A Moon Pie[1] is an American snack, popular across much of the United States, which consists of two round Graham crackers, 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.[2] Today, MoonPies are made by Chattanooga Bakery, Inc., in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The traditional pie is approximately 4 inches (10cm) in diameter. A smaller version, called a Mini Moon Pie, is approximately half the weight, and a double-decker moon pie of the traditional diameter features a third cookie and an additional layer of marshmallow. The five primary flavors are chocolate, vanilla, banana, strawberry, and salted caramel. Coconut appears seasonal during the Mardi Gras parading season. Lemon, Blueberry, and Pumpkin Spice also appear seasonally throughout the year.
History
Moon Pie packaging
According to Chattanooga Bakery, they came up with the idea for moon pies when a traveling salesman for the company asked a Kentucky coal miner what kind of snack he would like to eat, and the miner requested something with graham crackers and marshmallows. Popular folklore, repeated and encouraged by the Chattanooga Bakery itself, states the miner then asked that the snack be "as big as the moon",[1] which inspired the name "moon pie".
The company celebrated its centennial with a "My Favorite MoonPie Memory" contest. The grand prize was a 100-year supply of moon pies. A military veteran, Christopher Priest from Rockford, Michigan, won the contest. The company also took a wrapped Winnebago across the country in the fall, thanking its top customers and attending various sporting events and festivals.
In September 2017, as part of its centennial, MoonPie returned to its original recipe, replacing high-fructose corn syrup with sugar and removing preservatives and artificial colors and flavors. [citation needed]
In 2020, the company released pumpkin spice double-decker MoonPie as well as mini MoonPies.[citation needed]
The brand is known for its eccentric Twitter presence.[3][4]
There is a custom of eating moon pies with RC Cola, although the origin of this is unknown.[2] 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 titled "Gimme an RC Cola and a Moon Pie."[1] In 1973, NRBQ had a minor hit with the song "An RC Cola and a Moon Pie."[citation needed]
In the 1999 film The Green Mile, a character named Toot is drinking a glass bottle of RC Cola, and when he is about to eat his Moon Pie, a death row inmate named Wild Bill offers him a nickel for his Moon Pie.
In Mobile, Alabama
The moon pie 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,[7][8] followed by other communities along the Northwest Florida and MississippiGulf 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.[9]
Since New Year's Eve 2008, the city of Mobile, Alabama has been lowering a 12-foot-tall (3.7m) lighted mechanical Moon Pie to celebrate the coming of the new year. The giant Moon Pie descends the 34-story RSA BankTrust building at the stroke of midnight.[10] Every New Year's Eve, the world's largest Moon Pie is cut and served to the public as part of the festivities. It weighs 55 pounds (25kg) and contains 45,000 calories (190kJ).[11]
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 exists called a "Scooter Pie" and also a single-cracker marshmallow cookie called "Mallomars." Little Debbie also makes what they call "Marshmallow Pies," which are nearly identical to the moon pies. In the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, a similar product is called "Wagon Wheels."
In South Korea, the very similar "Choco Pie" is produced by several companies, including the Lotte Confectionery. In Japan, there is the smaller-sized "Angel Pies" by Morinaga, as well as a brand of "Choco pie" that is similar, as are "Mamut" (Spanish for "Mammoth", sold by Gamesa), and "Rocko" (marketed by Marinela, which incorporates strawberry jelly in the snack) in Mexico, and there are several other minor brands as well.
The "Halley" and "Bimbo" pies sold in Turkey and Egypt, respectively, are similar. In Argentina, a similar treat is "Alfajor," and more than 20 brands marketed as "alfajores" are very popular. Nestlé manufactures similar sweets called "Holiday," which are available in the Balkan countries.
Frosted Flakes or Frosties is a breakfast cereal, produced by WK Kellogg Co for the United States, Canada, and Caribbean markets and by Kellanova for the rest of the world, and consisting of sugar-coated corn flakes. It was introduced in the United States, in 1952, as "Sugar Frosted Flakes". The word "sugar" was dropped from the name in 1983.
Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States and Canada, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand; in Australia and New Zealand, Cheerios is sold as an Uncle Tobys product. It was first manufactured in 1941 as CheeriOats.
Milky Way is a brand of chocolate-covered confectionery bar manufactured and marketed by Mars, Incorporated. There are two varieties: the US Milky Way bar, which is sold as the Mars bar worldwide, including Canada; and the global Milky Way bar, which is sold as the 3 Musketeers in the US and Canada.
Snack Pack is a brand of pudding and gelatin snacks manufactured since 1968 by ConAgra Foods.
Arnott's Group is an Australian producer of biscuits and snack food. Founded in 1865 by William Arnott, they are the largest producer of biscuits in Australia and a subsidiary of KKR.
Paddle Pop is a brand of ice confection products originally created by Streets, which is now owned by the English-Dutch company Unilever. It is sold in Australia, New Zealand, and a few other countries. It is held for eating by a wooden stick which protrudes at the base. The brand has a mascot known as the Paddle Pop Lion, or Max, who appears on the product wrapper.
Flipz is a type of confectionery created by Nestlé in 1997, consisting of salted pretzels covered in chocolate and other coatings.
A choco pie is a snack cake consisting of two small round layers of cake with marshmallow filling and a chocolate covering. The term originated in America but is now also used widely in South Korea, Japan, and its exports, and many other countries as either a brand name or a generic term. Names for similar confections in other places include chocolate marshmallow pie, Wagon Wheels, the Japanese angel pie, and moon pie.
A banana split is an American ice cream-based dessert consisting of a peeled banana cut in half lengthwise, and served with ice-cream and sauce between the two pieces. There are many variations, but the classic banana split is made with three scoops of ice cream. A sauce or sauces are drizzled onto the ice cream, which is topped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries. Crushed nuts are optional.
Hostess CupCake is an American brand of snack cake produced and distributed by Hostess Brands and currently owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos & Company. Its most common form is a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing and vanilla creme filling, with seven distinctive white squiggles across the top. However, other flavors have been available at times. It has been claimed to be the first commercially produced cupcake and has become an iconic American brand.
Crank and Boom Ice Cream is an ice cream lounge that was founded in Lexington, Kentucky. The shop has two locations in Kentucky and 40+ retail partners. Crank and Boom provides multiple flavors of ice cream from all natural ingredients. The small business works in the community to reduce their environmental impact while interacting with local charities.
Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to American innovation.
↑ "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.
↑ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154.
↑ "Chocolate Moon pie nutrition information" (label), DietFacts.com, September 7, 2004 (letter from bakery), webpage: DF-MoonPieArchived September 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (nutrition facts of full-size chocolate MoonPie).
Further reading
Blejwas, Emily (2019). "MoonPies: Mardi Gras in Mobile". The Story of Alabama in Fourteen Foods. University of Alabama Press. ISBN9780817320195.
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