Located in “The Landing” section of Disney Springs is Gideon’s Bakehouse. This well-themed bakery plays host to odd curiosities and HALF-POUND COOKIES!!!! Gideon’s is a dessert only place which does offers not-so-straightforward coffee to go with their cookies and GINORMOUS cake slices. You can skip to the cookies here.
Be warned though, you cannot simply walk over to Gideon’s on most days and just wait in a line and buy a cookie. It comes with a process, and on weekends, a very lengthy process. If you do not get there right when they open, be prepared to join their virtual queue (updated 5/8/24).
When approaching, you will see the gargoyle perched up on the building over their door. If there is a virtual line, you will need to see the host on the right side of the door. It is usually the shorter of the two lines. Give them your name and phone number to be texted. On some days, this virtual return time can be 4 hours. Pro-tip is to go straight to Gideon’s bypassing any shopping you want to do and join the virtual queue. If you are lucky enough to get there without a virtual queue, just wait in line and buy your cookies, otherwise get on the virtual list and spend the time visiting the rest of Disney Springs.
Artwork Inside Gideon’s Bakehouse
Inside you will find a nice creepy setting. Walls decorated by artwork from Michael Reyes puts you into a nice feeling for the sugar bombs that await you behind the counter. Also monthly, he creates artwork for the month’s menu. Before we get to the cookies take a look at some of the inside.
The Cookies
Gideon’s creates a special edition cookie monthly, also a special coffee cake cookie in the morning and a dark coffee cake version in the evening. All selections are available until they sell out. On weekends that will happen earlier than weekdays.
Their original chocolate chip cookie is around half a pound of chocolatey goodness. The taste is very rich but balanced out nicely by the addition of the salt rocks that are sprinkled on it. There is a lot going on with the taste of this cookie. I often tell people that when you are assessing a place for the first time go with their base offering. You won’t be disappointed in doing that here.
“The Toasted Coconut Caramel Cookie” is April’s special cookie. This is the Chocolate Chip cookie with coconut and caramel added to it. We didn’t hate this cookie, but still prefer their original. Be warned the toasted coconut pieces on top can be a bit overwhelming, especially if coconut isn’t your favorite flavor, however the caramel on this cookie didn’t come out, maybe that should be bumped up but your tastebud miles may vary, The base cookie is already good so altering it a bit never hurts to try.
During Pride month, Gideon’s is offering a rainbow decorated cake slice, and as with the rest of their cake slices it’s huge, and colorful! The description from their menu, “3-layer vanilla confetti cake covered with our extraordinary multi-colored marshmallow buttercream and laced with out mega crunchy rainbow crumbs.”
Cake slices of this magnitude I make sure to pair each bite with a good ratio of frosting to cake. Since this cake isn’t chocolate based, it doesn’t smack you in the face, and I found it to be tolerable on the sweetness level. Admittedly we usually don’t grab cake from Gideons, but selfishly for the blog I wanted the picture of this slice. We tend to be cookie people, rather than cake people.
Halfway to Halloween 2024
At Disney Springs and their original location Gideons is celebrating halfway to Halloween and we drove over for the last day to partake!
Join us as Barnabas Mephistophelittle returns with his annual assortment of delightful treats and enchanting tricks! Dive into his magical selection:
Event Duration: May 6th to May 8th.
BARNABAS HAND PIES: A colossal treat from Gideon’s, where pastry meets cookie! Indulge in a flaky crust brimming with chocolate chip cookie dough, enhanced by a sweet layer of dulce de leche. Pro Tip: Perfect when air-fried for 3 minutes!
FRANKENSTEIN COOKIE: Our wildly popular concoction, the Frankenstein Cookie, is a Halloween fest made with all your favorite candies, including M&M’s and crushed Oreo Double Stuff. A true celebration of sweets!
Have you tried Gideon’s bakehouse? Let us know in the comments what you thought!