipping is more affordable. Thanks for that information.
I made these for my boss for Christmas – now he says I’m due for a raise!! So good – I mixed fancy toffee-flavored peanut butter with Wilton white chocolate melts for big ones and made little teeny red covered ones with crushed candy cane sprinkles, as well, all in all three four hamburger size ones and 25 truffle size ones with this recipe cut into thirds!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
P.s. I couldn’t find graham flour, either, so I just stuck one pack of Back to Nature graham crackers (the only package with graham flour as the first ingredient) in the blender and used the crumbs
I also made marshmallow fluff really easily by melting mini-marshmallows in a pot with an itsy bit of butter and some flavoring – YUMMMMMMMM!!!
I think your photographs turned out gorgeous! Yum