Moon Pies

While I was doing some research for the jambalaya that I made earlier this week, I also came to find out that Moon Pies are a very traditional part of Mardi Gras. Having never been in New Orleans for the celebration, I had no idea. As it turns out, Moon Pies are typically thrown from the parade floats out to the crowd. Believe it or not, I’ve never eaten a moon pie. I see them in the store all the time, but for some reason it has just never occurred to me to try one. Since I’m on a bit of a Mardi Gras roll here, I thought it would only be fitting to include some homemade moon pies in the celebration. While the traditional moon pies have two cookies with marshmallow filling in the middle, the ones I saw at the store (research!) were all double-deckers – cookie, marshmallow, cookie, marshmallow, cookie. Covered in chocolate. I decided to go the all-in, double-decker route. Shocking, I know ;-)

These are actually pretty easy to make; it just takes some time getting all of the pieces together. The cookies are basically a sugar cookie made with all brown sugar instead of white, so they have a little bit of a sweeter flavor. The marshmallow filling is homemade, which I LOVE! You do use uncooked egg whites that are warmed up with the boiled corn syrup but if you are nervous about the eggs, I would encourage you to buy pasteurized eggs. I can usually always find them at the grocery store. And then of course the chocolate coating. I just spooned the melted chocolate over the cookies a couple of times so that it ran down the sides and covered most of the cookie. I love the ones where I can see cookie and marshmallow peeking out!

I absolutely adore these cookies. At first I thought the marshmallow filling may be too sweet when I tasted it by itself, but it’s perfect when melded together with the cookies and chocolate. I think these should be an everyday type of treat, not just a Mardi Gras treat. I’m going to start campaigning now :)

One year ago: Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Cookies