Today I'm really excited to be sharing an amazing project that I've been working on recently, which is all about making family picnics even more magical for your children this summer! I’m working with DisneyLife - the service that gives you Disney movies, TV, books and music – to show you how to make 5 fun picnics inspired by your favourite Disney characters, which are perfect to entertain your little ones on a family day out. You can see more about the project in the video below, and spot me in action too as I show you how to create a fun Winnie the Pooh themed picnic.
As you'll have seen in the video, today DisneyLife has revealed the 20 best family picnic spots in Britain, with Three Cliffs Bay in Gower, Wales in the winning spot and Padley Gorge in Derbyshire coming in a very close second. The research also revealed that 4 out of 5 British parents will be picnicking at least once during the summer holidays and that a quarter of us (myself included!) head out for a picnic whenever the sun shines.
Nearly 3 in 5 parents (58%) said that they make their picnics from scratch, so I hope that my 5 new themed picnics will help to make them even more special! The picnics are all inspired by famous characters from some of the shows and films available to view on digital entertainment service DisneyLife.
I'm sharing all the recipes you need for an extra special Winnie the Pooh themed picnic below, but you can find more picnic recipes from me inspired by your favourite Disney characters including Tangled, Finding Nemo, Cars and Beauty & The Beast at www.disney.co.uk/picnics. You'll also find the full list of top family picnic spots in the UK there too, did your favourite make the list?
Winnie the Pooh Picnic Recipes
Bee Sandwiches
Ingredients:
- 6 slices wholemeal bread
- 2 slices white bread
- Butter or spread
- 4 cheddar cheese slices
- 1 Tortilla wrap
- 4 candy eyeballs
Method:
Using a round cookie cutter, cut a large circle from each slice of bread. (Don’t throw out the crusts, pop them in a bag in the freezer to save for breadcrumbs for future recipes!)
Cut each slice of cheddar cheese with the same round cutter to trim off any corners.
Spread butter over 4 of the wholemeal bread circles and top with the cheese rounds.
Take the remaining circles of bread and pile them on top of one another in a neat stack. Slice each stack in half, then each half in half again so that each circle has been turned into 4 strips of bread.
Lightly butter each strip and place them butter side down in alternate stripes of brown and white to create a round stripey top for each sandwich.
Cut 4 heart shapes from the tortilla wrap and push one into each sandwich, point side in, to form the wings.
Top each sandwich with a candy eyeball to finish.
Pooh sticks Pretzels
Ingredients:
- 40 pretzel sticks
- pretty string to decorate
Method:
Split the pretzel sticks into 4 piles of 10 sticks.
Cut off small lengths of string and tie the piles of pretzel sticks together into bundles.
Serve one bundle of pretzel ‘pooh sticks’ to each person with their picnic.
Piglet’s ‘Haycorns’ and Rabbit's Baby Carrots
Ingredients:
- 100g dark chocolate
- ½ punnet green grapes
- large lettuce
- handful baby carrots
Method:
Line a small baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Be sure to check that the tray will fit inside your fridge before you line it.
Wash and dry the grapes, making sure that they are as dry as possible.
Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place in a small microwave safe bowl.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each one to ensure it melts evenly. Be careful not to overheat or burn the chocolate, heat only until just melted and smooth.
Dip the grapes into the chocolate to cover the bottom third of each grape, then place on the lined baking tray. Repeat until you have made as many grape ‘haycorns’ as you want, then place the tray of grapes into the fridge to set.
Line a lunch box with large lettuce leaves, and half fill with baby carrots. Fill the other side of the box with the grape haycorns.
Tigger Inspired Clementines
Ingredients:
- 6 small clementines
- Non-toxic marker pen to decorate
Method:
Draw a stripey tigger pattern onto the skin of each clementine to decorate.
The clementine skin will be discarded before eating, so the pen won’t come into contact with the part of the fruit that you eat.
Pooh’s Honey and Peanut Butter No-Bake Cereal Squares
Ingredients:
- 275g Peanut butter (I used smooth)
- 175g honey
- 75g multigrain hoops cereal
- 100g white chocolate
- Pooh bear themed edible rice paper decorations
Method:
Grease and line a brownie pan with non-stick baking paper.
Measure the peanut butter and honey into a large microwave safe bowl and mix together.
Place in the microwave and cook for 30 seconds a time, stirring in between until boiling and starting to thicken. This will usually take 2-3 minutes.
Working quickly, pour the cereal into the peanut butter and honey mixture and stir to combine.
Tip the mixture into the lined pan then press down into the tin to form an even layer.
Break the white chocolate into pieces and place in a small microwave safe bowl.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each one to ensure it melts evenly. Be careful not to overheat or burn the chocolate, heat only until just melted and smooth.
Pour the white chocolate over the cereal bar mixture and spread it around to form an even layer of topping.
Working quickly, press the rice paper Pooh Bears into the top of the chocolate to decorate. Bear in mind as you do so that the bars will be cut into 16 squares so arrange the decorations accordingly.
Place in the fridge to set for around an hour, then remove and slice into squares.
If you’d like to give this fun Winnie the Pooh themed picnic a go, you can print out the gorgeous recipe card from DisneyLife here, or for the individual recipes, use my simple recipe cards below. I hope that you will enjoy making them as much as I did!
Bee Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 6 slices wholemeal bread
- 2 slices white bread
- Butter or spread
- 4 cheddar cheese slices
- 1 Tortilla wrap
- 4 candy eyeballs
Instructions
- Using a round cookie cutter, cut a large circle from each slice of bread. (Don’t throw out the crusts, pop them in a bag in the freezer to save for breadcrumbs for future recipes!)
- Cut each slice of cheddar cheese with the same round cutter to trim off any corners. Spread butter over 4 of the wholemeal bread circles and top with the cheese rounds.
- Take the remaining circles of bread and pile them on top of one another in a neat stack. Slice each stack in half, then each half in half again so that each circle has been turned into 4 strips of bread.
- Lightly butter each strip and place them butter side down in alternate stripes of brown and white to create a round stripey top for each sandwich.
- Cut 4 heart shapes from the tortilla wrap and push one into each sandwich, point side in, to form the wings.
- Top each sandwich with a candy eyeball to finish.
Pooh Stick Pretzel Bundles
Ingredients
- 40 pretzel sticks
- pretty string to decorate
Instructions
- Split the pretzel sticks into 4 piles of 10 sticks.
- Cut off small lengths of string and tie the piles of pretzel sticks together into bundles.
- Serve one bundle of pretzel ‘pooh sticks’ to each person with their picnic.
Piglet’s ‘Haycorns’ and Rabbit's Baby Carrots
Ingredients
- 100 g dark chocolate
- ½ punnet green grapes
- large lettuce
- handful baby carrots
Instructions
- Line a small baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Be sure to check that the tray will fit inside your fridge before you line it.
- Wash and dry the grapes, making sure that they are as dry as possible. Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place in a small microwave safe bowl.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each one to ensure it melts evenly. Be careful not to overheat or burn the chocolate, heat only until just melted and smooth.
- Dip the grapes into the chocolate to cover the bottom third of each grape, then place on the lined baking tray. Repeat until you have made as many grape ‘haycorns’ as you want, then place the tray of grapes into the fridge for 15-20 minutes to set.
- Line a lunch box with large lettuce leaves, and half fill with baby carrots. Fill the other side of the box with the grape haycorns, once set.
Tigger Inspired Clementines
Ingredients
- 4 clementines
- non-toxic marker pen to decorate
Instructions
- Draw a stripey tigger pattern onto the skin of each clementine to decorate.
Notes
Pooh’s Honey and Peanut Butter No-Bake Cereal Squares
Ingredients
- 275 g Peanut butter I used smooth
- 175 g honey
- 75 g multigrain hoops cereal
- 100 g white chocolate
- Pooh bear themed edible rice paper decorations
Instructions
- Grease and line a brownie pan with non-stick baking paper.
- Measure the peanut butter and honey into a large microwave safe bowl and mix together. Place in the microwave and cook for 30 seconds a time, stirring in between until boiling and starting to thicken. This will usually take 2-3 minutes.
- Working quickly, pour the cereal into the peanut butter and honey mixture and stir to combine. Tip the mixture into the lined pan then press down into the tin to form an even layer.
- Break the white chocolate into pieces and place in a small microwave safe bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each one to ensure it melts evenly. Be careful not to overheat or burn the chocolate, heat only until just melted and smooth.
- Pour the white chocolate over the cereal bar mixture and spread it around to form an even layer of topping.
- Working quickly, press the rice paper Pooh Bears into the top of the chocolate to decorate. Bear in mind as you do so that the bars will be cut into 16 squares so arrange the decorations accordingly.
- Place in the fridge to set for around an hour, then remove and slice into squares.
Notes
I hope you will want to try these fun picnic recipes, please pin this post so that you can find them again! For more themed picnic recipes like these, inspired by your favourite Disney characters, head over to www.disney.co.uk/picnics.
Disclosure: These picnic recipes and blog post were commissioned by DisneyLife. I was compensated for my time, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
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