Disney World’s Best Snack Spot

Karamell-Küche in EPCOT’s World Showcase Germany pavilion is the best snack spot in all of Walt Disney World. This review takes a look at some of our favorite decadent desserts and sweet treats on the menu at this spot that’s sponsored by Werther’s Original Caramel. (Updated September 8, 2025.)

When it comes to Walt Disney World dining, we’re “staunch snacking advocates.” Obviously, attractions are the primary reason most people book trips, but the parks are much more than simply a collection of rides. Among other things, there’s entertainment, themed design, and even eating that completes the experience.

All of that is doubly true in World Showcase at EPCOT. Although it’s added two of the most popular attractions at Walt Disney World in the last decade with Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, the main draw of World Showcase is–and will always be–exploring the countries of the world in a day.

Suffice to say, World Showcase has a formidable culinary lineup–from fine dining in France and Japan to food kiosks. Snacks are one of the strong suits of EPCOT, with great bakeries in Norway and France, plus excellent options and compelling draws at pretty much every country in between. That’s precisely why we have a Guide to Snacking Around World Showcase at EPCOT.

Through this all, Karamell-Küche has been one of Walt Disney World’s snacking stalwarts for the last decade-plus. It has delivered hit after hit for us in the last few years, and it’s time to finally give this EPCOT sweet treat spot its long overdue accolades…

Let’s quickly cover some background about this EPCOT snack spot. In the long arc of Walt Disney World history, Karamell-Küche is still a relative newcomer, debuting roughly a decade ago in the Germany pavilion in partnership with Storck, the makers of Werther’s Original Caramels.

Karamell-Küche translates to Caramel Kitchen in German and the shop took the place of Glas und Porzellan. The intimate location is modeled after an old-world German caramel kitchen, much like the company’s first shop in Werther, Germany that opened in 1903. It opened as the only freestanding retail location in the world for Storck.

One of the main reasons we’ve been “dining” so much at Karamell-Küche lately is because the location has been offering the merchandise discount rate to Annual Passholders. That discount is valid on the Werther’s Original caramel popcorn on the shelves, as well as everything in the display cases.

September 8, 2025 Update: As is often the case this time of the year, Karamell-Küche has rolled out its new lineup of seasonal snacks & sweets for Fall 2025. Here’s a rundown of the new items:

• Minnie Witch Caramel Apple: Granny Smith apple with marshmallow ears dipped in Werther’s Original Caramel and milk chocolate coating with milk chocolate candies, orange sanding sugar, and chocolate witch hat
• Mickey Pumpkin Caramel Apple: Granny Smith apple with marshmallow ears dipped in Werther’s Original Caramel and orange chocolate coating with fondant features

• Werther’s Original Caramel Gourmet Pretzel: Crunchy pretzel with Werther’s Original Caramel, apple oat topping, and white chocolate drizzle
• Werther’s Original Caramel Apple Crisp Pie: Apple pie with Werther’s Original Caramel and oat crumble topping
• Werther’s Original Bananas Foster Caramel: Werther’s Original Banana-flavored Caramel Square with banana chip and toasted brown sugar

One of my unpopular opinions is that Walt Disney World caramel apples are nothing special, so the first two entries do nothing for me. The final three, however, are incredibly intriguing. Do note the sizes, though, as even the pretzel is far smaller than you might otherwise expect.

I’m still not sure these are intriguing enough to convince me to order any of these snacks and sweets over the iconic Werther’s Original Cookie Sandwiches (see below), but it’s good to have options. It’s also nice to see a return of the fall menu, as it means Christmas is right around the corner. Here’s hoping that includes a comeback of the gingerbread treats!

Karamell-Küche participates in the Disney Dining Plan, with almost everything in the display cases being redeemable for a snack credit.

With prices that are all over the place, the items at Karamell-Küche can be objectively good or bad uses of Disney Dining Plan snack credits. It all really depends. It used to be the case that most of the “good” treats at Karamell-Küche were inexpensive, making them poor picks on the DDP.

However, that’s now past tense. Due to a few menu additions discussed below, now some of the more expensive items are also the tastiest options. The only question is whether these will be eligible for DDP credit redemption. If so, look for Karamell-Küche on our list of Best Uses of Snack Credits on the 2025 Disney Dining Plan!

To that point, the best options for the Disney Dining Plan will be a trio of cookie sandwiches that currently cost $7.79 each as of April 2025. The newest of these is the Mickey Werther’s Original Caramel Chocolate Cookie Sandwich, which consists of two Chocolate Cookies sandwiched with Werther’s Original Caramel, Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting, and a sprinkle of Sea Salt.

If this looks familiar, it’s because there’s a similar sandwich available over in the Main Street Confectionary, which made our List of the Best Snacks in Magic Kingdom. That version is the Mickey Mouse Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich, with a mint filling that comes on strong but is refreshing.

This uses the same cookies, but has a better filling. The caramel plus the buttercream frosting and sea salt is just perfect. The only problem is the cookies. They are absolutely fine, but they don’t really work all that well with the filling. More importantly, they absolutely do not live up to the otherwise high standards of Karamell-Küche. What’s a great snack by Magic Kingdom standards is a mediocre one at Karamell-Küche.

However, if you love chocolate cookies and hate the alternatives, I guess this is better than nothing. Similarly, there’s also a new-ish Werther’s Original Caramel Carrot Cake Whoopie Pie at Karamell-Küche. This is the exact same idea as the sandwich above, except swapping out the ordinary carrot cake whoopie pies that are available elsewhere (Starbucks in Disney’s Hollywood Studios comes to mind) at Walt Disney World. I’m also a fan of that snack at DHS, but it’s just not up to Karamell-Küche standards.

Saving the best of the Disney Dining Plan options for last, there’s also the Werther’s Original Snickerdoodle Sandwich.

This might sound or look familiar, and that’s for good reason: it’s a remix of the fan-favorite Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich. This snickerdoodle sandwich replaces the gingerbread option on a seasonal basis.

Usually, the gingerbread option is available during the holiday season, with snickerdoodle reappearing in the spring. There’s also been a pumpkin version during the early fall in the past, but I don’t recall seeing that last year. (Perhaps I just missed it?)

Like its counterparts, this consists of caramel and buttercream sandwiched between two cookies. In this case, gooey and freshly-made snickerdoodle ones. The individual components here were as good as always, with quality and preparation being off the charts.

As a whole, it’s very sweet–to the point that I ate half when I got it and the other half a few hours later. (The warmth of my backpack made it even better–truly ooey gooey good!)

For reference, here’s a look at the Werther’s Original Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich:

If forced to choose between the Werther’s Original Snickerdoodle and Gingerbread Sandwiches, I’d pick the latter. These are both elite tier Walt Disney World snacks, and are must-eat treats. For now, only one is available at a time, so your choice is obvious: get whichever is there.

By a slight margin, I prefer the gingerbread version. Although I favor snickerdoodle cookies, generally, the sandwich is a sweetness overload, whereas the gingerbread sandwich has a bit of better balance. With that said, if snickerdoodle is the only option next time I’m at EPCOT, I’ll absolutely be buying it again. (Our full review of the gingerbread version is further down in the post.)

Another new-to-me item that I tried for the first time in Spring 2025 is the Werther’s Original Caramel Apple Butter Bar ($5.79). This consists of Apple pieces and Apple-flavored Werther’s Original Caramel layered into Buttery Shortbread with Oats.

As someone who loves the OG Werther’s Caramel Butter Bar (review further down), I love this even more and think it’ll address some of the complaints about the regular version. The apple pieces cut the very buttery flavor a bit, making this dessert a bit better balanced and slightly less decadent.

The texture is also better, with a bit of crunch and better mouthfeel as opposed to the OG Butter Bar, which can be a bit one-note and greasy. Plus, apple bites makes this a bona fide health food. (Right, Sarah?!?!)

Turning to reviews of the other items we’ve tried in the last couple years, let’s get the worst out of the way first: the Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookie with Pecan.

This is one of the longer-running items at Karamell-Küche, although, as with several other desserts, it has been tweaked over the years. The latest iteration is missing the generous drizzle of caramel and consequently is a bit lacking in the flavor department. (Words you’ll only see once in this review.) It’s still good by oatmeal cookie standards, but doesn’t rise to the high(ly decadent) bar of Karamell-Küche.

Continuing with cookies, we have the Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookie.

This item is also missing the drizzle right now, but a hearty amount of caramel inside (plus the general superiority of chocolate cookies over oatmeal ones) makes it a winner.

Next, the Werther’s Caramel Butter Bar. This is another item that has evolved over the years, with previous incarnations having the words “Shortbread” and/or “Chewy” in the name.

It’s definitely still both of those things, but the recipe has changed. Once a Walt Disney World fan favorite, it’s now more divisive, with some believing it’s too buttery and others believing it’s just right with a variety of textures and melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. I happen to fall firmly in the latter camp, and I’m not normally one for overly-indulgent Disney desserts.

Ultimately, I’d strongly recommend buying it to find out where you stand on the Caramel Butter Bar, as the upside potential is incredibly high. Perhaps it’ll be too much for you–a disappointment. On the other hand, if you’re anything like me, it could be one of your very favorite snacks at Walt Disney World.

As mentioned above, Karamell-Küche sometimes serves up the Werther’s Pumpkin Cupcake with Salted Caramel Buttercream from around September through November. There have been years when they’ve also offered the above-mentioned Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich during that same timeframe, and other times when it’s one or the other.

And here we thought L’Artisan des Glaces was a lock for EPCOT’s pumpkin and gingerbread snack MVP award. Not since Lemieux and Jagr has the world seen this dynamic of a duo. (I was going to go with Shaq and Kobe, the more international flair of Lemieux and Jagr seems more apt for this comparison.)

Given our penchant for pumpkin, it’d be totally reasonable to assume the “best snack at Walt Disney World” title we teased above was in reference to the Werther’s Pumpkin Cupcake with Salted Caramel Buttercream. And just about anywhere else, this would be the #1 snack.

The buttercream is rich and delicious, the pumpkin base is fresh and flavorful, and there’s just the right amount of salt and caramel. It culminates into something special, and with a high quality unlike any other cupcake at Walt Disney World. It’s an absolute must-order…but it is not the best snack.

The undisputed MVP here is the Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich. (So maybe this duo is more like Jordan and Pippen, with both being great but one obviously better.) This cookie sandwich is nothing short of a revelation. I cannot even fully articulate how or why this is so good, but it is.

The easiest way to describe it is probably via comparison to the Carrot Cake Cookie (pictured above), one of the most iconic and best snacks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Setting aside obvious differences in flavor profiles, the Carrot Cake Cookie is like the Big Mac and the Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich is like a Double Double from In-N-Out Burger (or a ShackBurger, if that’s more your style).

Don’t get me wrong, the Big Mac is addictively good and it’s a guilty pleasure that I love, but it doesn’t hold up to its upmarket rivals when compared side by side. It’s the same deal here for the Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich.

This thing is off the charts, with more nuanced flavor, better texture, and decisively higher overall quality. The sandwich features thick and chewy gingerbread cookies stacked with a heavy helping of buttercream and liberal layer of caramel. All of this melds into the superlative snack at Walt Disney World, simultaneously sweet, buttery, salty, creamy, and zingy. Again, words and photos truly don’t do it justice–you’ll just have to taste it.

Ultimately, Karamell-Küche is a snack spot without equal at Walt Disney World. While there are plenty of other great bakeries that serve up a handful of exceptional items (including Kringla Bakeri og Kafe and Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie in World Showcase), nowhere else is as consistently excellent.

There’s nowhere else at Walt Disney World where I’ll order literally anything new on the menu–no matter what it is–because it’ll probably be delicious. This has been true many times in the past even with items that didn’t sound like they’d be to my tastes. I’d say that Karamell-Küche is full of surprises…but it’s really not. Almost everything here is fantastic. Going forward, we’ll do a better job of providing regular updates on the latest menu updates at Karamell-Küche. (Its recipes and rotation do change frequently!)

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YOUR THOUGHTS

Have you tried Karamell-Küche? Favorite snacks on the menu here? Anything you think has changed for the better or worse as the menu at Karamell-Küche has “evolved” since its opening? Thoughts on the new pumpkin and gingerbread seasonal items? Considering trying this spot? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!