Disney Inspired Treats: Bananas Foster Mickey Mouse Waffles

National Waffle day is coming up on March 25 and what better way to celebrate then with Mickey Mouse shaped waffles?  If you have a traditional shaped waffler, it will work, but there is just something magical about a Mickey Shaped Waffle – especially smothered in an amazing bananas foster sauce!

For our trip to Disneyland I really wanted to book at least one character meal.  Ideally I wanted to have my little princess dine with the princesses, but since Ariel’s Grotto was under renovation I settled on Breakfast with Minnie Mouse at Plaza Inn on our first morning.  I really didn’t know how my kids were going to react to the characters, but I went in knowing at the very least we were sure to be well fed and ready to take on a day in the parks.

My son shocked me with how excited he was to meet all the characters.  Some of my favorite pictures of him from the trip were from that meal, and we also managed to collect a lot of character autographs at the same time.  If you have never done Disney character dining, it is well worth experiencing at least once.

The buffet at Plaza Inn offered a wide and varied selection of breakfast foods that made it hard to decide where to even begin.  There was cereal, toast, fruit, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns, custom omelettes, pastries, French toast, and, of course, mickey mouse shaped waffles.  While my husband waited at the custom omelette bar, I began by loading up the kids and I’s plates with fresh fruit, eggs and bacon, completely missing the Mickey Mouse waffle stand until we were on our way back out to our seats on the patio.  You can’t go to Disney and not have Mickey shaped waffles so I made a second round for waffles, also grabbing a small cup of what I thought was syrup from the side.

Back at the table I discovered what was in the unassuming little plastic syrup cup was an amazing combination of warm caramel sauce dotted with big pieces of banana.  The moment I poured it on my waffle and tasted it, I instantly regretted all the other foods I had already eaten and wished I had room left for more Mickey waffles and bananas foster sauce.  Trust me, it is that good.

This combination also brought back a rush of fond memories from our Walt Disney World wedding trip in 2007.  The night before our wedding we treated all our wedding guests to a dinner at ‘Ohana as our pseudo rehearsal dinner.  The assortment of barbequed meats and sides didn’t fail to impress, but it was the bread pudding with bananas foster sauce that was the highlight of the meal.  This blandly colored dessert didn’t look like much, but once the sauce was poured over and combined with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, the taste far exceeded everyone’s expectations.  Capped off with a view of the Wishes fireworks over the Magic Kingdom, it was a truly magical night!

To recreate the experience at home, this was my first time putting beer in my waffles.  It combines with the yeast to give a light, fluffy texture like the waffles you find in the malted waffles at Disneyland and World.  This batter does need refrigeration so it is best made the night before (or the morning of if you want to enjoy breakfast for dinner like we did).  If you have a different favorite waffle recipe that could be certainly used and it would be just as delicious with the bananas foster sauce.  I think you could put this sauce on almost anything and I think it would be good – bread pudding, pancakes, ice cream, cheesecake,  or even oatmeal.  It is a quick and easy sauce and I like that it doesn’t require the use of a candy thermometer or for you to know how to flambé.

Malted Waffles

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp dry active yeast
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 TBSP beer
• 1 egg
• 1 TBSP vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the flour, sugar and yeast in a large bowl.  Stir to combine, then create a well in the center.
2. Add water, beer, milk, egg and vanilla extract.  Stir to combine, being carful not to overmix.  There will be lumps that will dissolve as the batter rests in the fridge.
3. Add melted butter and give another quick stir.
4. Refrigerate batter overnight or for 8 hours.
5. Bring batter back to room temperature before use.*  Spoon into heated waffle iron and cook according to the waffle maker’s instructions.

Bananas Foster Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 TBSP rum or vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 or 3 large ripe bananas, peeled and sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut the butter into pieces and melt in a pot or skillet over medium high heat.
2. Pour in the brown sugar, stirring frequently until the sugar is melted and the butter and sugar come together into a thick sauce.
3. Slowly whisk in the heavy cream until just heated through.
4. Add the bananas and rum or vanilla extract, continuing to cook over medium heat  for an additional minute.
5. Remove sauce from heat and keep warm until ready to serve.*

*I made my bananas foster sauce as I was waiting for my batter to come to room temperature and for the waffle iron to heat up.  Once finished, I kept it on very low heat and made my waffles. 

ENJOY!