MOON PIES

EATING ONE OF THESE…JUST MIGHT SEND YOU OVER THE MOON!
THEY START WITH A GRAHAM COOKIE BASE AND A CARAMEL CHOCOLATE GANACHE!
THEN THEY ARE TOPPED WITH A MARSHMALLOW LAYER AND DARK CHOCOLATE IS POURED ON TOP!

RECIPE:

Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain graham flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
Cream butter and sugar together, about 3 minutes until fluffy.
Add both flours, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated.
Roll dough out to ¼ inch thickness on a lightly floured flat surface.
Using a 3 ½ inch diameter cookie cutter, cut out six cookies(I used just a small biscuit cutters since I wanted mine smaller and got 14 cookies).
Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the cookies completely on racks before covering with ganache.

Chocolate-Caramel Ganache

10 ounces semiweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
10 caramel candies, unwrapped

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream and caramels over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramels have melted completely. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and stir until melted.

Chocolate Marshmallow Filling-This is different than the original recipe’s filling

1 stick butter
1 cup fluff
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat all together until creamy!

Chocolate Coating

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Microwave the chocolate in a bowl for 1 minutes on medium-high. Stir, and if the has not completely melted, keep microwaving for 30 second intervals. Stir until smooth.

To Assemble the Pies:

Place the cookies on a baking sheet covered with waxed paper, leaving about 2 inches between the cookies. Spread a ¼ inch-thick layer of ganache on top of each cookie and refrigerate about 10 minutes, until set. Spread a layer of marshmallow filling(about 2 TBSP) over the ganache, it will flow over the edges of the cookie. Spoon about 2 to 3 TBSP of the melted chocolate to cover each cookie completely. Refrigerate the cookie about 10 minutes, until the chocolate layer has hardened. Store in an airtight container with waxed paper between each layer.

Adapted from The Pastry Queen