A Yummy Gluten and Dairy Free Cake Pop Recipe (and a Regular Recipe too!)

Last week we decided to tackle making cake pops for the first time ever.  We may never make them again (they are a bit time consuming) but they were really yummy and fun to make.  Here's what we did...

1) Get a box of cake mix and make it just like the box tells you to . We used a gluten-free cake mix, but if you don't need gluten-free, just use regular obviously.  I used chocolate, but in hindsight, would have used something like vanilla, as we also used a chocolate coating and it was VERY chocolatey!

2) After the cake comes out of the oven and cools a bit, crumble it.  We smashed it with a masher, but you could use a food processor as well. 

3) Make a recipe of icing, or you can use half a can of icing from the store.  We made our icing using vegan butter (earth balance soy-free version), gluten-free vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Cream-cheese icing (or mock cream cheese icing, like the one I use for my GFCF carrot cake) would be super yummy too!  Here's the recipe we used (it is from the Bakerella cookbook):

• 3/4 cup butter at room temperature (dairy-free if needed)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (gluten-free if needed)
• 3 cups confectioners sugar

4)   Get a package of oreo-type cookies (we used gluten and dairy free obviously) and smash the heck out of them.  Then add them to your frosting.  I didn't use the whole bag full, but could have and probably would next time.



5) Add in your cake as well, and mix it all really well.  Next, roll the mixture in to balls and place them on cookie sheets lined with wax paper.  Refrigerate them for at least 1 hour, but a few hours is better.

6) Before you take them out of the fridge, melt either GFDF chocolate chips or those melting candy wafer thingies that you get form Michaels in a double broiler.  You will probably need 2 bags of whatever you choose.  Or, you can do half and half, like we did, if you are making them for a crowd and don't need them all to be GFCF.  If you are using the chocolate chips, add in a little (maybe a tablespoon or so) of vegetable shortening as well.  Get lollipop sticks from Michaels and, one at a time, dip it in your chocolate and then insert the stick in to a cake ball.  It works best if you take a few balls out of the fridge at a time, versus the whole tray, so that they don't start warming up too much.

7)  Put the pops back in the fridge for at least an hour again, though a few hours works better.  After they have cooled again, re-melt your chocolate or wafer thingies in your double broiler again.  Or, if you are like me and don't have a double broiler, just rig one up. 







8) Take the pops out a few at a time and dip them in the chocolate or in the wafer thingies.  You can decorate them if you would like.  My awesome Aunt sends us amazing sprinkles, so we went to town and decked them out.  Next, prop them up in Styrofoam or a cup to dry.  After they are dry, put them back in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.

These freeze really well and work great if you have someone on the GFCF diet that needs the occasional treat or a substitute treat at parties.  We bagged a bunch and froze them for future use.

Enjoy!!