One Of Serena Williams’ Favorite Snacks Is An All-American Classic

Serena Williams smiling

When it comes to conveniently packaged sweet treats, sometimes it’s just hard to beat the classics. Maybe your go-to snack to satisfy your sweet tooth is a candy bar that’s been around far longer than you realize or Little Debbie’s oldest snack cake creation. As for legendary former professional tennis player Serena Williams, she has a lifelong love of MoonPies. In a 2013 interview with Bon Appétit, Williams professed her love for the sandwich cookie made with two round graham crackers filled with marshmallow and covered in chocolate.

“If ‘Moon Pie’ sponsored me, I’d be bigger than any house on this planet!” she said. “I love the originals: banana, chocolate, or vanilla. Now I really want a Moon Pie!”. Although MoonPies are wildly popular in the Southern U.S., the snack cookies are sold across the country at major retailers, including Walmart, Dollar General, Kroger, and H-E-B.

According to company lore, MoonPies originated in 1917 when a traveling salesman from Chattanooga Bakery was talking with a Kentucky coal miner who requested a snack “as big as the moon.” Though the Tennessee bakery was making all kinds of different goods, it began selling MoonPies at 5 cents each, and the delicious, filling snack cake quickly rose in popularity. When you can’t roast marshmallows over a campfire to make s’mores, the chocolate variety is a great alternative. Over the years, the company has also added banana and vanilla MoonPies to its roster.

MoonPies are widely beloved

A display of banana-flavored MoonPies

So many popular lunch box foods have been discontinued over the years, but the MoonPies brand is still going strong. Now, fans even have seasonal flavors to look forward to, including lemon, blueberry, and pumpkin spice, and the brand has experimented with different sizes, such as the mini MoonPie and double decker, which consists of two layers of marshmallow sandwiched in between three graham cracker cookies. In a 2010 post on X, Serena Williams revealed that her favorite variety is vanilla. “But I JUST saw a STRAWBERRY!!” she added. “I can’t believe!!! Moon pies rock.”

Other countries have jumped on the MoonPie wagon, offering their own version of the century-old treat. South Korea’s Choco Pie is made with soft, cake-like layers instead of graham crackers, and Wagon Wheels — sold in the U.K., Australia, and Canada — use soft “biscuits,” or cookies. They come in a raspberry variety, but there’s no word on whether Williams encountered it when her tennis career took her all around the globe.