Magical Treats at Home

Mickey Waffles Three Ways

June 17, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

These were inspired by the Disney Parks classic Mickey Mouse waffles.

Since Disneyland’s closure this past March, I’ve definitely been trying to keep the magic up here at home, especially when my three year old asks on the daily when they will open again. We’ve done a Mary Poppins themed tea party, and ate egg bites while watching a POV ride through of It’s a Small World (and my IG followers know what that’s referencing at this point), and I’ve made a few recipes that I’ve posted on here too. It’s been a real… treat to hear from readers and followers that they’ve tried out a recipe they saw here because they, too, were missing the parks something fierce.

So today over on IG I launched a giveaway to say THANK YOU to all those followers and I thought they best way to do that… was with food! The contest only runs until Friday afternoon so I apologize in advance for talking about a contest that will most likely be over with by the time you are reading this, but I hope the sentiment remains, and that just by you, reader, showing up and considering making a recipe, I want you to know that means a lot to me to take me into your kitchen with you. So, thank you.

The contest is giving away the waffle maker pictured above, and also a canister of Golden Malted waffle mix, which happens to be THE brand used by Disneyland Parks. The original flavor is iconic, BUT, I thought I’d change it up a little and give you some options for when you don’t want plain waffles. So check out the recipes below for: Vanilla Bean Mickey Waffles, Chocolate Mickey Waffles, and Citrus Sprinkles Mickey Waffles.

If you make a batch and close your eyes, you’d swear you were walking down Main Street…

Churro Ice Cream Sandwich

June 9, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

This treat was found at Sleepy Hollow inside the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World.

Hello! I took a break on here and muted myself last week in support of amplifying voices for Black Lives Matter. This space is not just inclusive, it is anti-racist. That support does not die down as the food posts start back up again. Yes, this is a very niche blog about making treats found at Disney, but there are people behind this account, and I will absolutely not shy away about being vocal when I need to use my voice, especially when there is a public platform like this.

If you have a knee-jerk reaction somewhere along the lines of “ugh, not another food blog talking about something other than food…”, I’d love for you to take a second and think why that makes you so uncomfortable.

I cannot think of anyway to transition my above thoughts though into today’s post other than saying, hey, I made those Churro Ice Cream Sandwiches from Walt Disney World. So that’s what we’re making today.

You can bake these (like I did), or fry them or try them in your air fryer (I bet they’d be great there too). The original treat had vanilla ice cream, but I highly suggest you make a batch of cinnamon ice cream and sandwich that in-between here too.

I took them a little lighter than the deep fried version as it gives the inside a custard-y, super soft center, but feel free to take it longer in the fryer if you’d like it crisper.

These churro wheels should be eaten the day they’re made. They get soggy by the next day, although you can crisp them up again in the toaster oven (but I love them fresh).

Jack Skellington Cake Pops

May 16, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

This seasonal treat was found throughout the Disneyland Resort.

First, yes, I know it is May, however when Disney announced they were going to hold a special “Halfway to Halloween” event yesterday (Friday May 15th), and I just happened to have a batch of undecorated white chocolate coated cake pops in the fridge, instead of my original idea (which I’ll withhold for now since I’m still going to do it at another date) I pivoted to a batch of Jack Skellington cake pops instead. They are super easy to decorate. So let’s talk about that and make some!

The original Disneyland treat last year was a vanilla cake pop, which makes sense, since if you make a darker colored cake, which I did with chocolate, you will more than likely have to double coat these depending on how opaque your melted chocolate is. So, I’ve linked to our standard Disneyland cake pop recipes in the recipe below and you can choose the flavor you’d like best.

For decorating, I colored semisweet chocolate with some chocolate, oil based, food coloring in black. If you can get your hands on black candy melts I’d suggest that for one less step. Also, remember, never use water based (like gel) food coloring with chocolate. Water and chocolate don’t mix! It will make your chocolate seize up when you melt it.

One tip when decorating Jack’s face is to cut the smallest tip off your piping bag that you can get away with. It will make the line work on his smile all the easier if you have a fine line to control. If you want to use a tip with your bag, I’d go with Wilton’s #1 or #2 tip.

And that’s it! These look great and are really very easy to decorate. Whip up a batch to celebrate #Halfway2Halloween right now, or pin this recipe to welcome the actual Halloween season the first week of September.

Strawberry Shortcake Marshmallow Wands

May 15, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

This seasonal treat can be found all over the Disneyland resort.

I had opened our mini freezer the other day, the freezer that I keep all my backup ingredients in for this site, and for my drinks site, Stir and Strain, and realized I had everything before me to make another round of marshmallow wands. If you take away one good tidbit from this post, I hope it’s that marshmallow wands, after they have been coated in caramel, freeze beautifully. And even after almost 6 months, once fully decorated, they still taste fresh. But so anyways, I also had a bag of crumbled shortbread in that freezer. And a bag of freeze dried strawberries. I had everything ready to go to make Strawberry Shortcake Marshmallow Wands. So that’s what we’re making today!

This treat appeared during Valentine’s Day among the many other delicious treats on sticks at Disneyland. It definitely was a contender for the site, but I had to narrow it down to just a few items since the treats were released right before the holiday, and soon after would be leaving the cases. Since we’re in the middle of a hiatus from new park treats, I’ll be making a few past ones here until I’m back once again, strolling the candy cases and shoving chocolate in my face. Fingers crossed I don’t have to wait until a year from now to do that.

What I love about this treat is the buttery contrast of the cookie to the sweeeeeeeet white chocolate, caramel, and marshmallow. The strawberry bits add a nice zing to it as well. It’s definitely a sweet treat, but I wouldn’t write this off as just for kids.

But speaking of kids! Kids can help assemble these and dip in the chocolate and decorate. Older kids comfortable with a stove, and good common sense, can help dip in the caramel, but under supervision.

And if you’re wondering, the reason I had a container of marshmallow wands in the freezer is because I find melting the caramel in larger batches is easier to work with when making things like the wands. It stays liquid longer, and heats more evenly. The downside though is that there is a lot left over since I’m using more than I need. So now when I have extra caramel, I’ll just grab some lollipop sticks and some marshmallows (Another panic buy from March was a case of marshmallows. I’m thinking maybe I might start selling these as kits…), and I’ll coat a batch of marshmallows, place them on parchment and freeze. So far, after a 6 month hibernation, these were still great.

For the cookies, homemade or store bought is fine. But make sure you’re using a butter cookie, not a sugar cookie! And with that, I hope you enjoy these Strawberry Shortcake Marshmallow Wands!

Double Chocolate Churro

April 30, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

This treat can be found in Critter Country in Disneyland.

When you are visiting Disneyland weekly (or sometimes even more frequently) in search of treats, chances are you’ll luck out and stumble upon something before it gets released fully to the public. This happened in March when I was determined to figure out what the Bear Paw Pastry was that had been listed on the Lemonade Stand menu on the Disneyland app for weeks and yet no one who worked there could tell me what it was. And then one day the Double Chocolate Churro appeared on that menu (and still that bear paw. What is it?????). And suddenly there was a sign at the booth that said “ask me about our specialty churro”, and so I did. And now today I’m sharing that creation with you all.

These churros are chocolate throughout, reminiscent of a fudgy brownie, and are dipped in a sweetened, milk chocolate hot cocoa coating (with the requisite sugar and cinnamon). Now, while what you’ll get at the parks is a fried churro, today we are going to ALSO make a baked version of it, and quite frankly, it tastes almost THE SAME.

Here in Southern California we are finally starting to get some heat, and with that, I suddenly lost all interest in cranking up my stove and standing over a boiling pot of hot oil for upwards of a half hour. Also, I had polled all of the Instagram followers a few week backs to see if there was any interest in a baked churro recipe, and everyone said YES. I was hesitant while making these, I wasn’t sure just how they would come out, but keeping my expectations low meant that once I got them out of the oven and covered with sugar, I was REAL PLEASED with the result.

The taste and texture is pretty similar to the fried version. The only downside of the baked version is that the bottom tends to get flat unless you rotate them during cooking. But, they are quite fragile until fully cooked, so they could break apart.

Make up a batch and let the kids pipe their own (my kiddos love making little nuggets to fry off). I would have them steer clear of the kitchen if you choose to fry these, but regardless of which method you use to cook, they’ll also love tossing them around in the chocolate sugar mixture. Just try to keep them from eating it!

We’ve got both the baked version and the fried version below, as well as lots of tips and tricks in the notes section, including options for which pastry tip to use! Enjoy!

https://www.magicaltreatsathome.com/2019/12/11/pastry-tips-for-churros/

Mickey Shaped Caramel-Peanut-Milk Chocolate Macarons

April 26, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski 3 Comments

Mickey Caramel-Peanut-Milk Chocolate Macaron // magicaltreatsathome.com

Where can I find the original treat?

This specialty treat was found at the Off the Cob Booth as part of the Food and Wine Festival at Disney’s California Adventure Park.

Woo! Try saying this name five times fast! Well, you might have had to, as this specialty Mickey Shaped Caramel-Peanut-Milk Chocolate Macaron was a fan fav at the Food and Wine Festival this year and many guests found they had to ask for it multiple times because the booth was constantly sold out. So, if you missed it during the festival, you’re in luck today, as we’ve got a recipe that is as delicious as the real thing!

Clearly we’re fans of macarons on here, and today we’ll be using our standard Mickey Mouse template to make these yummy macarons. Intimated by these french cookies? Don’t be! We’ve got lots of tips and tricks in the notes section below to help you make your best macaron yet!

These oversized macarons were milk chocolate at the parks, but right now, as we’re going through this crazy time, certain pantry items might not be available. When I made these at home I had to substitute semisweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate (I just couldn’t get my hands on any!), and that resulted in a darker exterior coating for the macarons. But you know what? It was still delicious! And a tad less sweeter than the original so that was OK by me. I’ll list both ingredients below and you can use what you have on hand. Also, I did not confirm, but those peanut caramel pieces studded throughout the macaron, once I removed them from the macaron to get a better look, sure seemed pretty similar to pieces of a Snickers bar, so…. that’s what we’ve got inside. If you just happen to have some caramel covered peanuts in your house, use those!

Assembling the macarons from piping to putting the candy pieces in is kid friendly, as well as dipping and decorating the outside of these. Making the actual macarons might be a better task for older kids, or the adults.

If you’re looking for the link to the Mickey macaron templates, you can download that below. And check out the notes section for lots of tips and tricks. Now lets grab whatever chocolate we can get our hands on and BAKE!

3 inch mickey macaron template

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5 Minute Treats: Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Affogato (Churro Affogato)

April 21, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Churro Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Affogato // magicaltreatsathome.com

Where can I find the original treat?

This holiday time treat was available at Schmoozies! inside California Adventure.

We’re back again today with another quick treat in our 5 Minute Treats series! This holiday time Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Affogato was nicknamed the Churro Affogato because of its delicious ice cream base. And today you can either make, or buy, the ice cream depending on how quickly you’d like the treat!

While we’ve been stuck inside, the kids and I have been doing some fun kitchen experiments. Making ice cream has definitely been a favorite! If you can score some cinnamon ice cream at the store, then this recipe really is a super quick treat. However, if you’ve got the time, and an ice cream maker, then I’ve also included a recipe for a super creamy, custard based cinnamon-brown sugar ice cream. I don’t want to make the store bought people jealous, but this stuff is SO GOOD and SO CREAMY. I also love that you can adjust the amount of cinnamon and/or sugar to suite your tastes as well.

Affogatos are usually espresso based, but if all you’ve got is coffee right now, try brewing a stronger batch for this. The combination of the bittersweet coffee and the spicy cinnamon make for an extraordinary pairing. It’s reminiscent of the Mexican coffee, or cafe de olla that we get at a local restaurant here in Los Angeles. It’s also, quite tasty with a hunk of Churro Toffee dipped in as well.

I hope you enjoy this super simple, and yet very elegant, treat today! (Or tomorrow if you make the ice cream!) It’s about to get REAL HOT here in LA, so I’m thinking about making a few batches of ice cream this week. Have a magical week everyone!

Bunny Butt Easter Crispy Treats

April 10, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Bunny Butt Crispy Treats for Easter // magicaltreatsathome.com

Where can I find the original treat?

This seasonal treat can be found all over the Disneyland resort.

We’re back again today with another Disneyland park inspired Easter treat. Similar in style to yesterday’s Bunny Butt Cake Pop, today we’re not getting quite so technical with this Bunny Butt Easter Crispy Treat.

Yes! Disneyland did it again with some super cute crispy treats shaped like Peter Cottontail’s, er, cottontail. I just loved seeing these and the cake pops on my last few visits to the park in March. It was hard to narrow down what treats to make for Easter, but in the end, the bunnies won.

Unlike the smaller cake pops, these treats use flaked coconut to make a big tail for these Easter rabbits and the feet decorations are piped on. (And if you’ve got a large Mickey Mouse cutter at home, you’re in luck, since these use that shape, but flipped upside down to create the bunny butt!) Our batch below makes 3 generously sized crispy treats but you can definitely double this recipe using the handy button in the recipe too!

If you’ve saved your leftover white chocolate from yesterday, then you should still have plenty leftover to coat these and do some piping work. If not, no worries! These are still super easy to make even with a little extra time melting chocolate.

One trick I learned with these this time, is that you can speed the firming up stage by sticking these straight into the freezer for a little bit right after pouring the mixture in the pan. Then go straight to cutting out the shapes. I’d still stick them back in the fridge after cutting so they don’t un-firm up quickly though before coating and decorating. This trick came in handy when I realized I was late for snack time this week and needed to put something in front of my kids ASAP.

Speaking of kids, this is a fun treat for kids to decorate. I like to stay clear of small hands touching the molten marshmallows, but that cools down very quickly once it’s out of the saucepan and into the baking pan to set.

Ok, now let’s make some bunnies! And don’t forget to check the notes below for more tips!

Bunny Butt Easter Cake Pop

April 9, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski 2 Comments

Bunny Butt Cake Pops // magicaltreatsathome.com

Where can I find the original treat?

This seasonal treat can be found all over the Disneyland resort.

On one of our last visits to the park we were lucky enough to catch the appearance of all the Easter/spring treats hitting the bakery shelves. Out of all the adorable items, the bunny cake pops were definitely a favorite (for both the kids and the adults). So we’re making up a batch today for our Easter festivities this week!

These bunny butt cake pops are the standard chocolate cake pops found at Disneyland, with two marshmallows for the feet, and a bit of marshmallow for the tail. It’s dipped in white chocolate, and then gets pink candy melts for decoration.

After a bit of trial and error, we found the best and most efficient way to put these together, and that require a double dip in the white chocolate. We used baking white chocolate instead of white candy melts here and to get a nice, solid, opaque coating, dipping twice is essential. Dipping twice is also how we firmly adhere the marshmallows on so they stay in place to fully cover the cake pop.

Please check out the notes below for our tips working with white chocolate for coating. Especially if you’re having trouble with the white chocolate “breaking” when you dip in your cake pops.

Kids can help through many of the steps here. Adult supervision is required for melting the chocolate, and for using the oven, but otherwise kids can mix, bake, dip, and decorate this cute Disneyland-inspired Easter treat!

Ok, let’s make some bunnies! And remember to hop back over here this week for another cute Disneyland-inspired Easter treat!

African Sunshine Cupcake (Sunflower Cupcake)

April 4, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

African Sunshine Sunflower Cupcake // magicaltreatsathome.com

Where can I find the original treat?

This treat was originally found at The Mara in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

How is it already a week since our last recipe?! Time sure is strange right now, at least for all of us at home. But, another week, another Disney treat. And this week we’re traveling from our home base here in SoCal to Florida to make the African Sunshine Cupcake that was at The Mara in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge!

This sunflower cupcake was a request from a follower on Instagram. So, just a reminder to everyone that if there’s something you’d like to make and you don’t see it here on the site yet, just ask us and we’ll see if it’s something we can make! I’ll also point out that even though the cupcake recipe makes 12 total cupcakes, the buttercream should decorate about 6, as the other remaining 6 cupcakes we’ll crumble and use for our cake pop recipe in a few days!

This treat is a chocolate cupcake flavored with orange extract and topped with a layer of fudge, chocolate crisp pearls, and yellow and green vanilla buttercream frosting. They sure are a pop of sunshine! And don’t let all those individual petals scare you into thinking this is more of an advanced decorating project; it’s not! I’ve got a quick video I’ll link to on our YouTube page (yes, we have one but it’s a bit sparse!) and it shows the technique for piping on the petals. In summary, you’ll want to start the tip at the inner edge of the baking cup and fold up and over to create some height for the flower petals since you’ll want an area to catch all the pearls in.

While you might want perfect petals for your cupcake, kids can help mix the cupcake batter, and pipe their own petals for the flowers. It’s a good lesson in patience to slowly get the buttercream to come out!

If you’re wondering where the name comes from, Disney states that South Africa is the 10th largest producer of sunflowers in the world. Now let’s make some buttercream sunshine!

Mickey Waffles Three Ways

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Churro Ice Cream Sandwich

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Jack Skellington Cake Pops

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Strawberry Shortcake Marshmallow Wands

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Double Chocolate Churro

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Mickey Shaped Caramel-Peanut-Milk Chocolate Macarons

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3 inch mickey macaron template

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5 Minute Treats: Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Affogato (Churro Affogato)

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Bunny Butt Easter Crispy Treats

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Bunny Butt Easter Cake Pop

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African Sunshine Cupcake (Sunflower Cupcake)

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