Love the food served at the Disney Parks? While we can’t take home the rides or just the feeling of being there, we can cook some of the dishes that make eating there so enjoyable. For that we have Ashley Craft, author of The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook: From Delicious Dole Whip to taste Mickey Pretzels, 100 Magical Disney-Inspired Recipes to thank.
From the book: “The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook offers one hundred easy recipes for the best of Disney’s magical cuisine. Whether you’ve been to the parks a hundred times and are craving your favorite Disney dishes, or you’re just looking for something Disney-inspired to make you feel like you’re on vacation, each recipe has been thoroughly tested to ensure a taste worthy of a certain mouse. The recipes are also organized based on the Disney Park where each one is featured, beginning with the first park to open, Disneyland, and ending with the newest park, Disney California Adventure.“
Craft grew up so close to Disney World that she fell asleep each night listening to the music coming from the park. She later worked there and about three years ago started her blog https://ashleycrafted.com/
Organized by parks, Craft’s recipes include dishes from Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney California Adventure. She opens each of her chapters with the park intro, the types of dishes you’ll find and a map so that you can actually located them.
A bestseller on both The Wall Street Journal Bestseller and USA TODAY Bestseller lists, the book is published by Adams Media ($14.99 Amazon price).
The following recipes are excerpted from The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook by Ashley Craft. Copyright © 2020 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
Photography by Harper Point Photography.
Mickey Pretzels
Serves 4
1.5 cups warm water (110°F)
1 (1⁄4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons salt, divided
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups plus 1 tablespoon room-temperature water, divided
1⁄4 cup baking soda
1 large egg
4 teaspoons Kosher salt
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add warm water and sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit 10 minutes.
Add brown sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Using the flat beater attachment, beat on low speed to combine. Mix in flour. Switch to dough hook attachment and knead 5 minutes. Dough should be smooth and elastic.
Remove dough and spray bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Return dough to bowl. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a large ungreased baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large pot over high heat, bring 4 cups water to a boil.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut dough into eight equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll dough into a rough heart shape. Using a sharp knife, lightly score or scrape the Mickey shape into the dough. Once you’ve achieved your desired shape, cut all the way through the dough.
Add baking soda to pot of boiling water. Working with one Mickey at a time, use a big, flat spatula to carefully lift a dough Mickey into baking-soda bath, and poach 15 seconds. Remove to prepared baking sheet.
In a small bowl, mix together egg and remaining 1 tablespoon water. Brush onto Mickeys. Sprinkle remaining salt over pretzels.
Bake until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Photography by Harper Point Photography.
Gaston’s Giant Cinnamon Rolls
Disney Parks have sold cinnamon rolls for a long time—regular, boring-sized cinnamon rolls. But in 2012, they upped their cinnamon roll game when they introduced the Warm Cinnamon Roll to their line-up. It is about 8″ square in size and is smothered in frosting and butterscotch topping. It is perfectly made for the man who eats five dozen eggs each day—or your whole family!
SERVES 8
For Dough
3⁄4 cup salted butter, melted, divided
1 1⁄2 cups whole milk
6 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 (1⁄4-ounce) packets active dry yeast
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup room-temperature water
2 large eggs
Grease a 9″×13″ pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.To make the Dough: In a medium bowl, combine 1⁄2 cup melted butter and milk.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 2 1⁄2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Add water, eggs, and butter mixture. Using the flat beater attachment, mix until well combined. Add remaining flour 1⁄2 cup at a time while mixing until Dough starts to form a ball.
Switch to the dough hook attachment and knead Dough on low speed 5 minutes.
Remove Dough from bowl, sprinkle some flour in bowl, and place Dough back in the same bowl. Let rise 10 minutes in a warm place.
For Filling
2 cups light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup salted butter, softened
To make Filling: In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter together. Set aside.
Roll out Dough into a long rectangle, about 3′ × 2′. Spread Filling evenly across the whole surface of the Dough. Starting at short end, roll Dough like a jelly roll. Make a cut in the center of the roll, and then cut about 6″ from the center on either side to make 2 giant rolls.
Place both rolls swirl-edge down in prepared pan.
Drizzle remaining 1⁄4 cup melted butter over rolls. Allow rolls to rise at room temperature 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Bake rolls 20 minutes, then cover loosely with foil and bake another 10 minutes.
For Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese
1⁄4 cup salted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream
To make Cream Cheese Frosting: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add cream cheese and butter. Combine and heat until melted, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in confectioners’ sugar. Add vanilla, cream, and salt. Stir, then set aside.
For Butterscotch Topping
1⁄2 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons salted butter, softened
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make Butterscotch Topping: In a separate medium saucepan over medium heat, add brown sugar, butter, and cream. Bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add salt and vanilla. Set aside.
To serve, place each giant roll on a large plate. Drizzle cream cheese frosting in one direction along each roll’s swirl, then drizzle with butterscotch in the other direction.
COOKING TIP
The dough leftover on either end of the giant rolls need not be wasted! Make cuts about 1–2 inches along the extra roll. Lay swirl-side down in a glass 9” x 13” baking dish greased with cooking spray and bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Mangonada Smoothies
Hollywood Land, Disney California Adventure
This delicious and refreshing Mexican treat sure helps beat the heat on a California summer day. The mix of salty, spicy, and sweet is so satisfying. Actually, a recent study found that adding salt to a sweet treat helps release the sugar flavors and brings out even more of the sweetness!
SERVES 2
1⁄2 cup pineapple juice
1⁄2 cup guava juice
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1⁄2 cup frozen peach chunks
1 whole fresh banana, peeled
4 teaspoons chamoy sauce, divided
1⁄2 cup fresh chopped mango
1⁄2 teaspoon chili-lime seasoning
Combine pineapple juice, guava juice, frozen mango chunks, frozen peach chunks, and banana in a blender and blend until smooth.
Drizzle 1 teaspoon chamoy sauce each inside walls of 2 drinking glasses. Divide smoothie mixture into glasses, add 1⁄4 cup fresh mango to each cup, drizzle another 1 teaspoon chamoy sauce in each glass, and sprinkle 1⁄4 teaspoon chili-lime seasoning on each.
The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook is s one of nine in a series of unofficial cookbooks that includes The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook and The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook, all published by Adams Media.
