Carthay Circle Fried Biscuits (Copycat)

These copycat Carthay Circle Fried Biscuits taste JUST like the real deal… and guess what? They are SO EASY to make!

Carthay Circle is a fancy restaurant located in Disney’s California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort. It is actually probably the fanciest restaurant at California Adventure. You will most likely need a reservation to get in and it is wise to book as far in advance as you can. It can be tough to get in to. Here is the basic rundown of Carthay Circle from Disneyland’s website:

“Carthay Circle Restaurant occupies the second floor of a detailed reproduction of the iconic Carthay Circle Theatre. The original Carthay Circle Theatre, built in 1926, played a significant role in the life of Walt Disney. His first feature-length film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, premiered there in 1937 and, in 1941, groundbreaking stereophonic Fantasound was installed in the theatre for the West Coast premiere of Disney’s Fantasia.

 

Carthay Circle Restaurant’s decor reflects the romance and glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age, including references to the accomplishments of Walt Disney and his original animators. See Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Courvoisier cels—the only animated art ever to hang in Walt Disney’s home—and charming pastoral scenes from the movie painted on the vaulted ceiling of the main dining room. Seating is also available on 2 open-air terraces for dining with a view.”

It is a rare, fancy dining opportunity and everyone should definitely try to go there at least once in their lifetime. When you are there, take the time to look around and appreciate the decor/ambiance. It is all so elegant and beautiful. All of the food is delicious albeit quite pricey. The crowd favorite of everyone who dines there is the “Carthay Circle Fried Biscuits”. These cheesy fried biscuits are less of a biscuit and more of a bacon-y jalapeno cheese bomb. They are pretty amazing.

Now most of the time, we can’t dine in a nice restaurant because, well, we usually have kids with us and they just want a quick corn dog and to hop on the next ride (who can blame em’?). I am sure many of you are in the same position and would just love to try these but simply can’t. Or maybe you have had these before and are just looking for a way to enjoy them at home. Well, as you could have probably guessed from the title of this post, we created a copycat recipe for these cheesy fried heavenly biscuits and they taste EXACTLY the same (really, if you had them side-by-side you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference).

So a little more about our actual trip– we had a bit of a rocky start to our trip (heavy rains etc..) but since we had 5-Day Park Hopper passes it didn’t end up putting a damper (no pun intended) on our little adventure. We booked our trip through Get Away Today and they got us a great vacation package. We stayed at the Tropicana Inn and Suites that is literally STEPS from the main gate. I honestly think that we were closer to the actual entrance of the park than people staying on property. Having little kids who can’t handle a whole lot, it was nice to have a place to stay that was so close. No shuttles, no long waiting in lines for taxis, we could just literally cross the street and we were at our hotel. We went back and forth to the hotel several times each day so we could just lay down and rest our feet and refuel. Especially when it got overly crowded at the park, we could just go to the hotel, watch the crowd indexes on our phones, and go back when it wasn’t so busy in the parks. That really made all the difference and our kids weren’t left feeling overwhelmed with all the craziness.

Since our time what somewhat limited for this trip, we decided to fly to California rather than drive (best. decision. ever.). We flew into LAX, which was the cheapest airport to fly into and booked a Karmel Shuttle to take us to our hotel. We looked at all the different rideshare apps (like Lyft and Uber) but Karmel was by far the cheapest way to go.. plus we got to all ride in a nice, large shuttle van rather than a smaller car. We could have gotten a large rideshare car like a Suburban but we would have been paying at least QUADRUPLE the amount.. yes you read that right. Definitely check them out if you are needing airport rides in California. Doesn’t just have to be Disney, they will take you anywhere.

So about Disneyland, specifically, we were able to go during the return of the Disneyland Electrical Parade and I was SO excited. I was able to see it years ago and remember loving it so much. The music and lights brought back so many fun memories. It was magical watching my kids see it for the first time. They loved it so much, they BEG for me to play the music from it every time we get in the car. Gotta love that synthesized music… just makes you want to get up and dance! We also got to peek in on the construction of the new Star Wars land… that place is going to be HUGE! We are already planning our 2019 trip because we are THAT excited about it. So many fun, new things are coming to Disneyland as soon as this summer! I can’t wait for it all. If you haven’t booked your trip already, hurry and book now– oh and use the code “FAVORITE” when checking out to get an extra discount from us. Or call Get Away Today and tell them we sent you. They will hook you up. 🙂

Ok now back to the recipe. Carthay Circle Fried Biscuits… so all you have to do is mix together some shredded cheese, bacon, and jalapeno and form the cheese mixture into balls. I used a small cookie dough scoop for consistency but you can just eyeball it if you need to.

Then you freeze the cheese balls and wrap them in pre-made biscuit dough. You can use a homemade recipe but I found it easier just to use the “pop-open” refrigerated dough.

Then you just fry them up and serve with a honey butter mixture. We did a mixture of honey, softened butter, and a scoop of apricot jelly. Look at that cheesy goodness… now that you can see how easy it is to make these AMAZING Carthay Circle fried biscuits there is no reason NOT to make them! Enjoy!

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Carthay Circle Fried Biscuits (Copycat)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 1/2. shredded cheddar cheese
• 4-5 Tbsp finely diced jalapeno from a jar.. not fresh
• 5-6 slices cooked bacon finely chopped
• 1 egg beaten
• 1-2 tsp milk or as needed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tube large biscuits the refrigerated dough in a "pop" tube with 8 biscuits
• Oil for frying

Instructions

1. Combine cheeses, jalapenos, bacon, egg, milk, salt, and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Mix with a spoon until well combined. It should keep it's shape when you squeeze it together firmly in your hand.
2. Using a small cookie dough scooper, scoop small balls (about the size of a typical bouncey ball) and roll in your hands until it stays together and forms a smooth, tight ball.
3. Place the balls on a plate or tray covered with parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze at least 6 hours or overnight (you should have about 32 balls.
4. Remove tray from freezer and pop open the biscuit dough.
5. Cut each biscuit into 4 sections. Flatten each section and wrap around each cheese ball, rolling in your hands to make sure there are no holes or seams. You want it to be smooth and round.
6. Heat oil to 350-degrees and fry each ball until dark golden brown.
7. Serve hot.

NOTE: If the cheese inside doesn't seem to be completely melted, just pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds and they will be perfect. You can just pop them in whole and the cheese will melt to perfection inside.