Vegan Moon Pies
Posted: March 29th, 2011 | Jessie | | Tags: vegan, whoopie pie | 3 Comments »
The second dessert I made for the baby shower was vegan moon pies. If you’ve never had a MoonPie they’re soft graham cracker like cookies, filled with marshmallow, and covered in chocolate. To make these vegan I had to take some liberties with the filling and used a fluffy frosting instead of marshmallow. It’s difficult to come by vegan marshmallows and homemade recipes called for agar powder which I didn’t have. These were delicious- very rich and very sweet.
These pies aren’t difficult to make, but they do require three separate components: graham crackers, frosting, and a chocolate glaze. You could definitely make the graham crackers and frosting in advance, but you’ll want to make the glaze when you’re ready to assembly since it hardens as it cools.
Here are the graham crackers fresh out of the oven. The cookies are barely sweet which makes them a perfect complement to the ultra-sweet frosting and glaze.
Vegan Moon Pies
Yield: 20 moonpies
Vegan Graham Crackers
This will yield 40 round cookies or 24 traditional graham crackers
From Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone’s Favorite Treats
3 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
Scant 1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup nondairy milk
1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line light colored baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in oil, molasses, and vanilla. Give the liquid ingredients a quick whisk and then continue mixing until everything is well combined and crumbly (it will have a sandy texture).
3. Drizzle the nondairy milk and combine. Use your hands to knead the dough a few times until it holds together; add an extra tablespoon of nondairy milk if necessary. You should be able to form a pliable ball of dough.
4. Divide dough into two equally sized balls. Wrap one ball in plastic wrap and place in the fridge while you roll out the first batch of dough.
5. Line work surface with parchment paper. Place the dough on parchment paper and top with a second piece of parchment. Roll the dough until it’s 1/4″ thick. Using a 2″ round cookie cutter cut circles out of the dough. Gently lift the cookies off the parchment and place on cookie sheet. The cookies do not spread so you can place them close together.
Rolling the dough between two sheets of parchment prevents it from sticking to your counter and rolling pin.
If you are making traditional graham crackers you’ll roll the dough into a 10 x 14 inch rectangle – 1/8″ thick. Cut off the edges so you have a relatively even 12 x 8 inch rectangle. Cut the dough into 8 rectangles.
6. Gather up the scraps and re-roll the dough.
7. Bake the crackers for 12 minutes. Let the crackers cool for 5 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
If you’re making traditional graham crackers let cool completely on the baking sheet.
Fluffy Frosting
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 cup margarine – at room temperature
3 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup plain soy milk
Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes. Don’t skimp on the mixing time for the frosting. Beating it so long makes it incredibly light and fluffy.
Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup water
5 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate – melted (If you are coating all the cookies in chocolate you’ll want to use 4 ounces)
2-4 tsp. water
Extracts of your choice – I used 1/4 tsp. lemon oil and 1/2 tsp. pistachio oil
Food coloring – optional
Bring the corn syrup and water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until smooth. Divide the icing into three separate bowls. Add 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate to one, lemon oil to another, and pistachio oil to the third. If you’d like add food coloring to the flavored glazes – I used yellow for lemon and green for pistachio.
To assemble:
1. Place wire rack with grahams over a baking sheet or piece of parchment.
2. Dip graham crackers in soy milk. Don’t completely submerge – just dip one side.
3. Put a heaping scoop of frosting on half of the cookies. Place a second cookie on top and press gently.
4. Pour glaze over the top of cookies and let it drip down the sides.
i only know this because of the band… but you can often find vegan marshmallows at whole foods. i think i got some at city bakery too.
Thanks, Crystal! That’s good to know for future recipes. I actually found some Sweet & Sara vegan marshmallows at a health food store in Astoria, but they came in very small packages and would have been prohibitively expensive in the quantity I needed. I bought a pack to try because I was curious and they tasted great. Definitely a great snack, but too pricey for baking.
That is true. The vegan ones come in far smaller quantities for whatever reason. I was going to use some to make vegan rice krispie treats but just did peanut butter ones instead to save money.