Pie in the Sky

Though I don't ever remember actually consuming a Moon Pie, for some obscure reason this months Daring Bakers Challenge reminded me of the Official Cybersnack of the 21st century.

The July Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies, and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

We had the option of choosing one or the other, or both. I opted to save the Milano cookies for a later date... watch for it!

Does Nicole sound familiar? That's because this darling daring bakestress was also the host of July's Sugar High Friday; this ambitious beauty deserves high praise!

Caramel Moon Pie

Cookie:

3 cups flour
½ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
⅜ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Blend together until sifted

With mixer on low speed, add 16 tablespoons butter (the recipe calls for 12, but I made a wonderful mistake) and mix until combined

Whisk 3 eggs, and add to mixture
Mix to incorporate
Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to ¼ inch
Cut with desired cutter and bake for 7-10 minutes at 375F° on greased cookie sheet, until edges begin to brown
Cool on wire rack
*If desired trim cookies with cookie cutter after baked and cooled

Marshmallow:
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
Sprinkle gelatin over water and set aside

¼ cup water
¼ cup light Karo syrup
¾ cup sugar
In a small saucepan, bring to a boil and cook to soft-ball stage (235°)
Remove from heat

Add gelatin mixture, to syrup and let dissolve

Beat 2 egg whites until soft, add syrup and ¼ teaspoon vanilla and continue to beat until firm
Pour into high edge pan lined with foil, and greased with butter to set|
*For the amount of cookie in the above recipe, I recommend doubling the marshmallow recipe

Caramel:
Oh? Did you think I was going to give you my grandmother's recipe for caramel? No, that's as precious as my sweet bread recipe, and I keep it tucked away in the vault. So... prepare your own recipe for chewy caramel as desired, and let cool. Food and Paper has a great recipe posted at their site.

Finalè:
Place one moon shaped cookie face up
Use cookie cutter to cut out same shape in caramel and place on top of cookie, lining up with bottom shape
Use cookie cutter to cut out same shape in marshmallow and place on top of caramel, lining up with bottom two layers
Top with another cookie
Drape melted chocolate over tops and sides of cookie, smoothing as needed
*Use a wire rack with wax paper to catch chocolate
Let set

The faint cinnamon flavor lends extremely well to the combination of caramel and marshmallow and together make a wonderful treat! In the words of my sister, "Oh yeah, that's good."