Disney Springs is essentially a theme park where food is the main attraction! We are incredibly excited about a new food “attraction” coming to Disney Springs in 2020 — Gideon’s Bakehouse!
In Disney Springs, Gideon’s cookies used to only be offered in very limited quantities at The Polite Pig. We’re excited to get all of the giant (half pound each!!) cookies and even some giant cake slices when Gideon’s Bakehouse opens its own spot!
But, the wait for these delicious treats was killing us!! So, we decided to make a trip to Gideon’s current location in Orlando at the East End Market to see what we might expect when Gideon’s Bakehouse opens this year. Oh, and we had to sample the cookies — for research, of course! 😉
Atmosphere
Gideon’s current location has a quirky and fun vibe! At this location in the East End Market, Gideon’s has a small area to its own in a shared space with lots of other local businesses.
We’re excited to see what it will look like when they’ve got a dedicated space all to themselves in Disney Springs! At their current location, you can spot those delicious cookies in the racks to the back and all those boxes of delicious cookie orders!
The Gideon’s area has lots of old-style books covering the area, as well as lots of books lining the shelves in the back.
They’re really inviting us to go on a culinary adventure!
Looks like they’ve been ready to be part of the Disney fun for quite some time now — they’ve got The Wind in the Willows book as part of their decor! Those in the know will recognize that as the book for one of its main characters — Mr. Toad!
Many aspects of their decor feels worn and weathered but in a beautiful way.
We’re excited to see if the atmosphere in their Disney Springs location is somewhat similar or if we’re in for an entirely new Gideon’s experience! But enough about the decor, let’s get to the stars of the show — THE GIANT COOKIES!!!!
Each of the cookies are hand crafted in small batches and weigh almost 1/2 a pound!!! At their current Orlando store, each cookie is $5!
We loved the look of the little individual frames featuring the names of each of the cookies, and how the cookies were displayed on the boards in the back!
The limited edition cookie for August is a Coffee Cake Cookie — an extra buttery, vanilla bean cookie filled with cinnamon strudel (we think they meant to say streusel!) and topped with Gideon’s homemade double-baked butter crumbs!! These are only available in August every day until they sell out. This specialty cookie, however, will be offered YEAR ROUND at Gideon’s Disney Springs location!!
We grabbed the limited time Coffee Cake Cookie and a few others (we do it all in the name of science!) and we could not wait to dig in!!
We loved learning a bit more about the story behind Gideon’s! It made us even more excited for their new location in Disney Springs to open up!
The Cookies!
At this point we feel an obligation to provide the following deliciousness disclaimer: If you are hungry, proceed through the remainder of this post at your own risk. The cookies you are about to see may cause your hunger to increase exponentially. You may feel compelled to buy many extremely large Gideon’s Bakehouse cookies immediately. You may even dream of these cookies for the next several days. Please don’t lick your screen. Proceed with caution!
Okay, if you’re still here then you are READY for cookie heaven!!!
First up, we present to you — the Peanut Butter Vanilla Crisp Cookie! This cookie features peanut butter chips, salt chunks on top, and even some candied peanuts sprinkled throughout.
Just look at those giant peanut butter chips! If you’re really only a fan of peanut butter when it is mixed with chocolate, then you may not love this cookie. But if you’re a pure peanut butter fan, this is a MUST-TRY for you!!! It’s VERY peanut butter flavored!
Next up — the glorious Coffee Cake Cookie! As described above, this is an extra buttery, vanilla bean cookie filled with cinnamon strudel and topped with Gideon’s homemade double-baked butter crumbs!!
We wish we could send even just the smell of this cookie through the screen to you because it was that phenomenal! This cookie is absolutely delicious!! It’s almost like eating an undercooked cinnamon roll mixed with a coffee cake. Some Gideon’s cookies are so rich we can only take a few bites at a time, but this cookie is dangerous!! We could totally eat the whole thing in one sitting!!
Then, we just had to try the Triple Chocolate Cookie! This cookie actually features 5 types of chocolate including Callebaut and Ghirardelli chocolates! It is extra velvety thanks to the chocolate ganache Gideon’s pours straight into the cookie dough! It also features large salt chunks on top to add some balance to the flavors!
This cookie is dense but delicious! And the salt on there is INCREDIBLE! You’ll definitely want to grab a glass of milk to pair with this! This cookie is so incredibly rich, you may only be able to take a few bites of it at a time, but we love that because it means this cookie could totally last us a whole week (spoiler alert — they never last that long around us!) and bring us days of deliciousness! If you like to slowly enjoy your desserts over a longer period of time, this may be the cookie for you!
Finally, we tried the Cookies and Cream Cookie! Gideon’s describes this as a Cookies & Cream milkshake in a cookie (YUM!!!!!!!)! To make this treat, Gideon’s uses their ultra-soft vanilla bean cookie and fills it with chunks of hand-cut Double Stuffed Oreos. Then, the cookie is completely covered with a coating of crushed cookies!
If we absolutely had to pick a least favorite, it would probably be this cookie. We’d probably prefer regular chocolate chip or triple chocolate over this one. But if you’re a big fan of cookies and cream flavors, it may be worth a try for you!
We were so excited to get a look and taste of Gideon’s offerings at their current location! We can’t wait to see what Gideon’s will look like and taste like in their Disney Springs location when that opens up!
Click here to read more updates about Gideon’s upcoming spot in Disney Springs!
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What is your favorite Gideon’s cookie? Let us know in the comments below!
Carol says
Is there an opening date yet for Gideon’s at Disney Springs?
Cmspicer says
They better charge more at Disney Springs as a deterrent, because the only thing that stops me from buying these all the time is that it’s a bit of a drive. I’m next door to Disney though, so I need something to stop me from getting these every day!
DFB Sarah says
Carol, not that we’ve heard, but we’re checking!
Jennifer says
These look amazing!!! Hopefully they’ll be open by our trip in late September. By the way – growing up in the South, I always heard ‘strudel’, not ‘streusel’ & even my spell-check doesn’t like the latter, so we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one 😉
Eric says
I would not have known about these cookies but for DFB. Looking forward to my next trip so I can try them out! Thanks for pointing out how hefty and rich each cookie is. I’ll have to buy one early in the trip and use self-control to enjoy over several days… hopefully!
AG says
Not to be a Debbie downer, but I have worked in bakeries for over 30 years and I do not like the cluttered look they have going. All of those books and nik naks are dust collectors that are hard to clean and that is the last thing bakery workers have time for. Food areas should be kept as sparse and easy to clean as possible. I am sure most people, who have never worked in this environment, do not even think of this.
Essie says
Wow, just wow.