The Best Sweets of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays

There’s no better time of year to indulge in sweets than the holiday season (well, except maybe Halloween time). At this year’s International Festival of the Holidays you can sink your sweet tooth into lots of treats. Besides the fun and festive Cookie Stroll, there are plenty of desserts at nearly all of the Holiday Kitchens. Here’s some of the best sweets and desserts at the 2020 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays.

• Linzer cookie – Bavaria Holiday Kitchen
• Dulce de Leche Churro – Las Posadas Holiday Kitchen
• Buche de Noel – Marche de Noel Holiday Kitchen
• Maple Buche de Noel – Yukon Holiday Kitchen
• Peppermint Sundae – Holiday Sweets and Treat Holiday Kitchen
• Coquito – Festival Favorites Holiday Kitchen
• Mini Jelly-Filled Donuts – L’Chaim Holiday Kitchen
• Pumpkin Gingerbread Cheesecake – American Holiday Table Holiday Kitchen
• Warm Brown Sugar Stuffed Pretzel – Refreshment Outpost

A holiday favorite, the Linzer Cookie was soft and crumbly. A nice cinnamon flavor comes through making it a cozy treat. We’ve covered the Dulce de Leche Churro in a few other posts and we just love it! It’s only $0.25 more than a plain standard park churro, but the sweet dulce de leche inside makes it special.

Over at the France Pavilion the Buche de Noel is a hit with anyone who loves dark, intense chocolate. The serving is relatively small, but it is a very rich dessert. Similarly there is a Maple Buche de Noel available at the Yukon Kitchen. This is a lovely blend of sweet maple and chocolate, and the serving is very generous. We’re concerned we lucked out early in the festival and that the serving size may end up being reduced.

Another chocolate sweet is the Peppermint Sundae. The peppermint flavor is good but not overwhelming and you still get good chocolate flavor. The serving is pretty large; you could probably split this with another person. The surprising thing about the Holiday Sweets and Treats Holiday Kitchen is there’s actually only two desserts here, the rest is beer and shakes. (Granted, the beer is flavored after favorite holiday drinks, Egg Nog and Coquito.)

The Coquito is available with or without rum. Many refer to Coquito as being similar to Egg Nog. It originates from Puerto Rico and is coconut based. The texture is described by our team as “like a chunky milkshake.” The garnish of a cinnamon stick coupled with the holiday atmosphere of World Showplace, made this feel more special than it probably could have been if it was outside and consumed over a trash can.

On this list of items we wish were sold year round, you can put the Mini Jelly-Filled Donuts at the top of the list. They contain the perfect balance of jelly and powdered sugar. Finally, over at the American Holiday Table the Pumpkin Gingerbread Cheesecake is a great treat for anyone who loves traditional holiday flavors of pumpkin or gingerbread.

If you want something very different than the standard festival fare at the Holiday Kitchen booths, there is a Warm Brown Sugar Stuffed Pretzel at the Refreshment Outpost (between the China and Germany Pavilions).  The pretzel was harder than we would have liked, but the brown sugar filling was very good. Even with the vanilla soft serve it wasn’t overly sweet.

Have you been to the Festival of the Holidays? What’s your favorite festival sweet treat?