Last summer I was reintroduced to MoonPies, a Southern favorite I hadn’t had since I was a child. MoonPies were invented in Chattanooga TN in1917. The story goes that a miner asked for a filling snack as big as the moon that would fit in his lunchbox, and the rest is history. We bought a box of them. Our grandsons were not impressed, and I have to admit, I thought the sweets had more chocolate taste years ago. The snack is a sandwich – two graham cookies with a marshmallow filling, coated with chocolate. The boys said Mallomars were much better.
We looked for Mallomars and discovered they are not produced during warm-weather months. Hot weather would melt the treats. At long last, I remembered to look and found Mallomars at our local supermarket. We also found a knock-off at Aldi, the German grocery chain. Now the contest was on. Would either of the sweets beat MoonPies? The answer was, yes, hands down! As soon as Nathaniel tasted the Aldi brand, he said MoonPies were out of the running. Tennessee, you lost.
The next contest was between Mallomars and Aldi’s brand. According to the Mallomars box, they were invented by Nabisco in 1913 and sold in West Hoboken, NJ. They are still a Northern treat – 70% of all sales are made in the New York metropolitan area. I was glad our local market made the 30% cut. With no dramatic drum roll, we put one of each on our plates. Nathaniel and John made quick decisions in favor of Mallomars. They liked the darker chocolate coating. I held out for the Aldi’s brand for two reasons. The base cookie was chocolate, and it cost about half the amount of Mallomars. I knew I was a miser, but I had no idea miserliness could direct the taste buds. It will be interesting to see where David will cast his vote in a couple of weeks.
Mehrling Muse 
I’ll have to keep an eye open at my Aldi and then there’s another German Supermarket Lidl who may have an equivalent.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
LikeLike
Yes! Please do look at your Aldi for those chocolate treats. I suspect they are much too American to make it across the ocean. In fact, I’m surprised they are here in the South.
xxx Marshmallow Hugs xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow – I haven’t thought of them in years – kind of like a portable S’Mores treat.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well since I fancy myself a chocolate connoisseur, I have to weigh in. Literally. Up here in Canada, well in my province of Quebec at least, we have similar biscuit/cakes called Whippets. They look like this: https://www.google.ca/search?q=viau+whippets&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYsuGhzLjZAhUPQq0KHRyeAAEQ_AUICigB&biw=1284&bih=944
Yummm!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Whippets! Yes! I’d love to try them. There was one box of Mallomars pictured in the collection from your link.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh haha I didn’t notice. I am SO unobservant!!
LikeLike
There could be more than one image of Mallomars, but I noticed only one. I’m not known for noticing details, either.
LikeLike
Haha I love that you had a cookie contest! I think my taste buds could be directed by my pocket book:)
LikeLike
I’m thrilled to find a kindred spirit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are Mallomars like Pinwheel cookies? My grandpa loved Pinwheel cookies, but I didn’t like them. I’ve never had a Mallomar, but I do like a MoonPie every once in a while. Especially those banana-flavored ones. No nutritional value at all. *yum*
LikeLike
Ah! Pinwheel cookies! That’s the name I should have been looking for! We may have to start the experiment over. I haven’t looked for the original Pinwheel in the supermarket. We should compare those to the Aldi ones, shouldn’t we? I lumped them all together because they have similar components.
LikeLike
I used to eat moon pies when I was a kid -surely I could make a Keto/Paleo version, lol.
LikeLike
If you made your own version, I’ll bet it would be lots better than the original.
LikeLike
Oh man!!! I have not had one of those in years! I think I need to take a trip to the grocery store and look for some.
LikeLike
I’m going to look for pinwheels, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person