Mummy Macarons and Halloween Time at Disneyland

Recipe for Mummy Macarons filled with a Cookies and Cream Buttercream along with an overview of Halloween Time at Disneyland in 2018!

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Halloween Time at Disneyland

When we lived in the Southeastern United States, our sporadic visits to Disney World always seemed to coincide with the halloween season (mostly due to Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival also taking place in the fall). So it was a bit nostalgic that our first visit to Disneyland would also occur during Halloween Time.

Halloween Time at Disneyland this year (2018) lasts from September 7th to October 31st. The park has been decorated from head to toe with pumpkins and other fun decor, merchandise, and treats. Mickey’s Halloween Party is also held on select nights from September 19th to October 31st.

Even Minnie, Mickey, and friends are dressed up for the season.

Zocalo Park

The area outside of Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante in Frontierland has become a tribute to Día de los Muertos with Zocalo Park.

Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion ride has transformed into the Haunted Mansion Holiday inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas. We were even able to meet Jack and Sally in New Orleans Square. Space Mountain has also changed temporarily into Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy.

Halloween Treats

We came across a Haunted Mansion-themed doughnut at The Coffee Cart on Main Street, U.S.A near the castle.

At the French Market Restaurant, there is a dessert trio with a Salted Caramel Pudding Cup featuring Jack’s face, Worms and Dirt Cake, and Pumpkin Pie. The Salted Caramel Pudding Cup was my favorite of the three, though it was slightly on the runny side.

I didn’t personally try it, but the French Market Restaurant also has a Mansion Spider Bundt Cake (chocolate bundt cake with a chocolate spider piece on top).

Chocolate lovers will enjoy the Black Rose Dessert (a decadent “Enchanted Black Rose” chocolate mousse filled with a raspberry compote and topped with edible glitter) from Red Rose Tavern.

The Pumpkin Spice Beignets were perfect for pairing with a New Orleans Mint Julep from the Mint Julep Bar in New Orleans Square.

The Churro Sundae from The Golden Horseshoe was definitely a rich treat best shared with a friend. Cookie dough ice cream is topped with cookie butter sauce, a cinnamon sugar churro, cajeta, and whipped cream.

I loved the Blended Horchata during our first visit to Disneyland and the limited time Frozen Abuelita at Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante took it to the next level with layers of frozen Mexican hot chocolate, frozen horchata, and spiced whipped cream. An orange sugar skull pot de crème can also be found at this restaurant.

Of all the Halloween treats in Disneyland Park, the Mickey Mummy Macaron from Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe was my personal favorite. This Mickey-shaped macaron is sandwiched with a sweet cookies and cream filling. The cookie was on the larger side, so big enough for sharing if you plan on eating your way through the park.

The Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe is also home to the largest assortment of Halloween Time Offerings. Other treats found here include a Graveyard Cupcake, Pumpkin Layered Cheesecake, Sweet Potato Hand Pie, Spiced Bundt Cake, Pumpkin Muffin, and Cruella De Vil Brownie.

The Halloween Time offerings leaned heavily towards sweet, but I did manage to try a couple of savory items. Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland is currently featuring the Musubi Special (spiced ham musubi with lemongrass jasmine rice and pineapple teriyaki sauce paired with pickled daikon and carrots topped with furikake flakes).

I wasn’t originally planning on trying the Halloween Hot Dog at the Refreshment Corner since it had spicy in the description, but added it to the list after reports of it not having much heat after all. I ended up really loving the flavor. The premium hot dog is topped with “spicy” meatballs, cheese sauce, and oven-roasted tomatoes.

There are plenty of more fun bakery treats featured throughout the park from bat cake pops to decorated caramel apples, cupcakes, crispy treats, and more.

Even with a handful of visits over the past month, we still didn’t get to try everything. Here are some other Halloween-related items that can be found in the park: Haunted Firehouse Chicken Sandwich from Carnation Café, Chocolate Hazelnut Yule Log from Plaza Inn, Spider Parfait from Alien Pizza Planet and Galactic Grill, Crab and Corn Chowder from Café Orléans, Churro Bites Cereal Sundae from Hungry Bear Restaurant, Maleficent Churro from Main Street U.S.A. Churro Carts, and more.

Mummy Macarons

After trying the Mickey Mummy Macarons at Disneyland, I wanted to recreate it at home. I did originally make these macarons into a Mickey shape for my initial attempt, but those cookies did not turn out well at all. The Mummy Macarons featured in these photos are from three batches later. By that point, I stuck to the regular round shape. It took some trial and error to get used to the gas oven in our new home, but I am quite happy with the final results.

The white vanilla bean macarons are paired with a rich cookies and cream filling, drizzled with melted white chocolate, and topped with mini chocolate chip eyes to turn these little cookies into “mummies.”

Macaron Tips

• My first batch browned way too much in the gas oven. I tried adjusting the temperature for the second batch to compensate, but that ended up with even worse undercooked results. What finally worked was doubling up the baking sheets for a more even bake. It may also help to rotate the sheets halfway through baking.
• I recommend using the metric measurements for the macaron shells for best results, but have also included the US Customary conversions.
• Save these for a day with lower humidity. Rain is not your friend here.
• For the ground almonds, I generally use almond flour/meal. You can also process whole almonds in the food processor. Just make sure the almonds and powdered sugar are very fine to create smooth macaron shells. Don’t overdue the processing or you may end up with almond butter.
• Aged, room temperature egg whites are best for whipping into stiff peaks.
• My previous failures have generally been attributed to overmixing- easy to do with overzealous young helpers. You want to gently fold in the beaten egg whites until they are completely combined, but not to the point of being runny. I have seen the resulting texture described as “molten lava” and others have listed an average of 40-65 folds.
• Putting the baking sheets filled with piped macarons under my ceiling fan works well on helping create the shells before baking. They should be dry enough that the tops don’t stick to the finger when lightly touched. Make sure the fan is evenly overhead and not blowing air from the side. This may create uneven and oval macarons.
• Store the Mummy Macarons in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving for the best texture.
• If you want to make sure every macaron shell is the exact same size, use a circular cookie cutter to draw circles on the parchment paper, then flip it over so the drawn part is on the bottom (use the white translucent parchment paper so the circles can be seen through the top). When piping, hold the pastry bag and tip completely vertical. I have recently started using these Silicone Macaron Baking Mats.

Looking for more Halloween recipes? Try Mummy Almond Granola Bars, Broomsticks, and Mummy Pretzel Dogs.

Mummy Macarons Recipe

Adapted from Birch Tree Baking and Preppy Kitchen