Vegan Cake Pops

These vegan cake pops are dairy-free and egg-free and make a festive addition to any celebration or party. Don’t let food allergies keep you from enjoying these delicious treats!

My sweet little nephew has food allergies. We found out when he was a baby that he absolutely could not eat dairy. When he got older and was tested for more allergies, it was discovered that he was also allergic to eggs, as well.

His parents took on this challenge full on. And being the only baker in the family, I began my journey into making vegan friendly cakes, cookies and other treats so our boy could enjoy desserts for any special occasion.

I have been making his birthday cakes for the past 8 years. Whether it’s a simple layered cake or a monster truck mountain, I have loved seeing that his food allergies did not prevent him from having the birthday cake of his dreams.

Why this recipe is so awesome

A couple years ago, after carving up his cake to make that monster truck mountain, I found myself with a bowl full of cake scraps. I decided to make him some cake pops and gave it to him at his second party, the family only birthday celebration.

Apparently this was the first time he had ever eaten a cake pop. When he took his first bite a big smile spread over his face. He turned to his little brother (who does not have any food allergies) and said, “No wonder you always ask for a cake pop at Starbucks!”

Well, I can’t speak for Starbuck’s illustrious cake pops, but I was beaming when I saw how happy these little treats made my nephew smile.

For his 9th birthday, I was told that there would be no party (and no crazy birthday cake requests) because he and his family were going to Disneyland. I felt both relieved and yet, a little deflated. Since we weren’t sure if Disney had any dairy-free egg-free desserts for our birthday boy, I decided to make some cake pops for him to take with him.

No birthday should go without some sort of birthday cake, even if you have food allergies.

Vegan cake pops are made similarly to regular cake pops: cake scraps broken into crumbs and mixed with a binder (usually frosting) and formed into balls. The balls are frozen and then dipped into melted chocolate or candy melts.

You can use any vegan cake and I offer a variety of vegan binders you can use to form the balls. There are a variety of dairy-free chocolates you can melt and dip the cake balls in. In no time, you have a delicious allergy friendly treat!

Ingredients needed

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• Vegan cake: You can use leftover cake, cake scraps or bake a vegan cake specifically to make cake pops. I used leftovers from my vegan birthday cake recipe for these cake pops.
• Vegan frosting: If you have leftover frosting, feel free to use it for the binder. I made a small batch of vegan frosting for the binder of these cake pops by mixing vegan butter, powdered sugar and almond milk.
• Jam: Instead of vegan frosting you can also use any flavor of fruit jam (homemade or store bought) as your binder.
• Vegan cream cheese: Another binder option besides vegan frosting and jam is to simply use vegan cream cheese.
• Vegan butter: I add a dab of vegan butter to the chocolate while it melts. You can also use coconut oil.
• Vegan chocolate chips: I used Enjoy Life’s allergy friendly milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips to coat the cake balls. I personally struggled with melting the white chocolate chips. See my notes in FAQ section of this post for more on this.
• Vegan sprinkles: You can dip the cake pops in sprinkles or not. My little nephew LOVES sprinkles so I used them.
• You will also need lollipop or popsicle sticks to insert into each cake pop. You can also use bamboo skewers. To aid in the assembly process, I like to use a floral or styrofoam block to insert the cake pops after dipping in the melted chocolate.

Tools to Use

• Measuring Cups + Spoons
• Hand Mixer
• Silicone Spatula

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Step-by-step directions

1. Break down cake. Place the pieces of cake in a mixing bowl and break it down into crumbs. I prefer working with my hands, but you can also use a fork or potato masher to do this. You want uniform crumbs and not big chunks, otherwise the cake balls will crack and break.

2. Mix in a binder. There are several options you have for the binder: fruit jam, vegan frosting or vegan cream cheese. You will need enough binder for the “dough” to hold its shape after it is rolled and pressed into balls.

So don’t get too fixated on exact measurements here. Let the texture of your mixture tell you how much binder you need. If you are concerned about sugar, you can also use less frosting by adding some almond or other non-dairy milk to moisten and wet the mixture.

3. Form balls and freeze. Scoop out mixture and roll into balls, about 1-inch diameter, and place on a baking sheet. I love using my quarter sheet baking pans for these kinds of recipes. They are small enough to fit in my freezer.

Freeze for at least 1 hour. If you are making these in advance of a party, transfer frozen cake balls to a resealable freezer bag and store in the freezer until you are ready to use them.

4. Melt chocolate. Place your vegan chocolate in a double boiler. Add vegan butter and gently heat until melted. Do not get any water in the chocolate or it will seize.

I personally struggled with melting vegan white chocolate into a smooth dippable consistency so I had to discard it. Twice. White chocolate burns VERYY easily and should be melted more slowly than regular chocolate.

I had no trouble melting the dairy-free chocolate, so I used this. A little vegan butter or coconut oil is added to the chocolate for a smoother melty mixture. You can melt chocolate in the microwave, but be sure to heat in small increments, 20-30 seconds, and stir between heat cycles.

I do not recommend melting white chocolate in the microwave unless you can reduce the heat intensity. Again, white chocolate burns much more easily than regular chocolate.

5. Insert the stick. Dip the tip of the popsicle or lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and insert it gently into each frozen cake ball. The chocolate will harden quickly setting the glue that that holds the stick in place.

6. Coat in melted chocolate. Working one at a time, dip each cake ball into the melted chocolate. Use a butter knife or rubber scraper to smooth it out. Keep rotating the cake ball to keep the chocolate from dripping. As it chills, it will start to set.

7. Add sprinkles and set. If using sprinkles, place them in a small bowl or plate and dip the still wet chocolate covered cake ball into the sprinkles. Place the stick of the cake pop into a brick of styrofoam and let the chocolate harden and set.

You can also place the cake balls on a parchment lined baking sheet, but understand that there will be a little flat on the top after the chocolate sets.

Expert tips and recipe FAQs

As I mentioned above, I tried melting the Enjoy Life white chocolates and struggled with it. Melting white chocolate is always a bit of a challenge, but I felt like this particular brand was extra finicky.

Next time I will try melting it with some coconut oil, since vegan butter has small amounts of water. Maybe this will keep it from seizing and create a smooth melt.

I wanted to dye the white chocolate, but you can only dye chocolates using OIL based food dyes otherwise the chocolate will seize. Unfortunately, it was seizing on me and I threw out 2 bags of seized white chocolate. I dipped the cake pops in the melted milk chocolate without any issues.

I have found vegan melting wafers on Amazon, but have not yet tried working with them yet. As you may know, these products are expensive and I had already spent $40 on vegan chocolates of various types.

The next time I make some cake pops I will try the vegan melting wafers and report back here.

Once all the chocolate has set on the cake pops, I wrapped them in these lollipop bags. This helped them keep longer and made them travel friendly.

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Yield: 20 cake pops

Vegan Cake Pops

Print

These vegan cake pops are dairy-free and egg-free and make a festive addition to any celebration or party. Don't let food allergies keep you from enjoying these special treats!

I tend to melt more chocolate than I need so that I have can dip the balls completely for easier coating.

Prep Time 1 hour

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

• 4 lbs vegan cake
• 1 cup vegan frosting
• 10 oz vegan chocolate chips
• 3 TBS vegan butter
• ¼ cup vegan sprinkles

Instructions

1. Place the pieces of cake in a mixing bowl and break it down into crumbs using your hands, fork or potato masher. You want uniform crumbs and not big chunks, otherwise the cake balls will crack and break.
2. Add frosting and mix it in with the crumbs until it forms a moist dough that will hold its shape once formed into balls. See notes below for other binder options.
Scoop out mixture and roll into balls, about 1-inch diameter, and place on a baking sheet. Freeze for at least 1 hour. If you are making these in advance of a party, transfer frozen cake balls to a resealable freezer bag and store in the freezer until you are ready to use.
Place your vegan chocolate in a double boiler. Add vegan butter and gently heat until melted. Do not get any water in the chocolate or it will seize.
Dip the tip of the popsicle or lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and insert gently into each frozen cake ball. The chocolate will harden quickly setting the glue that that holds the stick in place.
Working one at a time, dip each cake ball into the melted chocolate. Use a butter knife or rubber scraper to smooth it out. Keep rotating the cake ball to keep the chocolate from dripping. As it chills, it will start to set.
If using sprinkles, place them in a small bowl or plate and dip the still wet chocolate covered cake ball into the sprinkles. Place the stick of the cake pop into a brick of styrofoam and let the chocolate harden and set.

Notes

You can also use any fruit jam or vegan cream cheese as the binder for your cake balls. The amount you will need will vary, depending on how moist your cake is. Use enough to moisten the mixture enough so that you can form round balls and it will hold its shape and not crumble.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

20

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 456Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 275mgCarbohydrates: 65gFiber: 1gSugar: 51gProtein: 3g

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