Deep-Fried Nutter Butters & Peanut Butter Moon Pies

March 9, 2011

From the moment we bought our tickets to Texas, our cousin Alex forewarned us that we’d be eating some gator. He took us to Port Arthur’s version of Mardi Gras where we found food stands with signs like this:

Gazing upon it, I thought, “I don’t think we’re in Jersey anymore.” Our street fairs in the NY/NJ area must seem really boring to southerners, because we don’t have quite the same variety of food offerings. Though this sign was a little daunting to me (squirrel?) I’m generally okay with trying new foods so long as a delicious dessert is within arms reach to wash it down.

Alex led us to this stand, where we purchased a fresh, hot slab of deep-fried gator on a stick. We look a pretty solid mix of happy and terrified, no?

As luck would have it, it was actually very tender, moist, nicely spiced with a little kick and fried to greasy delicious perfection. Pretty darn good.

Being the cautious dessert-focused girl that I am, on the way to the gator stand I kept my eyes peeled for dessert. I spotted this gem and knew where I’d be going.

I wanted dessert, but they get extra points for boasting a “donut burger” (somewhere Paula Deen is cackling with glee). The only problem was, how the heck does one choose between such deliciousness as deep-fried Oreo, Twinkie and cheesecake?? To settle the vote, I did what any chocolate peanut butter fan would do and ordered the deep-fried Nutter Butters (in the bag) and a deep-fried Peanut Butter Moon Pie.

It was unseasonably chilly on this particular night and these types of fried offerings are at their peak when they’re piping hot, so we ate fast. I remember them being crispy on the outside, and gooey and peanut buttery on the inside. Their mere existence made me pretty freaking happy. Gone are the days of me stalking zeppoli stands; my food-fest preferences are forever altered.

If I had to pick, I’d probably vote the Moon Pie over the Nutter Butter only because it had both chocolate and peanut butter, but both were super tasty, with ooey gooey fillings.

If you don’t have a southern street fair happening in your hood, I would think these treats would be pretty easy to recreate. Just don’t use a cornballer to fry them.