These moon pies are the perfect treat for someone who loves chocolate, marshmallow, and a little crunch. This homemade moon pie recipe is inspired by the original Moon Pies and the Academy Award nominated movie Hidden Figures, and best of all, they’re simple to make. You’ll have homemade moon pies in no time.
I love going to the movies. My husband and I used to go quite a bit before we had our son back in 2013 and since then, we only go when the movie is animated or when we have a free baby-sitter. And we had a lot of free baby-sitters over Christmas break and saw a lot of movies. Now that I think about it, we’ve actually seen like five movies in theaters in the past 30 days, and that’s more than we’ve probably seen in the past three years.
I was happy to see this past week that many of the movies we’ve actually seen this year are up for Academy Awards this year. I don’t watch rated R movies, so there have definitely been years when we are shut out from seeing any of the best picture nominations and have to stick with the animated film nominees like Moana. My friend Rebecca made La La Land chicken skewers, and I already made coconut chicken tenders inspired by Moana, so I thought it’d be fun to make a recipe inspired by one of my other favorite Academy Award nominees – Hidden Figures.
If you haven’t seen the movie Hidden Figures, go this weekend. It’s one of those movies that makes you feel inspired, motivated to do something, and in awe of how incredible people can be. It follows the story of three main women who helped get the US into space – by contributing at NASA in various ways. But it’s even more than that because not only were these women, these were African America women living in the midst of a segregated country, trying to do their jobs while being pushed back by societal limits. I loved it.
As we walked out of the theater, I turned to my sister and said, “That movie makes me feel like being more, like I need to be pushing the boundaries and doing something worth writing about.” And that’s really what it was – women breaking gender and racial boundaries, all the while trying to achieve one unified goal – getting the US into space. It’s amazing what people can do when they’re united in reaching toward one goal, rather than fighting against one another.
So in honor of Hidden Figures and the women who helped put us into space, I created this homemade moon pie recipe. It’s not quite the same as traditional store-bought Moon Pies, but it’s still delicious. As Kevin Costner’s character talks about in the movie, sometimes we have to invent the math and work outside the box to get somewhere we’ve never been before. And that is why not only did I make chocolate moon pies, but also pink moon pies with strawberry marshmallow filling, breaking out of the box. They’ll go perfectly with any Oscar night appetizers you have planned.
Homemade Moon Pie Recipe
This moon pie recipe is really simple to make, it just takes a little while because there’s a lot of chilling and cooling involved. So just know that while the recipe says it takes a long time, most of that is inactive time.
Start by making the cookie dough. The recipe is a pretty traditional cookie dough, which I amped up with a bit of Vanilla Sugar and pure vanilla extract. Mix all of your ingredients together either by using a beater like this one or in a mixer. Once your cookie dough is done, chill for at least two hours.
After the cookies are done chilling, roll them into small balls and evenly place on a cookie sheet. Before you put them in the oven, press down lightly to flatten them out to make it easier to stuff once they’re cooked. Bake until lightly golden on the bottom. Let cool on a cooling rack.
While your cookies are cooling, mix some Marshmallow Fluff with more Vanilla Sugar for the inside. And if you want to be more adventurous, mix some Strawberry Marshmallow Fluff with a little strawberry puree ( strawberries mashed with sugar and blended together). Make sure your cookies are completely cooled then pipe a small dollop of the marshmallow mixture onto half of the cookies.
Smoosh the other half of the cookies on top to make sandwiches and chill for another 30 minutes or so until completely set. You don’t want the cookies moving around when you cover them in chocolate later.
Last but not least, heat up some semi-sweet chocolate chips and/or white chocolate baking bars in the microwave, mixed with a bit of coconut oil for glossiness, and melt. Once the chocolate is completely melted, cover your cookies carefully. There are so many different ways you can do this, but I like to put my cookies on either a cooling rack or set up a tray (with holes) of my own on top of a big bowl. Then just pour the chocolate over them to get a nice smooth finish. If you’re in a hurry, you can also just dip them and set on parchment paper to let them harden. They may not be quite as pretty, but they’ll still taste great.
And last but not least, let the chocolate cool. I told you there was all the cooling in this recipe. And enjoy, maybe even while you’re watching Hidden Figures. Or take them to a party for some easy entertaining.
To Bake: Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips | Lindt White Chocolate Bars | Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Extract | Marshmallow Fluff | Strawberry Marshmallow Fluff | Vanilla Sugar
To Make: Mint Melamine Batter Bowl | Mint Retro Egg Beater | Blue Mason Jar Measuring Cups | Glass Measuring Cup | Lagoon Blue Retro Ice Cream Scoop
To Take Home: Pink Lilac Napkin | Orange Windowpane Napkin | Teal Windowpane Napkin |Chalkboard Cookie Jar | Half-Gallon Glass Storage Jr | Square Slate Coasters
Homemade Moon Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 8ouncesunsalted buttersoftened
- 1/4cuplight brown sugar
- 1/2cupsugar
- 2packets Vanilla sugar
- 1egg
- 1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
- 2¼cupsall-purpose flour
- ½teaspoonsalt
For Marshmallow Filling:
- 4ozMarshmallow Fluff or Strawberry Marshmallow Fluff
- 1packet Vanilla Sugar
For the Chocolate Outside
- 12ouncesbittersweet or white chocolate
- 3Tbscoconut oil
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- Beat butter until creamy.
- Add brown, white, and Vanilla sugar and mix until well combined.
- Add egg, vanilla extract, and mix.
- Add flour and salt to mixture and beat until just combined, do not overbeat.
- Roll dough mixture into a ball and put into a large plastic gallon-sized bag. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Once dough is chilled, rough into 1 inch balls and place evenly spaced apart on a cookie sheet that's covered with a silpat or parchment paper.
- Press down lightly to flatten balls into disks.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove and allow to cool completely.
For the Filling:
- While cookies are baking, mix Marshmallow Fluff with vanilla sugar until well combined.
- Once cookies are completely cooled, pipe a dollop of marshmallow mixture onto half of the cookies.
- Top the cookies with the other, pressing down gently, to create a cookie sandwich.
- Place in refrigerator to chill and set for another 30-45 minutes.
For the Chocolate:
- Combine chocolate chips and coconut oil in microwave safe bowl.
- Microwave chocolate on medium (5) heat for one minute and stir.
- Continue heating in 30 second increments on medium heat until chocolate is fully melted.
- Either dip cookies in chocolate or pour chocolate over top and set cookies on parchment paper. Once one side of cookies are completely hardened, repeat on the other side.
- Place chocolate covered moon pies in fridge and allow to harden for 30 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Recipe adapted from http://www.browneyedbaker.com/moon-pies-recipe/.
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