Homemade Moon Pies

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 lot 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.

How to Make Homemade Moon Pies

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.

I’ll share some of my thoughts below the recipe.

Homemade Moon Pies

Yield: 15
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

A nostalgic cookie like treat.   A graham cookie sandwich filled with a dreamy marshmallow creme dipped in chocolate = Homemade Moon Pies.

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 vanilla extract
•  2 (7.5 oz jar) Marshmallow creme
•  15 oz semi sweet chocolate
•  1/4 cup oil

Instructions

1. Mix flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl until fully incorporated.
2. Cut butter into cubes and beat in stand mixer until fluffy.
3. Add sugar, and vanilla to butter and beat until well combined.
4. Add dry ingredients and beat until a crumbly mixture evolves.
5. Add molasses, then milk until a stiff dough forms.
6. Chill dough for one hour.
7. Preheat oven to 350° F
8. Roll out dough, about 1/4-inch  thick (or a little less) on lightly dusted surface.
9. Cut circles out with cookie cutter.
10. Bake until edges are slightly brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
11. Spread marshmallow creme on half of the cooled cookies and top with another cookie, making a sandwich.
12. Place marshmallow sandwiches in freezer for about 30 minutes.
13. Using a double boiler (or a bowl set over barely simmering water) melt/temper chocolate and oil, stirring occasionally.
14. 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 sit at room temperature until the coating is firm (this may take several hours)
15. Store in airtight container.

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

• 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!

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