I am a card-carrying Disney fanatic.Yup, that’s me!My kids are also Disney fanatics. And Lenny, well… he’s a little Goofy!!!
On our latest trip to the “world” in February, I desperately wanted to check out Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney Springs. I had heard such amazing things about their cookies, and the whole aesthetic of their shop. I was dying to go there.
The problem is, you can’t just walk into Gideon’s at any time. You have to join their virtual queue. So I planned two trips to Disney Springs during our week at Disney and hoped for the best.
Our first attempt was early in our weeklong stay. We got to Disney Springs about 5:30, thinking that we would have some time to do some shopping before our 7:00 dinner reservation.We wandered a bit and eventually found ourselves at Gideon’s, where we were told that the virtual queue was closed for the evening.Darn. Strike one.
We went back to Disney Springs later in the week, but this was a weekend night, so I was not hopeful of getting into Gideon’s. This time we went immediately to the shop, and arrived to where we were told the virtual queue person would be at about 4:00 p.m.There was no one there.So we went to the shop front and asked a cast member.We were told the queue was closed because they had about 5 1/2 hours of people inline already.Strike 2.
Then things started to look up.This very nice CM said that if we wanted to come back around 10:00 p.m., they may open for walk ins at that time.Yes.
So that’s what we did. We arrived back at Gideon’s after having dinner at The Boathouse (really good, highly recommend, 10/10). And…SCORE!!!! We were told that we could get right in line.WOOOOHOOOOOO.
Everything in Gideon’s was very cool.The whole Victorian/gothic vibe was very interesting. I read someone describe it as “Haunted Mansion meets the Wizarding World of Harry Potter meets Pop Gallery and Funko Pops”.That is an excellent description. It was the kind of place you just wanted to hang around and explore.
And they had cookies…amazing, huge, ½ pound cookies.We got 6 and, since it was our last night, ended up bringing them home with us. WOW.Just WOW.So good. Much too big to eat in one sitting (unless you are really hungry). But really, really good.
Since we got back and finished those cookies, I’ve been wanting to try a copycat recipe. I did some internet research and found lots of great ideas for the recipe. So I gave it a shot. Here is what I came up with.
Tips:
- I used my kitchen scale to measure out the dough, so that the dough balls were all about the same size.Mine were 5 oz. without the outside chips, and about 7 oz. with them.
- Patience is the key when covering the dough balls with the chips. It takes time, but it is well worth it.
- I used a baking stone for these cookies, and I highly recommend it if you have one.Make sure you preheat the stone in the oven.
- I found that 15 minutes was a good amount of time to bake the cookies. The Gideon’s cookies are very moist inside. If you like your cookies a bit drier, you may want to cook them longer.
My results?So good!In fact, one of my daughter’s friends has asked me to make him these Gideon’s Copycats for his birthday!
Please let me know if you try this recipe. I’d love to hear from you.Follow me onInstagram,PinterestandFacebookfor more stories and recipes from my family table to yours.
Gideon’s Bakehouse Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 cups chocolate chips, semi-sweet
- sea salt flakes (for sprinkling)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Add vanilla and then eggs, one at a time, mixing completely after each addition.
- Sift flours, cornstarch, baking soda and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture and mix until just combined.
- Mix 2 cups of chocolate chips into dough using your hands or the paddle attachment on a stand mixture. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes to overnight.
- Pour 4 cups of chocolate chips into a large bowl and set aside.
- Shape chilled dough into large balls. Cover entire surface of dough balls with chocolate chips from the large bowl. Be patient…this takes time.
- Place 6 dough balls on ungreased baking sheet or stone. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes until golden brown.
- Sprinkle each cookie with sea salt flakes to taste.
