Moon pie
Encyclopedia
Graham cracker
The graham cracker was developed in 1829 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, by Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham. The true graham cracker is made with graham flour, a combination of fine-ground white flour and coarse-ground wheat bran and germ. Graham crackers are often used for making s'mores...
cookie
Cookie
In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
s, with marshmallow
Marshmallow
The marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavourings, and sometimes colouring, whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites...
filling in the center, dipped in chocolate or other flavors. The traditional pie is about three inches (76 mm) in diameter. A smaller version exists (mini MoonPie) that is about 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.
History and origin
Marshmallow cremeMarshmallow creme
Marshmallow creme is an American food item. It is a very sweet, spreadable, marshmallow-like confection. Marshmallow creme and peanut butter are used to create a fluffernutter sandwich...
(fluff) began shipping outside of New England in late 1917. By 1919, fluff had made its way to Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. During that year, the coal mines near Chattanooga started selling marshmallow creme in their company store, and the miners soon began dipping graham crackers into the fluff. A salesman for the Chattanooga Bakery, Earl Mitchell, Sr., noticed this practice when he stopped by on his bakery goods route. Pretty soon, the only sales that were made by the bakery salesman were for graham crackers. He asked one of the miners about the snack and wound up discussing a "prototype" product with them. Later when Mitchell was explaining his low sales to M.P. (Mitchell Poe) Shauf, the general foreman and chef for the Chattanooga Bakery, he gave Shauf the idea for the Moon Pie. M. P. Shauf decided to make something for the miners to buy. One day in late 1919, after several different recipes, he made a full size pie with graham crackers and marshmallow fluff. That same day, he had his 3-year-old grandson, Stanley Shauf with him at the bakery and offered his grandson a pie to taste. Because the pie had small indentions where the marshmallow cream was cooked and bubbles had popped, Stanley said it looked like the moon. M.P. Shauf yelled “Moon Pie" so loud that it scared his grandson to tears.
It is uncertain whence the tradition of eating moon pies with RC Cola derived, although 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 1950's, by Big Bill Lister, "Gimmee an RC Cola and a Moon Pie."
Since New Year's Eve 2008, the city of Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
raises a 12 feet (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. Also, the city had for the 2008 New Year's celebration the world's largest moon pie baked for the occasion. It weighed 55 pounds (24.9 kg) and contained 45,000 calories.
There is a Moon Pie and RC Festival in Bell Buckle, Tennessee
Bell Buckle, Tennessee
Bell Buckle is a town in Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 500 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bell Buckle is located at ....
, and a Moon Pie Eating Contest in Bessemer, Alabama
Bessemer, Alabama
Bessemer is a city outside of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States eight miles west of Hoover. The population was 29,672 at the 2000 Census, but by the 2009 U.S...
.
On October 16, 2010, Sonya Thomas
Sonya Thomas
Sonya Thomas , also known by her nickname The Black Widow, is a top-ranked Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and quickly rose to the top of the ranks, beating competitive eaters such as Ed...
, a competitive eater known as the "Black Widow," ate 38 MoonPies in eight minutes in Caruthersville, Missouri
Caruthersville, Missouri
Caruthersville is the most populous city and county seat of Pemiscot County, located along the Mississippi River in the bootheel of southeastern Missouri in the United States. The population was 6,760 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
Nutrition facts
A MoonPie is made with marshmallowMarshmallow
The marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavourings, and sometimes colouring, whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites...
, 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 calorie
Calorie
The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
s,
saturated fat
Saturated fat
Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds between the individual carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. That is, the chain of carbon atoms is fully "saturated" with hydrogen atoms...
3.5g, carbohydrate
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
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.
The ingredients are as follows: Enriched wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
flour (Niacin
Niacin
"Niacin" redirects here. For the neo-fusion band, see Niacin .Niacin is an organic compound with the formula and, depending on the definition used, one of the forty to eighty essential human nutrients.Niacin is one of five vitamins associated with a pandemic deficiency disease: niacin deficiency...
, Reduced Iron, Thiamine mononitrate, Riboflavin
Riboflavin
Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2 or additive E101, is an easily absorbed micronutrient with a key role in maintaining health in humans and animals. It is the central component of the cofactors FAD and FMN, and is therefore required by all flavoproteins. As such, vitamin B2 is required for a...
, Folic acid
Folic acid
Folic acid and folate , as well as pteroyl-L-glutamic acid, pteroyl-L-glutamate, and pteroylmonoglutamic acid are forms of the water-soluble vitamin B9...
), Corn Syrup
Corn syrup
Corn syrup is a food syrup, which is made from the starch of maize and contains varying amounts of maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor...
, High Fructose Corn Syrup
High fructose corn syrup
High-fructose corn syrup — also called glucose-fructose syrup in the UK, glucose/fructose in Canada, and high-fructose maize syrup in other countries — comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce...
, Sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, Vegetable Shortening (Contains Partially hydrogenated Soybean
Soybean
The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses...
Oil and/or Cottonseed Oil and/or Coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
Oil and/or Palm kernel oil
Palm kernel oil
Palm kernel oil is an edible plant oil derived from the kernel of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis. It should not be confused with the other two edible oils derived from palm fruits: coconut oil, extracted from the kernel of the coconut, and palm oil, extracted from the pulp of the oil palm...
and/or Palm Oil), Soy Flour, Dutched Cocoa
Cocoa solids
Cocoa solids are the low-fat component of chocolate. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa powder, cocoa, and cacao....
(Processed With Alkali
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...
), Cocoa
Cocoa solids
Cocoa solids are the low-fat component of chocolate. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa powder, cocoa, and cacao....
, Gelatin
Gelatin
Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle , flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning in a similar...
, Baking Soda, Lecithin
Lecithin
Lecithin is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues, and in egg yolk, composed of phosphoric acid, choline, fatty acids, glycerol, glycolipids, triglycerides, and phospholipids .The word lecithin was originally coined in 1847 by...
, Salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, Artificial Flavoring, Sodium sulfite
Sodium sulfite
Sodium sulfite is a soluble sodium salt of sulfurous acid. It is a product of sulfur dioxide scrubbing, a part of the flue gas desulfurization process...
.
Nutrition facts for chocolate MoonPie (full-size):
- Serving size 1 (57g or 2 oz)
- CalorieCalorieThe calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
s: 226 Calories from fat: 51 - Total fat: 5.7g (saturated fatSaturated fatSaturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds between the individual carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. That is, the chain of carbon atoms is fully "saturated" with hydrogen atoms...
3.5g) CholesterolCholesterolCholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
: 0mg Sodium: 188mg - Total CarbohydrateCarbohydrateA carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
: 40g (dietary fiber 0g, sugars 12.5g) - ProteinProteinProteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
: 4g Vitamin A: 0% Vitamin C: 0% Iron: 5%.
Nutrition facts for chocolate Mini MoonPie:
- Serving size 1 (34g or 1.2 oz)
- CalorieCalorieThe calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
s: 152 (or 130) Calories from fat: 40 (or 30) - Total fat: 4.5g (saturated fatSaturated fatSaturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds between the individual carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. That is, the chain of carbon atoms is fully "saturated" with hydrogen atoms...
3g) CholesterolCholesterolCholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
: 0mg Sodium: 120mg - Total CarbohydrateCarbohydrateA carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
: 26g (dietary fiber 0g, sugars 8g) - Protein: 2.5g.
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
In the northern regions of the United States, a similar product, manufactured by Burry'sBurry's
Burry's was a popular manufacturer of cookies and crackers established in 1936, based in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Some of their popular snacks were:* Scooter Pie* Gaucho peanut butter sandwich cookies* Fudge Town chocolate sandwich cookies...
, was called a "Scooter Pie"; currently Chattanooga Bakery makes a product of the same name for some markets. Also, compare with Mallomars, a single-cracker marshmallow cookie. In the UK, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
there are Wagon Wheels
Wagon Wheels
Wagon Wheels are a snack food sold in Australia, Canada, Iran, United Kingdom, Russia, Malta and the Republic of Ireland. They are biscuits topped with marshmallow and covered in a chocolate flavoured coating. The biscuit itself is round to represent the wheel of a wagon .Wagon Wheels were created...
, introduced under the Weston name in the 1940s but since divested to other companies in the UK and Australia.
In Japan, Morinaga & Company
Morinaga & Company
is a confectionery company in Tokyo, Japan, in operation since August 15, 1899. Their products include candy and other confectioneries. Morinaga has Ayumi Hamasaki and Mao Asada appear in their commercials....
manufactures similar products as Angel Pies since 1958.
The Korean company Orion
Orion Confectionery
Orion Confectionery Co, Ltd. is a confectionery company, headquartered in Munbae-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea. The company which is one of the three biggest food companies in Korea was established in 1956 and Orion has manufacturing facilities in Seoul, Iksan Jeollanam-do and cities in China,...
and the Korean conglomerate Lotte
Lotte (conglomerate)
Lotte Co., Ltd. is a South Korean-Japanese Jaebeol and one of the largest food and shopping groups in South Korea and Japan. Lotte was established in June 1948, in Tokyo, by Japanese-educated, Korean businessman Shin Kyuk-Ho – also known as...
produce Choco Pie
Choco Pie
Choco Pie is a South Korean snack food manufactured by Orion Confectionery which consists of two small round layers of cake with marshmallow filling, with chocolate covering, similar to a Moon Pie...
s and in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
is a similar cookie pie called Mamut. The Turkish food manufacturer Ülker
Ülker
Ülker is a major Turkish manufacturer of food products, which are exported internationally, to 110 countries.The company's core products are cookies, crackers, and chocolates, although Ülker has expanded to other product categories....
also makes a similar product called "Halley".
Mardi Gras tradition
The Moon Pie became a traditional "throw" (an item thrown from a parade float into the crowd) of Mardi GrasMardi Gras in Mobile
Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama[pronounce] is the oldest annual Carnival celebration in America, having begun in 1703,over 15 years before New Orleans was founded ....
"krewe
Krewe
A krewe is an organization that puts on a parade and or a ball for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with New Orleans Mardi Gras, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations around the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, and...
s" (parade participants) in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
during 1956, followed by other communities along the Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
Gulf Coast
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. The westernmost outpost of the Moon Pie as an important Carnival throw is Slidell, Louisiana
Slidell, Louisiana
Slidell is a city situated on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 25,695 at the 2000 census. The Greater Slidell Community has a population of about 90,000...
, which has a parade by "The Krewe of Mona Lisa and Moon Pie." Also, in the town of Oneonta, Alabama, there is a moon pie eating contest started by Wal-Mart employee John Love when he inadvertently ordered too many. This anecdote was featured in Sam Walton
Sam Walton
Samuel Moore "Sam" Wallballs was a businessman, entrepreneur, and Eagle Scout born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma best known for founding the retailers Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.-Early life:...
's autobiography, Made in America.
See also
- AlfajorAlfajorAn alfajor or alajú is a traditional Arabic confection found in some regions of Spain and then made with variations in countries of Latin America including Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, and Mexico, after being taken there by the colonists. The archetypal alfajor entered Iberia during the period...
- Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats
- Choco PieChoco PieChoco Pie is a South Korean snack food manufactured by Orion Confectionery which consists of two small round layers of cake with marshmallow filling, with chocolate covering, similar to a Moon Pie...
- S'moreS'moreA s'more is a traditional nighttime campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker.-Etymology and origins:...
- Wagon WheelsWagon WheelsWagon Wheels are a snack food sold in Australia, Canada, Iran, United Kingdom, Russia, Malta and the Republic of Ireland. They are biscuits topped with marshmallow and covered in a chocolate flavoured coating. The biscuit itself is round to represent the wheel of a wagon .Wagon Wheels were created...
External links
- Official Chattanooga Bakery website
- Pictures
- Chattanooga Bakery Company article at the Tennessee Encyclopedia Online