WDW

Caramel Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches

December 18, 2022 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

Whoopie pies, mini cakes, giant cookies, give me a handheld dessert to walk around and snack on at the parks and I’m a happy person. One favorite handheld dessert at EPCOT has a cult-like following, and for good reason, it’s DELICIOUS.

If you’re a caramel fan, then you’ve more than likely made your way over to Karamell-Küche (“caramel kitchen”) in EPCOT and tried one of the many, many amazing caramel-themed treats there. One absolute favorite on the menu is the seasonal Caramel Gingerbread cookie sandwiches. They are a sizeable handful of two oversized gingerbread cookies stuffed with American-style buttercream and oozing with Werther’s caramel. SO. GOOD.

So good in fact I had to make them at my home and share the recipe with you all, because after you’ve run out of your stash and your next trip is months away, this should hold you over.

Although there are three separate parts to this cookie, it comes together rather quickly. To keep it in-theme with the park version, I actually use Werther’s soft caramels and add some salt to them. It cuts down on making the caramel from scratch, although if that’s something you’d like to do, go for it!

The dough recipe is easy to work with and requires minimal chilling. They do spread, which is why I recommend scooping into balls and baking them without flattening. If you want to make these cookies smaller, reduce the bake time by a few minutes or they’ll get too hard.

And the buttercream is straight-up American style, so nothing fancy here. Just whip up the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream and you’re done.

This is super kid-friendly recipe, and most components can be done by even the littlest hands. Older kids can definitely help with the caramel melting by themselves, and since you’re just warming those candies, even younger kids with supervision can do that part. Let’s just remind them not to stick their fingers into the hot pan. And even some of the adults might need that reminder too…

So let’s make our own caramel kitchen today and bake some cookies! And remember to check all the way through the recipe for helpful tips and tricks.

Caramel Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 5 cookies 1x
Category: Dessert
Cuisine: German

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Description

These oversized, beautifully spiced gingerbread cookies sandwich a generous amount of buttercream and salted caramel. Inspired by the Karamell-Küche cookies found at EPCOT in WDW.

Ingredients

Scale

For the cookies:

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup molasses
1 tablespoon water
2–¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of kosher salt

For the buttercream:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups (454 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of kosher salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For the salted caramel sauce:

6 ounces (about 25 candies) Werther’s soft caramel candies, unwrapped
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon kosher salt

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Instructions

For the cookies:

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until whipped and fluffy-about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl half-way through.
Add in the egg and mix until fully incorporated. Then mix in the molasses and water.
Next, dump in the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Mix on low until no flour is visible, and then mix for an additional 30 seconds on medium-high until dough reaches the consistency of Play Doh.
Chill the dough for 15-20 minutes (I keep it in the mixing bowl). While dough chills, preheat oven to 350°f.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment. When dough is done chilling, use a 2 ounce disher (blue handled, #16) or ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop out balls of dough placing 5 balls on each cookie sheet. Keep about 2-3” of space between cookies, as these spread out while they bake.
Bake for 14-15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets until room temperature. Cookies will still be soft but will firm up as they cool.

For the buttercream frosting:

While the cookies are baking, make the frosting by first whipping the butter until creamy and lighter in color, about 1 minute. Next add in the powdered sugar, mixing on lowest setting until the powdered sugar has absorbed most of the butter. Stop, scrap down the sides, and then mix on medium high until it starts to whip up and resemble frosting.
Next, add in vanilla and cream, mixing on low, and then gradually increasing to high. Whip for two minutes until light and fluffy. Set aside.
When cookies are room temperature, move frosting to a piping bag fitting with a round piping tip. Pipe the frosting onto the bottom cookie half in a spiral starting from the center and moving outward. Set aside.

For the salted caramel sauce:

To make the caramel sauce, combine the unwrapped caramels, water, and salt into a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When the caramels start to soften, mix continuously until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
When the caramel is still pourable, but not super liquidy, drizzle over the buttercream halves (if the caramel is too hot, it will melt the buttercream). Top with the other cookie half and enjoy!

Notes

Dough can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
If you want to make smaller cookies, reduce cooking time by about 5 minutes.
Cookies can be baked ahead of time and stored in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days. They can also be individually wrapped and frozen up to 4 months.
This frosting will make slightly more than you need. Extra frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Let come to room temp and re-whip if necessary before using.
Frosting can also be spread onto the cookies instead of piped if you prefer.
Any unused caramel sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month. If sauce sticks in the pan, re-warm slightly until soft and then transfer to the container.
Assembled cookies can be stored tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 5 Cookies

Carrot Cake Cookies

January 30, 2022 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Where can I find the original treat?

This treat can be found at the Trolley Car Cafè inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Carrot cake is high up there on my list of desserts I’m more than happy to consume on a regular basis. And, if Disney is calling their cakes cookies now, encouraging me to believe that their handheld treat could quite possibly be a one person, one serving item (cause a singular cookie would fit that bill), then I’m here for this logic. I’m also here today to show you how to make your own version at home.

I’m just throwing it out there that this might be one of my favorite recipes on this site so far. I was more than happy to test this recipe many times, and my recipe testers came back saying they licked their plates clean. So I hope you walk away from this with the same enthusiasm.

What makes these great is that the cakes are moist, and with the small grate on the carrots, they’re evenly spread out throughout the cakes with lots of cinnamon spice. And the frosting! OMG the frosting is so good and makes plenty to fill these cakes, erm, cookies with. You might even have some extra left over in which case you should put that to good use on some butter cookies, or, you know, just eat it straight.

Older kids in the kitchen can help grate the carrots, and kids of all ages can help mix the batter and frosting. Small kids can even help pipe the frosting once you’ve put it in the bag for them.

What pan should I use to make these?

While many fans of this “cookie” refer to them as whoopie pies, you would think to use a whoopie pie pan. But, look at those sides!! You cannot get that height with a standard whoopie pie pan (and yes, this is an actual baking tool that exists and you can buy). What I found to work are 4″ cake pans. These give a great straight edge and hold lots of batter too.

So, if you’re New Year’s resolution was to eat more vegetables, or cake, you can knock both of those out with these cookies. Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Cookies

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 Carrot Cake Cookies 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Baking
Cuisine: Comfort Food

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Description

Sweet, cream cheese frosting is sandwiched between two oversized carrot cake “cookies” in this shareable snack for two! A Disney World-inspired treat.

Ingredients

Scale

Carrot Cake Cookies:

2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (297 g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/3 cup neutral oil, like avocado or canola
3 eggs
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
2 cups (105 g) carrots, grated
1/2 cup (70 g) raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, not whipped, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups (454 g) powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Instructions

For the carrot cake cookies:

Preheat oven to 350°f. Grease and flour 6 4″ cake pans and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In a large mixing glass, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine and pour into the dry ingredients.
Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until no flour pockets remain. Gently stir the carrots and raisins in until evenly distributed.
Divide the mixture evenly between the 6 cake pans (each will get just over a 1/2 cup of mixture). Give the pans a tap on the counter to release any air bubbles and even out the mixture.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool about 10 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack to completely cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting and decoration:

While cakes are cooling, make the frosting.
In a mixing bowl, whip together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Add in the powdered sugar and slowly begin to mix (speed 1-2) until it starts to combine, and then turn to high (speed 10) until well combined. Add in vanilla extract and whip until smooth and creamy.
Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a closed star tip nozzle.
Take each cooled cake and cut in half lengthwise (across the equator). Pipe a swirl of frosting covering the entire cut side of the bottom cake. Place the top half of cake on top and set aside. Continue with all 5 cakes.
Enjoy immediately or store in an air-tight container up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Notes

I’ve found that the bagged grated carrots from the store are too large for this recipe and also have a very “earthy” flavor. I would suggest grating the carrots by hand on a box grater for a smaller size, or, cutting down the pre-shredded carrots before mixing into the batter.
Want to quickly warm up your butter and cream cheese without fear of melting in the microwave? Cube both into small pieces and they should be warm enough to whip up in about 15 minutes.
If you’re having trouble cutting the cakes in half, wait several hours until they are fully cooled. If they’re still giving you trouble, freeze them for an hour to help them firm up more. Use a serrated knife to help cut through lengthwise.
Extra frosting can be refrigerated up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or frozen up to 3 months. Re-whip once defrosted.

Twice Upon a Cupcake

December 23, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Christmas Tree Cupcakes // magicaltreatsathome.com

Where can I find the original treat?

This holiday treat was found at the Main Street Bakery inside the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

During the holidays your baking is allowed to be… extra. And today we’ve got an “extra” cupcake. As in, there is a cupcake sitting on top of another cupcake. See? Extra.

Actually, there is a cupcake sitting on top of a cupcake with a hidden Mickey cake ball inside. Sooooo extra. And let’s be real. This is fun to make, but there’s a lot of components. You can definitely make just some of these parts, but if you’re missing Disney treats on Main Street this holiday season, then this is a fun project.

The recipe below is broken down into three components: cake balls, confetti tree cupcakes, and the surrounding base for the cupcake. These can be done simultaneously, or broken up into steps over days depending on how much time you have. I’m also noting that usually, I make the red velvet cake balls with cream cheese icing, but I found that regular American buttercream works better here (it doesn’t “weep” like the cream cheese does when molding and freezing).

The only thing I deviated from in the original treat was the sugar light bulbs. For a home baker, I thought going through this step would feel like overkill. Instead I piped out buttercream lights, refrigerated them, and used for the lights. Then, my 6 year old looked at the trees and asked “why didn’t I just use M&Ms?”, and honestly, I would have just done that had I thought of it. So, I’m recommending that for convenience here as well.

Kids can help in all parts of the baking and decorating stages here. My kids mostly liked adding the M&Ms to their half trees (in the picture below I piped some frosting onto an extra confetti “tree” cupcake and let them decorate and eat that part).

Now, the hidden Mickey part of these is probably the hardest of these cupcakes. And what is the secret to getting a hidden Mickey every time you make a cut? Simple! You actually create a ring, or halo, over the ball in the center. Then no matter where you make the cut to reveal the hidden Mickey, you’ll get one! They are tricky though, and as you can see, mine were prone to separate when baking. My suggestion is that you really seal the ball and the ring together. I had placed mine just on top, and the cake batter pushed the ring up a bit. You could also pin them together with toothpicks and take the toothpicks out when done baking (and PLEASE remember to do that as I do not want you to harm your mouth eating treats!).

Anyway you decided to make these, whether the full cupcakes, just the trees, or without the hidden Mickey centers, these are a delightful treat to have this holiday week.

Happy baking, happy holidays, and I’ll see you all in the New Year!

Twice Upon a Cupcake

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 4–6 Twice Upon a Cupcake cupcakes 1x

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Description

A decadent holiday cupcake has TWO hidden treats inside that are revealed when you cut through the cupcake. Did you find the hidden Mickey? A Walt Disney World inspired treat.

Ingredients

Scale

For the Buttercream and decorations:

1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup butter, room temperature
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cream
green food coloring (I used Americolor Leaf green)
Optional food coloring if making buttercream light decorations: red, yellow, blue
Red, yellow, and blue M&Ms for lights

For the red velvet hidden Mickey center:

Adapted from Dessert for Two

95 g (3/4 cup) flour
4 teaspoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil or neutral oil
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar
scant 1/4 cup (57 g) Greek yogurt
1 egg
Red food coloring (see notes below for type and amounts)
1/4 tsp vanilla

For the Cupcakes (and Sprinkle Funfetti Tree Cupcakes):

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1–1/2 cups (180 g) all purpose flour
1–1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup green and red sprinkles

Specialty Tools:

Tall baking cups
popover pan
piping bags
closed star tip (Ateco #847 used here)

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Instructions

For the buttercream:

First, make sure your powdered sugar is lump free. Sift if needed.
Then, beat the butter and salt together for a minute until light and fluffy.
Pour in the powdered sugar and slowly mix until they start to combine about 30 seconds. Then turn up the speed to high and beat together until mixture starts to become fluffy in texture.
Add in the vanilla and cream, and beat on high an additional minute or two until desired texture is reached. If dry, add in an additional teaspoon of cream. Set aside covered with a damp, not wet, towel.

For the red velvet hidden Mickey center:

Preheat oven to 350°f and grease and flour a 6″ round cake pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the oil, warm water, granulated sugar, Greek yogurt, egg, red food coloring, and vanilla.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Pour into prepared baking pan and bake 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan 5 minutes, turn out the cake onto a cooling rack, and let completely cool at least one hour.
Then crumble the cake into pea sized crumbs and place in a mixing bowl.
Add to the crumbs about 1/4 cup of the buttercream frosting. Mix well until combined.
Next, roll out 4-6 small round balls, these will be the heads. Set aside on a parchment lined baking sheet.
With the remaining cake pop dough, roll out thin snakes (you can use plastic wrap to help roll out the snakes). Form the snakes into rings and place on the balls. You can use toothpicks to hold in place. Press firmly to help seal the two together. Place in freezer until ready to use.

For the cupcakes:

Set the oven to 350°f. Set out tall cupcake holders (you will not need a cupcake tray for the freestanding molds). Then, using tin foil, shape out a conical mold for the tree tops. (You can use a popover pan to hold the molds in place, or place the tin foil mold in a tall baking cup). Make sure there are no gaps or holes or your batter will leak. Optionally, you can also cook off some funfetti cupcakes in regular molds, freeze, and then cut to shape.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Next, beat in eggs one at a time until incorporated. Then add in vanilla and 1/4 cup of the milk.
Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt, and then the rest of the milk. Set aside.
Remove red velvet cake pops from freezer and place into freestanding baking molds. Spoon batter over cake pops until about 2/3 of mold is filled. Place in oven for 25-28 minutes.
Next, add sprinkles to remaining batter and mix to combine. Do not over mix.
Pour sprinkle batter into conical molds, and place in oven for 22-26 minutes. Both cupcakes can bake in the oven at the same time, but keep separate timers.
When finished baking, let cool to room temperature. Funfetti cupcakes can be kept in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up if they need to be cut to shape.

Decorating:

If piping lights, remove about a half cup of frosting. Divide into three bowls and color one bowl red, another yellow, and lastly blue. Then transfer to small piping bags with a round tip. Pipe out circles onto a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate at least an hour to firm up.
If not piping lights and using M&Ms instead, remove about 1/2 cup of frosting into a plain tipped piping bag and pipe a circle on top of the base cupcakes. Place the funfetti trees on top of that. Then proceed to coloring all the remaining frosting green by adding 2-3 drops of gel food coloring into the frosting bowl. Mix well to fully incorporate the color and then transfer all of the frosting to a piping bag fitted with an closed star tip (I used Ateco #847).
Pipe out closed stars for the trees all over the funfetti cakes.
Next, if using buttercream lights, remove those from the fridge and place immediately onto the green frosting. If you using M&Ms, place those on the frosting. Repeat until all cupcakes are decorated.
Enjoy!

Notes

If cocoa powder is lumpy, sift before using.
If you are using grocery store food coloring, you will need about 1-1/2 teaspoons of red food coloring to get the cake a nice bright red. If you were using a gel paste from like Americolor, you will need about a quarter teaspoon or two big squirts from the bottle.
Cake crumbs should be small and no larger than a pea.
Cake balls should not be too wet or too dry to hold their shape properly. If too wet, add more cake crumbles. If too dry, add more frosting a small bit at a time.
M&Ms candies can be used instead of piping buttercream lights.
To prevent cake pop from moving inside the cupcake when baking, use toothpicks to hold together in place. REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS BEFORE DECORATING.
Cupcakes will keep up to 4 days refrigerated in an airtight container. Let come to room temperature before eating.
Extra buttercream can be kept in an airtight container up to a week, or frozen up to 3 months.
Extra cake batter can be baked off for regular cupcakes. Reduce bake time by 2-3 minutes.

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.

Mickey Mouse Fruity Pebbles Crispy Treats

August 30, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski Leave a Comment

Mickey Mouse Fruity Pebble Crispy Treats // magicaltreatsathome.com

These were inspired by the Disney Parks Mickey Mouse shaped crispy treats.

If you’ve come to this site over the past year you’ll have noticed that I’m a BIG fan of Disneyland’s crispy treats. And who could blame me? They’re relatively easy to make and there is always a cute seasonal design. However, we don’t always keep the cereal on hand at home. So, after making the Baked Fruity Pebbles Doughnuts earlier this week, I thought, Hey! I could turn it into a crispy treat! And I’m so happy I did.

I kept it Mickey shaped because it’s my favorite shape, although you can always use whatever cutter you have on hand, or to make it super easy on yourself, just cut into squares (or rip off bits like my husband does). To compliment the flavor of the cereal, I drizzled some white chocolate over the whole thing and that really made this a complete recipe for me.

As an adult, Fruity Pebbles just taste like bergamot to me (which is the citrus flavoring used in Earl Gray tea). So I needed to tone that down a bit seeing as this was going to be one gigantic treat chock full of that cereal’s flavor. Yes, the cereal is sweet, the marshmallows are sweet, so why choose white chocolate? It just worked. Using a semi sweet or milk chocolate would be heavy here and dull the flavor. White chocolate balances everything flavor wise.

Once you’ve gotten the treats into the pan and cooled, kids can help cut out shapes. Depending on their age, they can help melt the chocolate in the microwave, and can drizzle on their own designs. Just watch that they don’t try to eat all the melted chocolate.

So, if you’re a fan of Disney’s crispy treats and want to venture out into new and bold cereal flavors, give this recipe a try!

Mickey Mouse Fruity Pebbles Crispy Treats

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 3 Mickey Mouse Fruity Pebbles Crispy Treats 1x

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Description

Turn your breakfast cereal into an anytime snack with these Mickey Mouse shaped Fruity Pebbles crispy treats! A Disney inspired treat!

Ingredients

Scale

For the crispy treat:

2 tablespoons butter or vegan butter substitute, unsalted
3 cups mini marshmallows or ~30 regular sized marshmallows
3 cups Fruity Pebbles cereal

For the chocolate:

3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Specialty Tools:

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Instructions

For the crispy treat:

Before beginning, line a loaf pan with parchment.
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 Fruity Pebbles 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). Set aside for at least an hour in the refrigerator (or 20 minutes in the freezer) so that the mixture can firm up enough to cut shapes.
When the treats have firmed up, use a Mickey Mouse cutter to cut out your shapes. Set aside.

For the white chocolate:

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave inside a microwave safe bowl, like glass, for 20 seconds. Stir and microwave again for an additional 15-20 seconds. Keep stirring and microwaving in short bursts of 15-20 seconds until melted and smooth. You can alternatively use a double boiler for melting. OR you can directly melt in a heat safe pastry bag similar to how you’d melt in the bowl. (20 second bursts, kneading bag in-between)
When melted, transfer to a pastry bag (if you did not melt directly in one), snip off the tip, and drizzle over the crispy treat shapes. You can also drizzle with a spoon from the bowl.
Repeat with all treats. Set aside in the refrigerator for 15 minutes and then enjoy.

Notes

Use a smaller pan than you think you’ll need for this. 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.
After you’ve cut out your treats, extra cereal/marshmallow mixture can be recombined by hand and cut again (or just combined and shaped into another treat by hand).
Treats can be kept in an air-tight container refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Karamell-Küche Caramel Drizzled Mickey Mouse Crispy Treat

July 16, 2020 by Elana Lepkowski 2 Comments

Mickey Mouse Caramel Chocolate Crispy Treat // magicaltreatsathome.com

Where can I find the original treat?

This Walt Disney World treat was found in Epcot at Karamell–Küche.

I am in a Facebook group with a bunch of people who are fanatical about the caramel corn from Karamell-Küche inside the Germany pavillion at Epcot. But you will probably never see a recipe for that here for one little reason… I hate popcorn. From the smell to the tiny shells getting stuck in my gums, everything about popcorn is just a miss for me. I do, however, thoroughly enjoy the buttered popcorn flavor from Jelly Belly, and “butter” is my favorite flavor of KitKat. You WILL see some caramel treats from Karamell-Küche on here though, just not the popcorn. And today, we’ll be making the caramel drizzled Mickey Mouse shaped crispy treat.

Back in March I panicked about what might be hard to get once we were in quarantine and I ended up with a case of marshmallows. A case. Of marshmallows. You all might want to buckle up for more crispy treats and marshmallow wand ideas because I’ve got PLENTY.

Over the past year of making these Disney-inspired treats I’ve come to realize that I’m a real fan of cripsy treats. Well, most any treat on a stick I guess. And the Disney team gets very creative and cute with these, and right now I’m especially into this version from Karamell-Küche at Epcot. At its base, a plain crispy treat is delicious. But this version, besides being a fun Mickey Mouse shape, is coated in chocolate and drizzled in caramel. The combination, although simple, hits so many right notes, in my mouth.

I’ve also learned a new technique for decoration from those candy masters that I’ll share with you today if you’re interested in getting nice clean lines for decorations on the odd angles you find with a Mickey Mouse crispy treat. Hint: grab a piping bag.

For the caramel, you can optionally decorate a few ways. One is to just buy yourself some caramel sauce if you want the easiest method. Second, you can melt caramel squares with some milk or cream and a little water and then go from there. Or, if you’ve got the time, make caramel sauce from scratch. As always, I’ve got all the info you need in the recipe below.

Kids love to decorate, so for this recipe, once cooled, kids can help cut out the Mickey Mouse shapes. And then they can decorate with the warm melted chocolate. Depending on which route you take for the caramel they may be able to help decorate with the drizzle. Just remember, cooked caramel on the stove is SUPER HOT and little hands might want to get in there and taste it. Don’t let that happen.

Epcot might be open to some people right now, but it’s slim pickings at Karamell-Küche, so stay home, make a batch of these caramel drizzled crispy treats, and maybe watch a YouTube video of last years Garden Festival. Enjoy!

Karamell-Küche Caramel Drizzled Mickey Mouse Crispy Treat

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 3 Caramel Drizzled Mickey Mouse Crispy Treats 1x

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Description

The classic Mickey Mouse crispy treat is made into a decadent goodie with a dip in semisweet chocolate and topped with buttery caramel. A Walt Disney World inspired treat!

Ingredients

Scale

For the crispy treat:

2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
3 cups mini marshmallows or ~30 regular sized marshmallows
3 cups crisped rice cereal

For the chocolate:

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

For the caramel:

14 individually wrapped caramels/4 ounces/115 g/ 1/2 cup
(OR 1/4 cup store bought caramel sauce or homemade caramel sauce from scratch)
1 tablespoon cream or milk
1 teaspoon water

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Instructions

For the crispy treat:

Before beginning, line a loaf pan with parchment.
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). Set aside for at least an hour in the refrigerator (or 20 minutes in the freezer) so that the mixture can firm up enough to cut shapes.
When the treats have firmed up, use a Mickey Mouse cutter to cut out your shapes. Set aside.

For the chocolate layer:

Melt the semisweet chocolate 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. You can alternatively use a double boiler for melting. OR you can directly melt in a heat safe pastry bag similar to how you’d melt in the bowl. (20 second bursts, kneading bag in-between)
When melted, transfer to a pastry bag (if you did not melt directly in one), snip off the tip, and outline and fill the ears and top 1/3 of the head. Repeat with all treats. Set aside in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

For the caramel layer:

In a small sauce pan over low heat, combine the caramels, cream or milk, and water. Stir continuously until melted and smooth. Do not let the mixture sit or it could burn.
Once the mixture is melted and pour-able, take one crispy treat and hold over the saucepan. Drizzle caramel horizontally across the whole treat, lightly tapping any excess off back into the pan. Set aside on parchment and repeat until all treats are done. If sauce starts to stiffen, keep over a very low flame, stirring until smooth and pour-able again.
Enjoy!

Notes

Use a smaller pan than you think you’ll need for this. 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 crisped rice 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.
If crisped rice cereal is unavailable right now, use any kind of puffed grain, or cereal. Cocoa Pebbles would work here too!
After you’ve cut out your treats, extra cereal/marshmallow mixture can be recombined by hand and cut again (or just combined and shaped into another treat by hand).
If you do not have pastry bags, this can be dipped into the bowl you melted the chocolate in. Using a pastry bag ensures neater lines, nothing more.
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.
Leftover caramel can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to one month.
Treats can be kept in an air-tight container refrigerated for up to 3 days.

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.

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!

African Sunshine Cupcake (Sunflower Cupcake)

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Author: Elana Lepkowski
Yield: 6 Sunflower Cupcakes 1x

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Description

Bring a little sunshine into your home with these orange-chocolate cupcakes topped with bright yellow and green vanilla buttercream surrounding a pool of fudge and crisp chocolate pearls. A Walt Disney World inspired treat.

Ingredients

Scale

For the cupcakes (adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction):

3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (45g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup melted coconut oil or vegetable oil
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1–1/2 teaspoons orange extract
1/2 cup Greek yogurt, at room temperature

For the fudge:

4 ounces sweetened condensed milk
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the buttercream:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon heavy cream, milk, or nondairy milk
green gel paste food coloring (I used Americolor Leaf Green)
yellow gel paste food coloring (I used Americolor Lemon Yellow)

Chocolate crisp pearls for decoration

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Instructions

For the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with the baking cups. Set aside.
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and orange extract together until combined. Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then half of the Greek yogurt. Gently whisk until just combined. Repeat alternating with the remaining wet ingredients and Greek yogurt. Stir only until there are no visible white streaks of yogurt to avoid over-mixing the batter. This is a thin batter!
Fill baking cups halfway with batter. Bake for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before decorating. ** You will only need 6 for this recipe. Save the others for the cake pop recipe we’ll have in a few days!

For the fudge:

While the cupcakes are baking, combine the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate in a heat safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave an additional 30 seconds. If chocolate is still lumpy, microwave an additional 15 seconds. Stir rapidly until smooth.
Add vanilla extract in and stir to combine.
Set aside in fridge while cupcakes continue to bake. You’ll want a pour-able, but thick consistency. See notes below for making ahead.

For the frosting and decoration:

Cream the butter in a mixer until light and fluffy; about 1 – 2 minutes.
Add in powdered sugar and mix until all the sugar is incorporated.
Pour in vanilla and cream/milk and beat again for an additional 30 seconds. You want a stiffer buttercream to pipe the sharp edges of the leaf and flower petals. If buttercream seems too wet (flops off your spoon), beat in an additional 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Once desired consistency has been reached, scoop out 1/4 of the buttercream and put in a bowl big enough to mix it around in. Add in 2 drops of green food coloring for the leaves. Mix the frosting until no white remains and then transfer to a piping bag fitted with the leaf tip. Set aside.
Grab your fudge and spoon a small circle of fudge in the center of each cupcake, leaving room to pipe frosting on the outside (about a 1/4″).
Then, pipe 3-4 leaves on each cupcake starting from the fudge and moving to the edge of the wrapper, set aside. Remove piping tip, clean it, and fit onto a new piping bag.
To the remaining white frosting, add in 2-3 drops of the yellow food coloring. Mix well until there are no longer any white streaks. Transfer the yellow buttercream to the new piping bag.
Pipe sunflower petals around the edges of the fudge in 2-3 layers, piping over the leaves until desired number of petals have been created. You’ll want a small well to pour in the crisp pearls so keep that in mind when building your layers.
Finish your cupcakes by spooning about a tablespoon of chocolate crisp pearls into the center of each cupcake. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Notes

The remaining cupcakes can be tightly wrapped in clingwrap and frozen for up to 6 months or crumbled and saved for cake pops.
If fudge is made ahead of time, remove from the refrigerator at least an hour to hour and a half prior to cupcakes being cool for decoration. If fudge is still stodgy, scoop out a small ball and warm between your hands, forming a disc to top cupcake with.
If petal or leaf tips are not available, you can make a DIY tip with just a pastry bag. Cut an inverse V in the tip of the bag and continue with the same piping movements.
Any extra buttercream can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator the day before needed and rewhip until spreadable.

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