The story behind Disney Animal Kingdom’s viral Cookie Dough Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich
If you haven’t heard the hype already, there’s a new sweet treat at Walt Disney World that has taken social media by storm, and it’s everything cookie-dough lovers’ dreams are made of.
The Cookie Dough Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich can be found at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Terra Treats kiosk in Discovery Island. When you go to give it a taste for yourself, pack your patience because you’ll have a lot of friends among you all waiting to try this viral snack.
Related: Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Food Moment: Viral Snacks, 10 Years of Tiffins, and New Menus
We got a chance to meet the chef who created this magical treat. Pastry Chef Kellie Matthews with Disney’s Animal Kingdom is not just a pastry chef extraordinaire; she’s also a mom of a three-year-old, so it’s safe to say she’s an expert in more ways than one at knowing what makes a good snack!
Since Disney World is a place where forever memories are made, it’s no surprise that Matthews’ own childhood memories played a part in the creation of this most delicious snack.
Okay, so first of all. Yum!! The Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwich definitely lives up to the hype! For those who don’t know yet, what exactly is it?
Chef Kellie Matthews: So it’s a layer of edible chocolate chip cookie dough that has a little bit of confetti in there, a little bit of rainbow sprinkles. We have a layer of vanilla ice cream and then a layer of fudgy brownie. So when you bite into it, it’s that cohesive, all one texture kind of melting in your mouth, but then there’s the crunchiness of the chocolate chips. We also top it with a little sea salt, too.
So good! Let’s go back to the beginning. Where did the idea to create this come from?
KM: It started with thinking about my favorite ice cream as a kid, how it was cookie dough. I don’t know about you guys, but I used to dig around the ice cream to get all the cookie dough bits, so when coming up with this idea, I thought, wouldn’t it be wild if you didn’t have to dig around the ice cream for the cookie dough bits and it was just a whole layer? So that was kind of how the idea was born.
So we have Kellie Matthews as a kid to thank for this?
KM: I think that that’s where a lot of our core memories start– as children. What did we eat and remember that mom or dad used to make as a kid, or what did I have at birthday parties as a kid? So this, for me, was something that I always had as a child for birthday parties.
So this is just truly like I’m speaking to eight-year-olds, Kellie, in that “Okay, we did it. Your request was heard. We got it.”
We think all of our inner kids are happy you made this happen! What is like to create amazing recipes like this for Disney’s Animal Kingdom?
KM: Â I definitely think I am like a mad scientist. I think about things from the perspective that this is a blue sky world. What could I have if I were to be able to have anything? And then I tend to scale it down from there, right? Like, think big picture and then work my way into operationalizing it.
I have so much creative freedom here in the park, which is really nice. My partners have a lot of trust in me, and we have a lot of trust in each other.
I think when creating this, too, when we first unwrapped it, when I was showing them… I unwrapped it on the table, and we were all just staring at it, and I was like “Eh, eh!?”
And they all had question marks over their head. They’re like, really? And I said, “Just wait until you try it.” When everybody tried it, it was, “Okay!” –like that really big, aha, Ratatouille-type of moment where everybody was just, “Oh yeah, this is going to be really good.”
So I think that the most exciting part is just taking those ideas and really just bringing them to life.
What was that first moment like for you when you first saw it in real life?
KM: When we cut it open, I remember literally screaming, literally screaming in the kitchen because I was like, “Ah, this looks so good, this looks great!” And then tasting it, the heavens opened up, and it was the best moment.
From there, it’s kind of where it blew up, and I think other guests have resonated with that, trying it, and it’s gone viral.
When you see guests trying it and loving it for the first time, what is that feeling like for you as a chef?
KM: Oh my gosh, I think just the are you kidding me moment is is like the most satisfying truly it’s the most satisfying. I get goosebumps talking about it, but guests are loving it.
I sometimes will come out here and just kind of stand back and just watch, so I can overhear those first bite moments. The first bite, munch, munch, munch, and then it’s, “Oh, you need to try this!” and then they pass it off to their spouse or their kids. I think that is gold, culinary gold.
KM: I think what makes it really special is that it unlocks that memory, and I feel like when you are eating, that’s the greatest pleasure of a chef to be able to evoke storytelling, be able to unlock those memories in guests, so when I watch, stand out here and watch the line building and guest take that first bite—it’s the most satisying part of what I do.
Fun Fact: Chef Matthews also developed the new Fairy Bread Cake at Animal Kingdom, available at Pizzafari for the debut of Bluey’s Wild World at Conservation Station. Read more about Walt Disney World’s Cool Kids’ Summer here.
