IHOP Has an Entire Elf on the Shelf-Themed Holiday Menu This Year
Parents can thank IHOP for giving them an excuse to tell kids to start behaving well — way ahead of schedule.
That’s because the pancake chain restaurant’s new Elf on the Shelf Holiday Menu has debuted and will be available now until January 1, 2020. The menu features Elf-themed Jolly Cakes, a Holiday Ham & Sausage Omelette, Oh What Funnel Cakes, Merry Marshmallow Hot Chocolate, and a Little Elves Combo for kids really looking to get into the holiday spirit. Plus, parents who order one adult entrée in stores can get one free kids’ menu entrée for children 12 and under every day from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. until January 1.
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Jolly Cakes are first on the menu and perhaps the most alluring. These four bright-green pancakes are topped with a sweet cream cheese icing, whipped cream, and red & green sprinkles that shimmer and look like elf-sized ornaments. They also look strikingly similar to the restaurant’s Grinch-themed pancakes from 2018.
The Oh What Funnel Cakes should also be a big draw — they are lightly dusted with powdered sugar and topped with glazed strawberries, whipped cream, and more shimmery elf sprinkles.
Next on the menu is the Holiday Ham & Sausage Omelette, which also includes fire-roasted peppers and onions, hash browns, and jack and cheddar cheeses, and smothered with a cheddar cheese sauce. It can be served with three pancakes or your choice of side.
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Last is the Merry Marshmallow Hot Chocolate, which is flavored with toasted marshmallow syrup, topped with whipped cream and more shimmery elf sprinkles.
In honor of the annual invasion of Scout Elves, each IHOP restaurant has also adopted its own Elf and will be hiding it in a new spot every day, so kids will have some incentive to be on their best behavior during the meal.
Need some background? Elf on the Shelf is a children’s book that comes with a toy Scout Elf that “spies” on kids to determine whether they’ll go on Santa’s naughty or nice list. Parents convince their children that the elf is alive and moves around while kids are sleeping — which is why it shows up in different spots every day. If kids touch the elf, it will lose its magic and disappear.
According to CNN, more than 11 million copies of the book have been sold since the book was launched in 2005, and it’s so popular that it will have its own enormous balloon float at the Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York — for the sixth time. Balloons can be up to 40 feet tall and 28 feet wide, and some cost as much as $100,000 just to construct.
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If you’re looking for more Elf on the Shelf products, you can check out Walmart’s Elf-themed cakebites. The treats are coated in vanilla icing and festive sprinkles, and then filled with alternating layers of red and green vanilla cake. There’s also a new Elf on the Shelf sugar cookie cereal, which features sugar cookie-flavored red-and-green star pieces, mini marshmallows, and edible glitter.
