Moon pie

Moon pie
Alternative names MoonPie
Type Confectionery
Place of origin United States of America
Invented April 29, 1917
Main ingredients Graham cracker cookies, marshmallow
Cookbook: Moon pie  Media: Moon pie

A moon pie or MoonPie[1] is a confection, popular in parts of the United States, which consists of two round graham cracker cookies, with marshmallow filling in the center, dipped in a flavored coating. The snack is often associated with the cuisine of the American South where they are traditionally accompanied by an RC Cola. Today, MoonPies are made by the Chattanooga Bakery in Chattanooga, TN.

The traditional pie is approximately four inches (100 mm) in diameter. A smaller version exists (mini MoonPie) that is approximately half the size, and a Double-Decker MoonPie of the traditional diameter features a third cookie and attendant layer of marshmallow. The four main flavors are chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and banana. Double Decker MoonPies also come in lemon and orange; MoonPie Crunch comes only in peanut butter or mint. In 2014, a salted caramel flavor was introduced.

History

A double-decker Moon Pie split in half.

MoonPies have been made daily at the Chattanooga Bakery since the incorporation of MoonPie on April 29, 1917. Earl Mitchell Junior said his father came up with the idea for MoonPies when he asked a Kentucky coal miner what kind of snack he would like to eat, and the miner requested something with graham cracker and marshmallow. Popular folklore, repeated and encouraged by the Chattanooga Bakery itself, states the miner then asked the snack be "as big as the moon",[2] which inspired the name "moon pie".

There is a custom for eating MoonPies with RC Cola, although the origin of this is unknown.[3] It is likely that their inexpensive prices, combined with their larger serving sizes, contributed to establishing this combination as the "working man's lunch". The popularity of this combination was celebrated in a popular song of the 1950s, by Big Bill Lister, "Gimmee an RC Cola and a Moon Pie".[2] In 1973, NRBQ had a minor hit with the song, "An RC Cola and a Moon Pie".

Since New Year's Eve 2008, the city of Mobile, Alabama has been raising a 12-foot-tall (3.7 m) lighted mechanical moon pie to celebrate the coming of the new year. The giant banana colored MoonPie is raised by a crane to a height of 200 feet (61 m) as the clock strikes midnight.[4] Also, the city had for the 2008 New Year's celebration the world's largest MoonPie baked for the occasion. It weighed 55 pounds (25 kg) and contained 45,000 calories.[5]

An annual RC & MoonPie Festival is celebrated in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, and a MoonPie Eating Contest is held in Bessemer, Alabama.

On October 16, 2010, Sonya Thomas, a competitive eater known as the "Black Widow", ate 38 MoonPies in eight minutes in Caruthersville, Missouri.

Newport, Tennessee held its first annual MoonPie Festival in May 2012.

The company celebrated it's centennial anniversary with a clever "Totally Mooned' 'tie-in' promotion in August 2017, regarding the total solar eclipse that was view-able in much of the United States.

Mardi Gras tradition

The MoonPie became a traditional "throw" (an item thrown from a parade float into the crowd) of Mardi Gras "krewes" (parade participants) in Mobile, Alabama during 1956,[6][7] followed by other communities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The westernmost outpost of the MoonPie as an important Carnival throw is Slidell, Louisiana, which has a parade by "The Krewe of Mona Lisa and MoonPie". Also, in the town of Oneonta, Alabama, there is a MoonPie eating contest started by Wal-Mart employee John Love when he inadvertently ordered too many. This anecdote was featured in Sam Walton's autobiography, Made in America.[8]

Apollo 11 great moon walk tradition

The MoonPie is a traditional celebratory food for remembering the Apollo 11 moon walk that took place on July 20, 1969. MoonPies are used in the commemorative celebration by aerospace workers and enthusiasts across the globe.

Nutrition facts

A MoonPie is made with marshmallow, which is a low-fat but high-sugar food. The nutritional content of a chocolate full-size or Mini MoonPie (from 2004) is detailed below, showing (full-size) 226 calories,[9] saturated fat 3.5g, carbohydrate 40g, protein 4g, iron 5%, of a total weight of 57 grams (2 ounces). The nutritional data for a chocolate Mini MoonPie is about 65% the amount of full-size.[10][11]

The ingredients are as follows:[9] enriched wheat flour (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), corn syrup, sugar, vegetable shortening (contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or coconut oil and/or palm kernel oil and/or palm oil), soy flour, dutched cocoa (processed with alkali), cocoa, kosher gelatin, baking soda, lecithin, salt, artificial flavoring, sodium sulfite.[9]

Nutrition facts for chocolate MoonPie (full-size):[9]

Nutrition facts for chocolate Mini MoonPie:[10]

Note that the nutrition data is for a chocolate MoonPie or chocolate Mini MoonPie, while other flavors (such as banana, vanilla, strawberry, or orange) might have different nutritional content.

Similar products

Wagon Wheels are similar to moon pies and are found in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada

In the northern areas of the U.S. a similar product is called a "Scooter Pie" and there is also a single-cracker marshmallow cookie called "Mallomars". Little Debbie also makes what they call "Marshmallow Pies" which are nearly identical to the Moonpies. In the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada a similar product is called "Wagon Wheels" and in South Korea, the very similar "Choco Pie" is produced by several companies. In Japan, there is the smaller-sized "Angel Pies" by Morinaga as well as a brand of "Choco Pie".

Some Taiwanese companies produce "Choco pies", and in Mexico there are similar cookie pies called "Mamut" (Spanish for "Mammoth", sold by Gamesa), and "Rocko" (marketed by Marinela); there are several other minor brands as well. In Turkey, a similar pie is called "Halley". In Egypt, a similar pie is called "Bimbo". In Argentina a similar treat is "Alfajor", more than 20 brands marketed as "alfajores" are very popular.

ABC-TV's Good Morning America featured "The Moon Pie Song" by Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) during its tour of the Chattanooga Bakery Company in 1991.

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 Episode 15 "Phases", Xander states that although the full moon can bring out the worst qualities of mankind it "ironically also led to the invention of the Moon Pie". Giles finds this hilarious.

In the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon calls his grandmother Meemaw, who in turn, calls him Moonpie.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ MoonPie products
  2. 1 2 "MoonPie: The Original Marshmallow Snack"
  3. ↑ NPR: The Heavenly Appeal of Moon Pies
  4. ↑ "Mobile's Moon Pie rising". Press-Register. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  5. ↑ "Giant MoonPie taking shape for New Year's celebration". Press-Register. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  6. ↑ "Carnival/Mobile Mardi Gras Timeline" (list of events by year), Museum of Mobile, 2001, webpage:MoM: states: 1917 - The Chattanooga Bakery company introduces the popular marshmallow cookie "moon pie"; and, 1956 - The first "MoonPies" are thrown from a Mobile Mardi Gras float.
  7. ↑ "Mobile's Moonpies made their debut in 1974!". MardiGrasDigest.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  8. ↑ Walton, Sam; John Huey (1992). Made in America. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-46860-2.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Chocolate MoonPie nutrition information" (label), DietFacts.com, 2004-09-07 (letter from bakery), webpage: DF-MoonPie (nutrition facts of full-size chocolate MoonPie).
  10. 1 2 3 "Chocolate Mini MoonPie nutrition information" (label), DietFacts.com, 2004-09-07 (letter from bakery), webpage: DF-choc-Mini-MoonPie (nutrition facts of chocolate Mini MoonPie).
  11. 1 2 Labels in 2007 on a chocolate Mini MoonPie have listed 130 calories (30 from fat), with 2.5g saturated fat (Trans fat 0g), but the same weight, 34g (1.2 oz).
  12. ↑ "The Big Bang Theory - The Terminator Decoupling Quotes". the-big-bang-theory.com. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
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