{{short description|American snack cakes}} {{pp|small=yes}} {{for|the Chinese and Vietnamese pastry|Mooncake}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2018}} {{Use American English|date=June 2018}} {{Infobox food | name = Moon Pie | image = Moon-Pie-Single.jpg | image_size = | caption = | alternate_name = MoonPie | year = {{start date and age|1917|4|29}} | place_of_origin = United States of America | region = Tennessee | creator = | course =Dessert | type = Cookie | served = | main_ingredient = Graham cracker cookies, marshmallow, flavored coating | variations = | calories = | other = }} A ''' Moon Pie'''<ref name="moonpie"/> 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.<ref name=npr>{{cite web |url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1444997 |title = The Heavenly Appeal of MoonPies |website = npr.org |access-date = June 15, 2018 }}</ref> Today, MoonPies are made by Chattanooga Bakery, Inc., a privately held, family-owned bakery in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The traditional pie is approximately {{convert|4|in|cm}} 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 a second layer of marshmallow. The five primary flavors are chocolate, vanilla, banana, strawberry, and salted caramel. Coconut appears seasonally during the Mardi Gras parading season. Lemon, Blueberry, and Pumpkin Spice also appear seasonally throughout the year.
== History == 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",<ref name="moonpie">{{cite web |url = http://www.moonpie.com/about |title = About Us – MoonPie |website = MoonPie |access-date = June 15, 2018 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Facebook |first1=Share on |last2=Vine |first2=Share on |last3=Twitter |first3=Share on |title=MoonPie is now made with Real Sugar (NO High Fructose Corn Syrup) and No Preservatives |url=https://www.moonpie.com/news/post/original-recipe-moonpie-...-a-tasty-step-back-in-time.html |access-date=2025-09-15 |website=MoonPie |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2020, the company released pumpkin spice double-decker MoonPie as well as mini MoonPies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 February 2025 |title=Chattanooga Bakery Inc, History |url=https://www.moonpie.com/templates/moonpie_site/assets/pdfs/2025-Updated-PMO-2-10-25.pdf |access-date=14 September 2025}}</ref>
The brand is known for its eccentric Twitter presence.<ref name="sacks">{{Cite web |last=Sacks |first=Brianna |title=This Is Who's Behind MoonPie's Hysterically Weird Twitter Account |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/the-darkside-of-the-moonpie |access-date=December 27, 2018 |work=BuzzFeed News}}</ref><ref name="alund">{{Cite news |last=Alund |first=Natalie Neysa |date=December 19, 2017 |title=MoonPie roasts Twitter critics, defending century-old marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate snack |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2017/12/19/moon-pie-twitter-war/964761001/ |access-date=September 14, 2022}}</ref>
In 2024, Mast General Store began selling Over the Moon candy bars.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://journalnow.com/life-entertainment/local/food-drink/moonpie-candy-bar-mast-general-store-chattanooga-bakery/article_38f75732-fdbc-11ee-99d3-fb889ad4f6e1.html|title=A MoonPie candy bar? Mast General Store is working on one with Chattanooga Bakery|last=Hastings|first=Michael|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=April 22, 2024}}</ref>
== Festivals and customs == === Association with RC Cola === There is a custom of eating Moon Pies with RC Cola, although the origin of this is unknown.<ref name="npr" /> 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."<ref name="moonpie" /> In 1973, NRBQ had a minor hit with the song "An RC Cola and a Moon Pie."{{cn|date=March 2022}}
An annual RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival are celebrated in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, and a Moon Pie eating contest is held in Bessemer, Alabama.
In the 1994 song "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous" by country artist Tracy Byrd, a line says "Our champagne and caviar is an RC Cola and a Moon Pie."{{cn|date=March 2022}}
Lyrics in the 1976 song "Junk Food Junkie" by Larry Groce include: "And I pull out some Fritos corn chips / Dr. Pepper and an Ole Moon Pie / Then I sit back in glorious expectation / Of a natural junk food high."<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://genius.com/Larry-groce-junk-food-junkie-lyrics | title= Larry Groce — Junk Food Junkie | website= Genius.com}}</ref>
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,<ref name="MoMtime">"Carnival/Mobile Mardi Gras Timeline" (list of events by year), Museum of Mobile, 2001, webpage:{{usurped|1=[http://www.<!-- -->museumofmobile.com/html/mardi_gras_timeline.php 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.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.mardigrasdigest.com/html/history_of/history_of_the_moon_pies.htm |title = Mobile's Moonpies made their debut in 1974! |website = MardiGrasDigest.com |access-date = September 1, 2008 |url-status = usurped |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081003114459/http://www.mardigrasdigest.com/html/history_of/history_of_the_moon_pies.htm |archive-date = October 3, 2008 }}</ref> followed by other communities along the Northwest Florida and 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''.<ref>{{cite book |last = Walton |first = Sam |author2 = John Huey |title = Made in America |url = https://archive.org/details/samwaltonmadeina00walt |url-access = registration |publisher = Doubleday |year = 1992 |isbn = 978-0-385-46860-2 }}</ref>
Since New Year's Eve 2008, the city of Mobile, Alabama has been lowering a {{convert|12|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} 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.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://blog.al.com/entertainment-press-register/2008/12/mobiles_moon_pie_rising.html |title = Mobile's Moon Pie rising |date = January 2009 |publisher = Press-Register |access-date = August 14, 2009}}</ref> 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 {{convert|55|lb}} and contains {{convert|45000|cal|kJ}}.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/122985459961200.xml&coll=3 |title = Giant MoonPie taking shape for New Year's celebration |publisher = Press-Register |access-date = August 14, 2009 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609074228/http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews%2F122985459961200.xml&coll=3 |archive-date = June 9, 2011}}</ref>
== Ingredients == {{Nutritional value | name = Moon Pie | serving_size = 100g | kcal = 385 | protein = 5.13g | fat = 8.97g | satfat = 6.41 g | carbs = 70.51g | fiber = 1.3g | sugars = 34.62 | iron_mg = 1.85 | sodium_mg = 295 | source_usda = 1 | note = {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20180923235351/https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/45342001 Full link to USDA National Nutrient Database]}} }} Enriched wheat flour (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), corn syrup, sugar, vegetable shortening (contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil, cottonseed oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil or palm oil), soy flour, dutched cocoa powder (processed with alkali), (natural) cocoa powder, gelatin, baking soda, lecithin, salt, artificial flavoring, sodium sulfite.<ref name=DFfact>"Chocolate Moon pie nutrition information" (label), DietFacts.com, September 7, 2004 (letter from bakery), webpage: [http://www.dietfacts.com/html/nutrition-facts/moon-pie-chocolate-moon-pie-2-ounce-25687.htm DF-MoonPie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903043211/http://dietfacts.com/html/nutrition-facts/moon-pie-chocolate-moon-pie-2-ounce-25687.htm |date=September 3, 2014 }} (nutrition facts of full-size chocolate MoonPie).</ref>
Other flavors (such as banana, vanilla, strawberry, or orange) might have different nutritional content.
=== Flavors === Single-decker * ''Salted Caramel'' * ''Banana'' * ''Vanilla'' * ''Chocolate'' * ''Strawberry'' * ''Butterscotch'' Double-decker * ''Salted Caramel'' * ''Banana'' * ''Chocolate'' * ''Lemon'' (discontinued) * ''Orange'' (discontinued) * ''Vanilla'' * ''Pumpkin Spice'' Minis * ''Salted Caramel'' * ''Strawberry'' * ''Banana'' * ''Vanilla'' * ''Chocolate'' * ''Coconut'' * ''Pumpkin Spice'' *''Lemon'' *''Once in a Blue Moon'' (Blueberry) (introduced June 2023)
Moon Pie Crunch * ''Peanut Butter'' * ''Mint''
== Similar products == {{More citations needed section|date=January 2024}} [[File:Wagon Wheel.JPG|thumb|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.
== See also == {{portal|Food}} * Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats * Fluffernutter, another kind of marshmallow creme-based sandwich * S'more * Whoopie pie
== References == {{reflist|2}}
== Further reading == * {{cite book|chapter=MoonPies: Mardi Gras in Mobile|title=The Story of Alabama in Fourteen Foods|author1-first=Emily|author1-last=Blejwas|publisher=University of Alabama Press|year=2019|isbn=9780817320195}}
== External links == {{commonscat|Moon pies}} * [https://moonpie.com/ Official website] * [http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/biscuits/previous.php3?item=64 Pictures] * [http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=227 Chattanooga Bakery Company] article at the Tennessee Encyclopedia Online * [http://nutrition-data.org/desserts/moon-pie-nutrition-calories/ Nutrition Facts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123232531/http://nutrition-data.org/desserts/moon-pie-nutrition-calories/ |date=January 23, 2015 }}
{{Snack cakes}} {{authority control}}
Category:Brand name cookies Category:Carnival foods Category:Sandwich cookies Category:Cuisine of Tennessee Category:Marshmallows Category:Products introduced in 1917 Category:Chocolate-covered foods Category:Stuffed desserts Category:American confectionery Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States