cinnamon

Pecan Pie Crispy Treat

November 25, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski 1 Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

This holiday treat can be found at Screen Door General Store at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn (Florida), and Marceline’s in Downtown Disney (California).

Thanksgiving is tomorrow here in the US; a Thanksgiving that will not run its usual course. And so today on the site we have a pie, but not really a pie, that you could serve at your nontraditional Thanksgiving feast. TLDR: it’s a pecan pie rice crispy treat. YES a whole 9” pie.

Disney is known for whimsical treats, but sometimes they’re a bit on the silly side too. Like the crispy treat pies this year. I love the idea behind them, and I think the treat makers must have had a lot of fun making them. And I know we all loved eating them as the flavor combinations came through and it definitely was a unique, and 2020 way, to eating pie this year.

I’m presenting the recipe formed inside a 9” pie plate, but those that have seen the whole “pie” at the resorts (it was made available both in Florida and California), might have noticed its domed shape from the mold it was made in. I figure, if you’re going to serve this at your Thanksgiving dinner this year, it should arrive at the table in a proper pie plate.

Since we’re dealing with hot sugar here, I would not recommend the younger kids come help with the bases here. However, making and piping the frosting “cream” and decorating with sprinkles is a great way to get them involved in a holiday dessert.

Now that we’ve thrown out all the conventional ideas of a traditional dinner this year, I do hope you make this pie. If you’re at home celebrating with just one or two of you, this also freezes really well. Just cut it into slices and freeze up to 3 months for best flavor.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Pecan Pie Crispy Treat

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 1 9″ Pecan Pie Crispy Treat 1x

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Description

Pecan pie and crispy treat lovers unite with this full sized maple scented Pecan Pie Crispy Treat. A Disney-inspired holiday treat.

Ingredients

Scale

For the “crust”:

2 cups crisped rice cereal
20 full size marshmallows
1–1/2 tbsp butter

For the “filling”

3 cups crisped rice cereal
30 full size marshmallows
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans toasted, 3 tbsp reserved
Pinch salt

For the frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1/2 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Mickey Mouse sprinkles

Specialty Items:

9″ glass pie pan
piping bag
closed star pastry tip (Ateco #844 used here)

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Instructions

For the “crust”:

Before beginning, butter/grease your pie pan. Set aside.
Combine the butter and marshmallows in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until marshmallows have melted and mixture is smooth.
Immediately dump in the crisped rice cereal and quickly mix to combine.
Pour into the prepared pan and gently press mixture into place with a rubber spatula (or damp fingers, which is my favorite method). Create a thin layer around the pan, pushing up the sides to make the “crust”. Set aside.

For the “filling”:

Combine the butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and marshmallows in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until marshmallows have melted and mixture is smooth.
Mix in the pecans at this stage, and then pour in the crisped rice cereal and quickly mix to combine.
Pour on top of the “crust” layer, pushing firmly to fuse the layers.
Spread the remained chopped pecans over the top, lightly pressing in. Cool to room temperature.

For the frosting and decoration:

Whip the butter and salt until light and creamy in either a stand mixer, or with a handheld mixer.
Pour in the powdered sugar (sift if yours is lumpy), and mix until incorporated.
Add in the milk and vanilla extract and mix at high until creamy and smooth and desired texture is reached.
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with an closed star tip and pipe 8 small swirls on top of the cooled pie. Refrigerated at least 4 hours to set or overnight.

To serve:

Straight from the refrigerator, use a sharp knife to slice individual pieces.
Let individual pieces come to room temp before serving.

Notes

Pecans can be toasted in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent browning and remove from the pan when done toasting.
Use a smaller pan than you think you’ll need for melting the marshmallows. As the marshmallows melt into the butter, if there’s too much space in the pan, they will start to dry out and form strings. Keeping the marshmallows closer together in the pan will ensure they melt more evenly, creating a better mixture to add the cereal into.
When mixing cereal into the melted marshmallows, keep the mixture on the flame so that marshmallows stay liquid. Removing to mix in can seize up the liquid before the cereal is fully mixed.
The addition the the maple syrup will make the “filling” softer and refrigeration is needed to cut out sliced cleanly.
Leftover frosting can be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator up to one week, or frozen up to 3 months for best flavor. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and re-whip to use again.

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).

Churro Ice Cream Sandwich

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 3 Churro Ice Cream Sandwiches 1x

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Description

Crispy, chewy, cinnamon swirled churros make the perfect sandwich base for vanilla ice cream with this Churro Ice Cream Sandwich. A Walt Disney World inspired treat.

Ingredients

Scale

For the churros:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
big pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
vegetable oil for frying

For assembly:

Vanilla ice cream (or cinnamon!!)
Ground cinnamon

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Instructions

For the churros:

Mix together 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl, set aside.
In a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, or until butter has melted.
Turn burner to low and pour in all the flour at once. Stir until there are no visible flour lumps and dough has begun to stick together in a ball and pulled away from the sides of the pan.
Remove pan from heat and let sit 5 minutes. Stir in the egg until incorporated. Dough will appear to break or become lumpy. Continue to stir until it forms a smooth, sticky dough.
For baked churros:
- Preheat oven to 425°f.
- Line a half sized sheet pan with parchment. And then fill a pastry bag fitted with an Ateco 847 closed star tip half full with batter (see notes below on filling pastry bags).
- Pipe out 2-1/2″ spirals spaced an inch apart (I was able to fit all 6 spirals on one sheet pan).
- Bake in the oven 35-40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet pan until cool enough to touch, about 5 minutes. And then toss in the cinnamon sugar mix. Set aside.
For fried churros:
- Line a half sized sheet pan with a sheet of parchment. And then fill a pastry bag fitted with an Ateco 847 closed star tip half full with batter (see notes below on filling pastry bags).Pipe out 2-1/2″ spirals spaced an inch apart (I was able to fit all 6 spirals on one sheet pan).
- Refrigerate dough at least 30 minutes and up to two days. Batter will stiffen the more it sits, so let the dough come to room temperature before frying.
- Place churros 2 at a time into the cooking oil for 6-7 minutes, turning after 3 minutes with a spatula or spider. Wait until oil comes back to temperature before adding next batch. Thicker churros may need an additional 30 seconds to one minute to fully cook through.
- Using a spider or large spatula, remove churros from oil and drain on a cooling rack over parchment or on a paper towel. Wait at least a minute and then toss the churro in the cinnamon sugar, tapping off any excess. Set churro aside. Repeat with all the churros.

To assemble:

Scoop out about 2 ounces of ice cream and place on the bottom churro half. Sandwich with another churro.
Optionally sprinkle a little extra cinnamon over the whole sandwich and enjoy!

Notes

Do not overfill your pastry bag! Fill in two to three batches. If there is too much dough, it will seep out the top and will be hard to pipe.
Slowly pipe out dough all of a consistent size, smaller spots on the churro can cause them to become more fragile while handling and can break in the oil or while coating in sugar.
Churro dough can be piped out onto parchment and covered in the fridge up to 48 hours.
If you want to make you churros immediately after making dough without the chilling time, once oil has reached temp, starting about one inch above the oil, pipe a small line of dough down into oil and either snip end with scissors, or break the dough off the pastry tip on the side of your pan. Follow directions above for frying.
Thicker churros will require a longer cooking time to fully cook through the center. Test one churro first to adjust your cooking time.
Sugar not sticking to your baked churros? Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan, and then brush on the churro. Immediately toss in the sugar mixture and set aside on a grate to cool.
Cooking oil can be fine strained and stored again for another use. I strain back into the bottle it came from. Well strained oil can be stored in a cool, dry place and used up to several times.
These churros are best eaten the day of, however, they can be frozen between sheets of parchment without the sugar coating and crisped in the toaster oven for a few minutes.

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!

Double Chocolate Churro

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 10–15 Double Chocolate Churros 1x

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Description

Chocolate lovers, this churro is for you! Chocolate churros are baked (or deep fried) and get dipped in a sweet, milk chocolate cocoa mixture. A Disneyland-inspired treat!

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon sweetened hot cocoa mix
vegetable oil for frying
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 eggs

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Instructions

Line two half sized sheet pans with parchment, set aside. Mix together the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, cinnamon and hot cocoa mix in a long shallow bowl or loaf pan, set aside.
If you are baking your churros, turn your oven on to 425°f.
In a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, or until butter has melted.
Turn burner to low and sift in all the flour and cocoa powder. Stir until there are no visible flour lumps and dough has begun to stick together in a ball and pulled away from the sides of the pan. Remove pan from heat and let sit 5 minutes. Then stir in each egg until incorporated. Dough will appear to break or become lumpy. Continue to stir until it forms a smooth, sticky dough.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 1 M open star tip OR Ateco #847 (check out our Churro Tips post for more on what tip works best for you!) half full with batter (see notes below on filling pastry bags) and pipe 8″ long dough onto the sheet pan. You can use kitchen shears to trim the ends. I was able to almost fill two sheet pans with all the batter. **If you are piping dough directly into hot oil, omit this step.
For baking churros:
- Move the sheet pans into the preheated oven and bake for 27-30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. When done, remove from the oven and let sit until any foaming subsides, 2-3 minutes. Then toss the churros in the sugar/cocoa mixture.
For frying churros:
- Refrigerate dough at least 30 minutes and up to two days. Batter will stiffen the more it sits, so let the dough come to room temperature before frying.
- Fill a dutch oven or deep frying pan with vegetable oil at least 2″ up the side of the pan (I found a 1/2 gallon of avocado oil worked for me in my large dutch oven. See note below about reusing oil.). Heat oil to 340-350°f, using a candy thermometer to keep the temperature constant. You may need to adjust heat up or down during cooking.
- Place churros 2-3 at a time in the cooking oil for 6 minutes, turning after 3 minutes with a spatula. Wait until oil comes back to temperature before adding next batch.
- Using a spider or large spatula, remove churros from oil and drain on a cooling rack over parchment or on a paper towel. Wait at least a minute and then toss the churro in the chocolate cinnamon-sugar, tapping off any excess.

Notes

Do not overfill your pastry bag! Fill in two to three batches. If there is too much dough, it will seep out the top and will be hard to pipe.
Slowly pipe out dough all of a consistent size, smaller spots on the churro can cause them to become more fragile while handling and can break in the oil or while coating in sugar.
Churro dough can be piped out onto parchment and covered in the fridge up to 48 hours.
If you want to make you churros immediately after making dough without the chilling time, once oil has reached temp, starting about one inch above the oil, pipe a small line of dough down into oil and either snip end with scissors, or break the dough off the pastry tip on the side of your pan. Follow directions above for frying.
Thicker churros will require a longer cooking time to fully cook through the center. Test one churro first to adjust your cooking time.
Sugar not sticking to your baked churros? Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan, and then brush on the churro. Immediately toss in the sugar mixture and set aside on a grate to cool.
Cooking oil can be fine strained and stored again for another use. I strain back into the bottle it came from. Well strained oil can be stored in a cool, dry place and used up to several times.
Churros curling? That could be one of a few reasons. One is that it will naturally shrink and change shape as the dough hits the oil and puffs up. I found that the stiffer dough from sitting in the fridge resulted in straighter churros while fresher dough tending to curl more. Also, if you’re using a circular pot like a dutch oven, churros may rest against the inside edge of the pan while cooking causing them to take on the curved shape of the pan. To prevent this, nudge your churro with the spider or spatula immediately after placing in oil when it pops back up to the surface. Continue to nudge gently back and forth for about 20-40 seconds or until the dough has gotten stiff in the oil.

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

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!

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

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 1 Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Churro Affogato + 1 quart ice cream 1x

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Description

Creamy, spicy cinnamon and brown sugar ice cream is topped with a healthy pour of bittersweet espresso in this 5 Minute Treat. A Disneyland-inspired recipe.

Ingredients

Scale

For the ice cream:
adapted from David Lebovitz

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar
pinch of salt
8 cinnamon sticks broken up (see notes below)
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the affogato

1 shot of freshly brewed espresso
churro toffee chunks, optional (find the recipe here on our site!)

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Instructions

For the ice cream:

Heat the milk, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon sticks, and 1 cup of the heavy cream together in a medium saucepan. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep 1 hour.
Place the pan back on the stove and rewarm the mixture, removing the cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon. Be careful not to let the mixture start to boil or get too hot, you are just warming the milk up to barely simmering at this point.
Nest a medium-sized bowl in a larger bowl that’s partially filled with ice water, to create an ice bath. Set a mesh strainer over the medium bowl and pour the remaining cream into the medium bowl.
Whisk together the egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually add some of the warm cinnamon-infused milk to the yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the custard thickens and coats the spatula.
Remove from heat and immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the cream. Remove the strainer and stir the custard until cool, then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator at least 8 hours or overnight.
Before churning, add the ground cinnamon. Gently stir to combine.
Then, freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Store in an airtight container in the freezer until ready to use.

For the affogato:

Place the desired amount of ice cream in a small bowl or heat proof cup (I like two small scoops for this dessert).
Pour the espresso over the ice cream.
Optionally top with crumbled churro toffee pieces. Enjoy!

Notes

To break up cinnamon sticks, you can either grind them in a mortar and pestle (which is what I did, and really, you’re just breaking them up, not grinding into a powder), or wrap them in a kitchen towel and break them up with a hammer or meat tenderizer. I would not suggest a ziplock as is said in the original recipe, as they tend to poke through and tear the bag, getting pieces everywhere.
We are Nespresso users at home, so I found that a regular shot was plenty. The lungo shot was a bit too much and melted the ice cream more than I desired creating a warm soup.
If you want to make a batch for a party, portion out ice cream into small cups and freeze ahead of time. When ready to serve, brew lungo shots in a large measuring glass with a spout. Then you can pour small amounts of espresso all at once into each cup.

Churro Gears (aka Churro Doughnuts)

January 29, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski 1 Comment

Churro Gears (Doughnuts) // magicaltreatsathome.com

Where can I find the original treat?

This treat can be found at Maurice’s Treats at the Disneyland resort.

There are now multiple ways to get your churro fix at Disneyland beyond an actual churro (like churro toffee or a churro marshmallow wand), and today we’re over in Fantasyland for their latest one: Churro Gears, AKA Churro Doughnuts. Yes, you’re going to make doughnuts (or donuts if you prefer) at home today. And it’s going to be so easy.

First, let’s talk about the doughnuts. At the park you get them served to you WARM, which, honestly is the only way to eat these. Although, coming in a strong second is cold and hours old. That is also a delicious option. These are yeasted doughnuts which means, unfortunately, there is some waiting. However, I’ve outlined below the best option for making these and having them for breakfast that does not include waking up at 4am.

Yeasted doughnuts though provide for a chewy, soft interior with a slightly crisp outside. Similar to the style of a churro, and these too are covered in cinnamon-sugar and hence the name Churro Doughnuts. The dough itself is twisted to look like a “gear”, and while that might not be necessary with your homemade batch, what that does do for your doughnut is provide lots of pockets for that sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar to fall into. YUM.

Can kids help with this recipe? Absolutely, but know your kids first. Older kids with some experience in the kitchen might find it a fun challenge to roll out and shape the dough. And younger kids can flip the cooled doughnuts around in the cinnamon-sugar. Just beware of the very hot oil on the stove, and also the doughnuts stay warm for awhile, so test them out before handing them off for sugaring.

BONUS: This recipe only calls for a handful of ingredients and with just one change, swapping out the milk for a non-dairy alternative, means you can also have VEGAN doughnuts too. I tried this recipe with almond milk and got excellent results. Also, extra bonus, any small chunks of dough leftover can be rolled into balls and made into doughnut holes! See notes below for instruction.

Don’t wake up at 4am for breakfast doughnuts! Start them the night before!

The night before, mix up the dough and instead of having it sit out to double in size for an hour and a half, cover and refrigerate it at least 8 hours and up to 12.
The next day, take them out of the fridge, let the dough sit for 5 minutes uncovered, and then roll out and proceed with making the doughnuts.
Once shaped, doughnuts need to rise for 45 minutes before frying off. So, during this time you can brew some coffee, scroll Instagram, make lunches, heat the oil, and whatever else eats up all that precious morning time every day.
You should definitely though start heating the oil around 15-20 minutes before your timer goes off. I start on high to get it warmed up quickly in my dutch oven, and then ease on down to medium-high or medium at around 320°f or so. Otherwise it can reach temp and then get too hot and you don’t want that to happen.
And from there you’ll start frying off doughnuts and have them ready to eat within 10 minutes!

I believe that making a batch of these Churro Doughnuts at home is easy for a few reasons. First, it’s a small, doable amount of ingredients and I bet you have most, if not all of them, at home (and if instant yeast is not in your pantry I’ve linked to that below in the ingredient list). Second, the steps to making them are pretty straightforward. There isn’t a technique here that is only going to be taught in pastry school. YOU GOT THIS. If the dough is sticking to everything (that can happen), and you’re not getting perfect circles, don’t worry they’ll still taste amazing. And third, it’s mainly hands off time. Yes, from complete start to finish it’s a few hours. But if you break it up and start the night before, and fill the wait time with something else, making the actual doughnut is fairly quick! And you’ve got doughnuts! At home! And they’re fresh and warm!

Ok let’s make doughnuts! Churro doughnuts!

Churro Gears (aka Churro Doughnuts)

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 5–6 Churro Gears 1x

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Description

Chewy, crispy, cinnamon-sugar laden Churro Gears (AKA Churro Doughnuts), are an easy treat to try day or night! A Disneyland-inspired treat.

Adapted from Food52

Ingredients

Scale

For the doughnuts:

1/2 cup whole milk, buttermilk, or almond milk (for vegan version) 
1 tablespoons refined coconut oil 
1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour 
1 tablespoons sugar 
1 teaspoon (6 grams) instant yeast
 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 cups to 1/2 gallon (8 cups) avocado oil (or other high heat oil)

For the topping:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

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Instructions

In a glass measuring cup, pour in milk or milk alternative. Add coconut oil. Microwave at full power 15-20 seconds. Using at instant read thermometer, bring the milk down (or up, microwaving in short bursts of 5 seconds) to 110°f.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, instant yeast, and salt.
Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine using a rubber spatula. You only need to just incorporate the ingredients. Do not over mix (some lumps in the batter are fine!).
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel and leave on a counter away from drafts for one and a half hours, or until doubled in size. (If prepping overnight, follow timeline above in post or in notes below)
After dough has doubled in size, flour your counter and turn the dough out. The dough will be very, very sticky. Make sure to flour your surfaces, your hands, and your rolling pin.
Roll out about 1/2″ thick into approximately a 8″x8″ square.
Using a dough cutter or bench scraper or sharp knife, cut dough into about 1-1/2″ thick strips. You should get about 5 strips with a small section left over. The small section can be cut into small squares and rolled into balls for doughnut holes.
Flour your hands again and carefully lift the first section. Fold the dough in half and then twist the dough. Take the ends and pinch together. Set aside on floured counter. Repeat with other strips.
When all the doughnut shapes are ready, cover lightly with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Let sit 45 minutes until puffy.
In a shallow bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon together. Set aside.
About 15-20 minutes before the dough has finished its final rest, pour the avocado oil into a dutch oven until the oil reaches 345°f on a candy thermometer.
Working in batches, carefully lower the dough down into the oil. Do not plop it in or it will splash and burn you. You can also use tongs to lower, see notes below. Cook for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes on one side, and cook for an additional 1-1/2 minutes on the second side. Use a spider or strainer to remove the cooked doughnuts and place on a paper towel lined sheet pan. Repeat with remaining doughnuts. If making doughnut holes, cook for a few seconds less.
Let doughnuts cool at least 5 minutes, and then toss in the cinnamon-sugar mix, spooning on extra sugar to fully coat. Place on a cooling rack and repeat with the remaining doughnuts. Enjoy warm!

Notes

To start doughnuts the previous day: the night before, mix up the dough and instead of having it sit out to double in size for an hour and a half, cover and refrigerate it at least 8 hours and up to 12. The next day, take them out of the fridge, let the dough sit for 5 minutes uncovered, and then roll out and proceed with making the doughnuts. Start the second rise and proceed with the rest of the instructions above.
Oil temperatures are extremely hot. Please use caution in the kitchen! Wear gloves, an apron, closed toe shoes, and use a candy thermometer. Keep children away when handling hot dishes.
If you are absolutely terrified of dropping anything into the oil with your fingers, or think you might get burned, definitely go ahead and flour a pair of high heat proof tongs to put the doughnut down into the hot oil.
Wait for oil to come back to temperature before adding next batch of doughnuts to the pot.
Cooking oil can be fine strained and stored again for another use. I strain back into the bottle it came from. Well strained oil can be stored in a cool, dry place and used up to several times.

Churro Marshmallow Wand

November 18, 2019 by Elana Lepkowski 5 Comments

Where can I find the original treat?

This holiday time treat can be found at Trolley Treats and Marceline’s Confectionery at the Disneyland Resort.

One of the cult favorite treats at Disneyland, Churro Toffee, is getting a new twist this holiday season as the coating for a marshmallow wand! What might seem like ‘sugar on a stick’ is actually a pretty tasty treat that doesn’t leave your teeth singing. And we’re making some today!

This treat was consistently selling out when they debuted it. When I tried one at Trolley Treats in DCA, the man behind the counter told me that just moments before a guy came in and bought 12 for his coworkers. WHAT A NICE COWORKER TO HAVE!!!

I’m sure they’ll stock more, but in the meantime, making these in your kitchen is definitely an option. There’s a lot of layers here, but if you get everything lined up and ready, it’s pretty quick to move through all the steps and get a handful ready and made.

Now, the original treat has crushed pieces of the churro toffee dusted over the outside, i.e., very, very, tiny pieces of toffee. Here I opted not to crush mine too small, so that I get some nice crunchy pieces with the soft, pillow-y marshmallows. And if you’re not familiar with these wands, they layer them as such: 3 marshmallows on a lollipop stick, dipped in caramel, and then dipped again in white chocolate and rolled in cinnamon sugar and dusted with churro toffee. I love how the buttery caramel stands in for that thick layer of toffee you get with the Churro Toffee.

If kids are helping in the kitchen, I’d stay clear of having them dip in the caramel unless they are experienced with the stove and hot things like caramel. Otherwise, dip and set the wands with the caramel, and then they can dip into the white chocolate and roll them in the cinnamon sugar and churro toffee.

Ok churro toffee fans, time to try something a little new. And if you’re looking for a recipe for just the churro toffee, we’ve got that too! And remember to check out all our notes at the end of the recipe!

Churro Marshmallow Wand

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 6 Churro Toffee Marshmallow Wands 1x

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Description

Soft and fluffy marshmallow wands are enrobed in creamy caramel and dipped in white chocolate with a dusting a cinnamon-sugar and churro toffee. A holiday-time Disneyland-inspired treat.

Ingredients

Scale

18 marshmallows
9 ounces (~32 candies) individually wrapped caramels (like Kraft)
1–3/4 tablespoons water
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
10 ounces of white candy melts
1/4 cup of crushed churro toffee pieces (or if you don’t have any stashed away in your freezer like me, any English-style toffee will do)
6 lollipop sticks

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Instructions

Place 3 marshmallows on each lollipop stick and set aside on a parchment lined sheet pan.
Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a large, shallow bowl that can accommodate the length of the marshmallow wand. Set aside.
Unwrap all the caramels and add to a small saucepan. Pour water in and heat over medium-low heat.
Stir constantly until everything has melted and caramels are smooth (about 7-8 minutes).
Once melted (caramels should drip in a ribbon from a spoon back into the pan), dip each wand into the caramel, turning quickly to coat OR ladle the caramel over the wand, turning to coat. Let excess caramel drip off for at least 30 seconds, turning while it drips for even coating, tap the wand gently but firmly on the edge of the pan to remove any additional excess caramel, and then place back on the parchment.
When all the wands have been dipped, place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes so that the caramel will be set for dipping.
While the caramels set, melt your white chocolate for coating. Combine the white candy melts and coconut oil in the microwave inside a microwave safe bowl, like glass, for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave again for an additional 30 seconds. Keep stirring and microwaving in short bursts of 15-20 seconds until melted and smooth. Use can alternatively use a double boiler for melting. Do not let the white chocolate get over 110°f as it can burn the chocolate (use a candy thermometer if you’re not sure about this).
Remove the marshmallow wands from the refrigerator. You’ll know they are set when they lift easily off the parchment. If they still stick, keep them in 5 minutes longer.
Set up the cinnamon sugar bowl next to your white chocolate, and set out the crushed churro toffee in a small bowl as well.
Dip the marshmallow wand in the white chocolate, or ladle chocolate over, turning to coat. Tap the stick firmly on the side of your pan to remove any excess chocolate. Then sprinkle churro toffee over the white chocolate and immediately roll in the cinnamon sugar. You can also ladle the sugar over the wand, turning to coat. Whatever is easiest for you! Then place back on the parchment.
Repeat with the remaining marshmallow wands.
Let sit at least 30 minutes to firm up or in the refrigerator for quicker results. Enjoy!

Notes

Melted caramel is HOT! Use caution in the kitchen. Do not dip your fingers or hands into the caramel has it can adhere to skin and burn you. Keep away from children.
Use hot water to remove caramel from pans and utensils.
If the marshmallow wands start to stick to the parchment while you are dipping and coating, stick the pan with the uncoated wands back to chill in the refrigerator for a few minutes. If your kitchen is really hot, keep them in there the whole time, taking one at a time out to coat and decorate.
If you have extra melted caramel that has dried around your wand, use kitchen shears to remove it immediately after removing from the refrigerator.
Did your chocolate coating break when you first dipped your wand in? Wait for the chocolate to cool down more. It should drip freely from a spoon without it seizing when the spoon is shaken slightly (will cause crevices in the chocolate on the spoon). If it breaks on the wand, your wand also might be too cool, so let them warm up more. And don’t worry, once that chocolate starts to firm up, you can dip it AGAIN into the chocolate to get a more even, although slightly thicker, coating.

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

November 11, 2019 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

This treat can be found at the Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe at the Disneyland resort.

We’ve got our last of the pumpkin treats today as we say goodbye to all the fall decorations at Disneyland and head straight into Christmas. But wait! Yes, there is another holiday before then, and we’re not talking about National Peanut Butter Fudge Day (although that lands on November 20 this year). We’ve still got Thanksgiving coming this month, and that means PIE! Pumpkin pie! But if making a whole pie from scratch is just not doable, try these mini Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake jars instead!

Last year at Disneyland I tried one of these and I inhaled it in seconds; it was just so good. Admittedly I am a lover of pumpkin flavored treats and I live for cheesecake, so this layered individual dessert cup was calling my name. I was so happy they brought it back this year, but on November 8th, *poof*, it’s gone, and who knows if it will come back next year. So let’s make our own now!

These are a really great option if you’re thinking about desserts for the holidays and want to do all the prep ahead of time, even a whole day or two ahead of time. These jars are quick to put together because there’s NO COOKING! Just dirty some bowls, store everything into little jars in the fridge, and then take them out when it’s time to serve to guests (or let’s be real, yourself, 4 times).

This recipe makes just 4 individual desserts, but this can be easily scaled up (the recipe box below has a handy tool to do that with too!). You may want to increase or decrease the sugar as you scale, so remember to do a taste test when adjusting!

This might not be the most “fun” dessert for kids to make, but they can definitely help with assembly, and older kids can do the piping work. My kids always feel proud to eat anything they’ve helped make too, even if it doesn’t include sprinkles.

A note here on the jars used. In the photos I am using a Weck tulip jam jar that holds about 7.4 ounces. These are a great size for individual portions, and cute looking too. However, I find these very fragile and I do not suggest them for use with kids. Tempered glass jars, like Wean Green, or plastic lidded containers would work best if you are making these for younger guests, or hey, for those holiday guests that have a designated driver.

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

Layers of pumpkin pie filling and creamy, no bake cheesecake are topped with cinnamon spiced cream cheese swirls in individual portions. A Disneyland-inspired treat.

Ingredients

Scale

Whipped Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 ounces (half a block) cream cheese
1/4 cup (55 g) unsalted butter
1–1/2 cups (188 g) powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch salt

Pumpkin Pie Filling:

1/4 cup (65 g) heavy cream
2/3 cup (180 g) pumpkin purée
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2–1/2 tbsp brown sugar (47 g)
pinch salt

Cheesecake Layer (adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction):

1/2 cup (4 oz) heavy cream
4 ounces cream cheese (half a block)
3 tablespoons (45 g) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon (15 g) sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping:

crystallized ginger (see notes below)
brown sugar

Specialty Tools:

Ateco #843 closed star pastry tip
pastry bag
Weck tulip jam jars

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Instructions

Whipped Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on high speed for several minutes, cream together the cream cheese and the butter until light and fluffy, and fully combined.
Next, add in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly mix together until all the powdered sugar has been incorporated, and then bring the mixer to high speed until fully mixed, and frosting is light and fluffy.
Add the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a small closed star (like Ateco #843). Set aside.

Pumpkin Pie Filling Layer:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour in the heavy cream and whip until very soft peaks form. You want the cream to still slip off a spoon, but not be liquid-y.
Then remove the whisk and add the paddle attachment.
Add in pumpkin purée, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, and salt. Gently mix until combined.
Set aside.

Cheesecake Layer:

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cold heavy cream into stiff peaks on medium-high speed, about 3-4 minutes. Gently remove into a separate bowl. Set aside.
Next, switch to a paddle attachment and in the same empty bowl you whipped the cream in, add in the cream cheese, sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract together on medium-high speed until smooth and no more lumps.
Gently fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture by using a rubber spatula to cut down through the center of the mix, scooping through the bottom left, giving the bowl a quarter turn, and then repeating until the whipped cream is just barely incorporated. Set aside.

Assembly:

In a clean jar, add about 1/4 cup (2 ounce #16 disher) of the cheesecake mixture to each jar.
Next add in the same amount of the pumpkin filling.
Finally, dot the top of the pumpkin filling with small stars made of the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Dust with finely chopped crystallized ginger or brown sugar. Enjoy!

Notes

Components can be refrigerated up to 5 days beforehand separately and then assembled to serve, or assembled into jars, sealed and kept refrigerated for 5 days.
Granulated ginger can also be used and mixed with brown sugar as a topping.
The dessert can also be assembled into a trifle dish for one larger serving.
Tempered glass jars, like Wean Green, or plastic lidded containers would work best if you are making these for younger guests as the Weck jars are fragile and can break easily.

Haul-O-Ween Churros

October 28, 2019 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

These treats can be found at the Cozy Cone Motel in DCA during Halloween Time.

One treat Disneyland is (mostly) good at transforming each season are their churros. When a new foodie guide is out, expect to see several variations and themes. For this Halloween season, there were a number of delicious options, but for today, I chose to recreate the Haul-O-Ween churro.

Now, it might look like a crazy concoction some child cooked up in their Fisher-Price kitchen, but believe me, this was surprisingly good. Even with its edible green slime, and cookie and candy decorations, this churro treat was not too sweet. The cookie crumb coating worked really well with the classic cinnamon-sugar churro flavor; just adding a hint of cocoa.

Now, with this post I’ve gone and updated the piping tip that I usually use to a larger, closed star style. This resulted in a thicker, wider churro that was able to hold on to more cookie crumbs. Despite the size, it fried up light and crisp and this might be my new favorite churro style. I’m going to write up a quick kitchen tip post soon comparing the two types of pastry tips so you can decide which way you’d like your churros. Expect that excerpt here when that drops.

Also, let’s discuss the edible green slime for a minute. The description for the treat lists it as icing but it didn’t really, well, taste like icing. In fact, it didn’t have too much of a taste except kinda sweet, but not too sweet, and so I just made the executive decision here to make a thin style pudding and use that to decorate, and also dip my churros in for a sauce. It worked just fine. (Maybe next time at the park I’ll just ask for a side of sauce and take it home when it’s a little mysterious like this…)

Once the churros have cooled slightly, kids can take over coating and decorating the treats. Give kids edible green slime and they are gonna have some fun. But don’t worry adults, you’ll have fun with this too.

As usual, we’ve got plenty of notes and tips following the recipe, so please check those out. Now let’s get ready to churrrrroooooooooo!

Haul-O-Ween Churros

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 10–16 churros (depending on tip size) 1x

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Description

These delightfully fun classic cinnamon-sugar churros get the Oogie-Boogie treatment for Halloween with a cookie crumb coating, edible green slime, creme filled cookies, and candy toppings. A Disneyland-inspired treat.

Ingredients

Scale

Edible Green Slime:

1 package of vanilla instant pudding
milk or milk alternative per instructions on the box, plus 1/4 cup (see notes below)
1–2 drops of green food coloring (Americolor “Leaf Green” used here)

Churro:

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
big pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
vegetable oil for frying
12 creme filled cookies, like Oreos
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Additional Toppings:

candy corn
gummy worms
Oreo cookies, slightly crushed

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Instructions

For the green slime:

Make vanilla pudding according to instructions, adding in any additional milk to thin it out (see notes below).
Add in 1-2 drops of food coloring and stir well.
Chill, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the churros:

First, line two half sized sheet pans with parchment, set aside. Mix together 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and cinnamon in a long shallow bowl or loaf pan, set aside.
Next, crush cookies in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin until finely ground. Alternatively, you can pulse in a food processor until a sand-like consistency forms. Set aside in a large, shallow bowl.
In a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, or until butter has melted.
Turn burner to low and pour in all the flour at once. Stir until there are no visible flour lumps and dough has begun to stick together in a ball and pulled away from the sides of the pan.
Remove pan from heat and let sit 5 minutes. Then stir in each egg until incorporated. Dough will appear to break or become lumpy. Continue to stir until it forms a smooth, sticky dough.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 1 M open star tip (for thinner churros) or with a Ateco 847 closed star tip (for thicker churros) half full with batter (see notes below on filling pastry bags) and pipe 6-8″ long dough onto the sheet pan. I was able to fill two sheet pans with all the batter.
Refrigerate dough at least 30 minutes and up to two days. Batter will stiffen the more it sits, so let the dough come to room temperature before frying. (Note below for frying immediately after making dough)
Fill a dutch oven or deep frying pan with vegetable oil at least 2″ up the side of the pan (I found a 1/2 gallon of avocado oil worked for me in my large dutch oven. See note below about reusing oil.). Heat oil to 340-350°f, using a candy thermometer to keep the temperature constant. You may need to adjust heat up or down during cooking.
Place churros 2-3 at a time in the cooking oil for 6 minutes, turning after 3 minutes with a spatula or spider. Wait until oil comes back to temperature before adding next batch. Thicker churros may need an additional minute to fully cook through.
Using a spider or large spatula, remove churros from oil and drain on a cooling rack over parchment or on a paper towel. Wait at least a minute and then toss the churro in the cinnamon sugar, tapping off any excess. Then roll churro in the cookie crumbs, lightly pressing to adhere. Set churro aside. Repeat with all the churros.

Decoration:

Plate churros and top with edible green slime, candy corn, crushed Oreo pieces, and gummy worms.
Enjoy!

Notes

To make a thinner style pudding, add in about a 1/4 to 1/3 cup extra of milk or milk alternative to the pudding. This will make a more liquid sauce for the churro. Keep measurements the same if you want it thicker.
Do not overfill your pastry bag! Fill in two to three batches. If there is too much dough, it will seep out the top and will be hard to pipe.
Slowly pipe out dough all of a consistent size, smaller spots on the churro can cause them to become more fragile while handling and can break in the oil or while coating in sugar.
Churro dough can be piped out onto parchment and covered in the fridge up to 48 hours.
If you want to make you churros immediately after making dough without the chilling time, once oil has reached temp, starting about one inch above the oil, pipe a small line of dough down into oil and either snip end with scissors, or break the dough off the pastry tip on the side of your pan. Follow directions above for frying.
Thicker churros will require a longer cooking time to fully cook through the center. Test one churro first to adjust your cooking time.
Cooking oil can be fine strained and stored again for another use. I strain back into the bottle it came from. Well strained oil can be stored in a cool, dry place and used up to several times.
Churros curling? That could be one of a few reasons. One is that it will naturally shrink and change shape as the dough hits the oil and puffs up. I found that the stiffer dough from sitting in the fridge resulted in straighter churros while fresher dough tending to curl more. Also, if you’re using a circular pot like a dutch oven, churros may rest against the inside edge of the pan while cooking causing them to take on the curved shape of the pan. To prevent this, nudge your churro with the spider or spatula immediately after placing in oil when it pops back up to the surface. Continue to nudge gently back and forth for about 20-40 seconds or until the dough has gotten stiff in the oil.

Churro Toffee

August 26, 2019 by Elana Lepkowski 3 Comments

Where can I find the original treat?

These treats can be found all over the Disneyland Resort.

I heard about Churro Toffee long before I ever tried it. Several Disney food accounts I follow on Instagram would frequently sing the praises of this spiced, sweet treat reminiscent of the classic Disneyland churro with lots of drooling emojis and exclamation points; I was intrigued. I had to make it.

But first I had to try it! The Disneyland resort has a few places you can pick this up from. I dropped in to Marceline’s in Downtown Disneyland to get mine. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can watch the candy makers make Churro Toffee in the window there (but mostly they’re making candy apples).

The trickiest part of this recipe is getting the toffee just right. You’d think with what is really just two, sometimes three, ingredients, this would be an easy recipe to make… but it can go very wrong if you’re not paying attention to temperature. Here, both the temperature of the stove, and the temperature of the mixture are very important. If the heat on your stove is too high, the mixture can “break” or separate and you’ll end up with an oily mess headed straight for the garbage. Also, if you let your mixture get too hot, it will burn, and nothing is going to save it. Nothing. So, if you’re new to toffee making, please go get yourself a candy thermometer. But if this isn’t your first time at the toffee rodeo, proceed as usual.

After you’ve got a solid toffee base, you’re in the clear and this treat comes together fairly easily. Once the toffee is set, it gets a quick dip in melted white chocolate and then takes a cinnamon sugar bath. Kids can help with this part! You’ll need to wait a little while before eating because the white chocolate needs to harden (but even when it’s still a little soft you can sneak a bite. I sure did!).

So now that we’ve talked up this sweet treat, let’s get to making some! Read through all the tips at the end of this recipe too and drop a comment below if you’ve got a question!

Churro Toffee

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 4 large squares 1x

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Description

Buttery english toffee is covered in white chocolate and dusted with a layer of cinnamon-sugar, reminiscent of the classic churro! A Disneyland-inspired treat.

Ingredients

Scale

For the Churro Toffee:

1 cup salted butter (if using unsalted add 1/4 teaspoon)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts (see notes on home roasting below)
white chocolate melting wafers
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

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Instructions

For the toffee base:

First, spray or grease an 8×8″ baking pan and then line with parchment.
Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the parchment and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the sugar, butter, and water together. Stir occasionally until butter is melted. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan, careful not to let it touch the very bottom of the pan.
Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring occasionally until it turns an amber brown (this could read 290-305 F on a candy thermometer). The mixture can burn very quickly at this point so as soon as it gets brown, remove from the stove and pour into the prepared pan.
The mixture will start to set up pretty quickly, but move to the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to firm up more. After this point, use a dough scrapper to divide the toffee into 4 large squares (you can always do smaller too if you’d like). Then place back into the refrigerator to completely firm up, about one hour.

For the churro coating:

About 15 minutes before the hour is up, set up your dipping station.
In a medium sized work bowl large enough to fit a square of toffee, mix together 1 cup of sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl, like glass, pour in the white chocolate melting wafers. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave again for an additional 30 seconds. Keep stirring and microwaving in short bursts of 15-20 seconds until melted and smooth. Use can alternatively use a double boiler for melting. Set aside.
Remove toffee from the refrigerator and let sit for 5 minutes to come to room temperature. Then dip one square into the white chocolate, letting excess drip off (you can also use a popsicle stick to remove any excess from the edge). Then immediately dip into the cinnamon sugar mixture, turning around the square so that it is evenly covered. Set aside on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Repeat above dipping steps for next three pieces.
Let the squares sit about an hour at room temperature to fully harden and then enjoy!

Notes

Toffee can reach temperatures of over 300°F so please use caution in the kitchen! Wear gloves, an apron, closed toe shoes, and use a candy thermometer. Keep children away when handling hot sugar.
If the butter separates it could be for a few reasons. One could be that your stove heat is too hot. Keep it around medium for the whole time. Another could be that your butter has a high fat ratio (like European style butters). Also, don’t stir too much after it has reached a boil, just every few minutes should be ok.
I tried this with half the amount of the butter and sugar and found it kept burning easily so I’d keep this as the smallest amount to make and then you can double or triple your batch from there.
If chocolate starts to cool after it is melted, microwave for 5-10 seconds and give it a stir.
Use very hot water to remove stubborn toffee from pans and utensils.
If you cannot find roasted peanuts in the store, you can roast raw peanuts at home by laying them on a baking sheet and baking at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes. giving them a turn about halfway through.

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Don’t wake up at 4am for breakfast doughnuts! Start them the night before!

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