This delightfully spooky vanilla cake pop recipe is perfect for Halloween! To make these delicious Halloween cake pops, you will need 11 ingredients plus decorations.
Watch out, these seem to disappear as fast as you can make them! If you are looking for more Halloween dessert ideas then be sure to check out my Death-By-Chocolate Halloween Cake recipe as well.
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Video Tutorial
Why You’ll Fall in Love With These Halloween Cake Pops
- They’re fun. If you’re looking for a cute, fun, and bite-sized dessert to serve your guests at your upcoming Halloween party, then this is the perfect recipe.
- They’re addicting. I swear these Halloween Cake Pops are always the first ones to run out whenever I make them. They’re that good!
- They spark creativity. You can decorate them in any way you want! Switch the colors around. Make ghouls, ghosts, pumpkins…your choice. Don’t hold back.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 cups + 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup canola or mild vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 ½ cups milk
For the Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean)
For the Decoration
- Gel food coloring (optional)
- sprinkles (optional)
- 2 cups candy melts, color(s) of your choice
How to Make Halloween Cake Pops
Learn how to make these Halloween Cake Pops with these simple instructions!
Bake the Cake
1. Prepare your baking implements.
Preheat oven to 350°F (or 175°C). Line the bottom and the sides of a 9x13 inch / 23x33cm baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Mix your dry ingredients.
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt and stir to combine. Set aside.
3. Prepare the batter.
In a large mixing bowl with a stand or a handheld mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat butter, oil, and sugar until creamy for about 2-3 minutes.
Then, add your vanilla and egg whites. Mix them for about 2 minutes or until fully incorporated.
4. Add your dry ingredients to the batter.
Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir just until combined.
5. Bake your cake.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and bake for 38-42 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Don't overbake or the cake will be dry. Let cool to room temperature.
Make the Frosting
1. Whisk butter and cream cheese together.
You may start preparing the frosting once the cake has chilled.
In a large mixing bowl with a stand or a handheld mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for around 2-3 minutes or until they’re smooth, creamy, combined, and lump-free.
2. Add sugar and vanilla.
Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed for around 2-3 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved and the frosting is creamy.
Assemble the Cake Pops
1. Crumble your cake.
You may start the assembly step once your cake has cooled and you’re done with the frosting.
Crumble the cooled cake with your fingers into fine crumbs into a large bowl.
2. Add the frosting.
Add the frosting to the crumbled cake and combine either with your hands, a spoon, or an electric mixer.
3. Add color to your cake mixture.
Divide your cake mixture into different bowls according to the number of colors you want. Then carefully add food coloring until you achieve the color you want. In my experience, gel food coloring works best for this recipe.
Quick Note: You can proceed to the next step if you’re not planning to color your cake pops.
4. Roll your cake mixture into small balls.
Spoon about 1 heaping or 2 leveled tablespoons of the cake mixture and roll it into a ball. Place on a parchment paper layered sheet. Repeat until you run out of cake mixture (you should end up with about 40 cake pops).
Then, refrigerate your cake balls for 2 hours before moving to the next step.
Decorate the Cake Pops
1. Melt the coating.
Melt the coating in a deep heatproof bowl or cup in the microwave or double boiler. A 2-cup Pyrex cup works best for dunking.
2. Coat your cake pops.
Remove 3 cake pops at a time from the fridge and gently re-roll to smooth them if necessary.
Then dip one end of a lollipop stick into the coating (about 1 inch / 2.5 cm).
Gently insert the dipped stick into the center of one cake pop about halfway through.
Next, dip the cake pop into the melted coating until fully covered. Let excess coating drop off and decorate with sprinkles if desired.
Place them upright by sticking the sticks into a block of styrofoam or placing them in glasses (be careful that they don't touch each other).
Lastly, store your dipped cake pops in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
3. Decorate your cake pops.
Draw faces or patterns with a brush and melted candy melts on top of the dried coating if desired.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
You can store your Halloween Cake Pops in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just take them out once you’re ready to serve. You can eat them immediately.
You may also freeze your cake pops for up to 6 weeks. I highly recommend using either a freezer bag or a freezer-safe container.
Expert Tips for Success
- Refrigerate your cake pops after rolling. Don't skip out on putting the pops into the fridge once rolled. It's an important step! Otherwise, your cake pops won’t won't stick together and can even crumble apart.
- Use egg whites. Just use egg whites for the best coloring results.
- Take it easy on the food coloring. Never add more food coloring than recommended to the batter or coating.
- You can add coconut oil. You may add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to the icing if you want it to be super smooth.
Halloween Cake Pops FAQs
The most common reason why these cake balls might fall apart is that it’s because they were either too small or too big for their sticks.
Measure the cake balls and make them uniform to prevent this from happening. You want them to be either 1 heaping tablespoon or 2 level tablespoons of the dough mixture.
Balls that are too big will be too heavy and fall apart while those that are too small will crack after poking them through with the sticks.
Your cake pops might end up mushy if they have too much frosting mixed with the baked cake mixture. Make sure to follow the directions and ingredient recommendations as accurately as you can to prevent this from happening.
No. Melted chocolate chips won’t set up correctly and you’ll sadly end up with a disaster. As such, I highly recommend sticking to candy melts or chocolate coating.
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More Holiday Recipes to Try
Halloween isn’t the only holiday that requires a delicious dessert! Check out these other recipes as well.
Recipe
Halloween Vanilla Cake Pops
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup canola or mild vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 ½ cups milk
Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean)
Decoration
- gel food coloring (optional)
- sprinkles (optional)
- 2 cups candy melts, color(s) of your choice
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line the bottom and the sides of a 9x13 inch / 23x33cm baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt and stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with a stand or a handheld mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat butter, oil, and sugar until creamy for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add vanilla and egg whites and mix until fully incorporated about 2 minutes.
- Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir just until combined.Â
- Transfer batter to the prepared baking pan and bake for 38-42 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Don't overbake or the cake will be dry. Let cool to room temperature.
Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl with a stand or a handheld mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth, creamy, combined, and no lumps remain about 2-3 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed until the sugar is dissolved and the frosting is creamy about 2-3 minutes.
Assembling
- Crumble the cooled cake with your fingers into fine crumbs into a large bowl. Add cream cheese frosting and combine. I use my hands to combine but you can do this with a spoon or with an electric mixer as well.
- Uncolored: Spoon about 1 heaping or 2 leveled tablespoon of the cake mixture and roll into a ball. Place on a parchment paper layered sheet. Repeat until you run out of cake mixture (you should end up with about 40 cake pops).
- Colored: If you want to them then divide the cake mixture into different bowls and dye to your preference and according to the package. I find gel food coloring works best. Then spoon about 1 heaping or 2 leveled tablespoon of the cake mixture and roll into a ball. Place on a parchment paper layered sheet. Repeat until you run out of cake mixture.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Decoration
- Melt the coating in a deep heatproof bowl or cup in the microwave or double boiler. A 2-cup pyrex cup works best for dunking.
- Remove 3 cake pops at the time from the fridge and gently re-roll to smooth them if necessary.
- Dip one end of a lollipop stick into the coating (about 1 inch / 2.5 cm). Then insert the dipped stick into the center of one cake pop about halfway through and dip it into the melted coating until fully covered. Let excess coating drop off and decorate with sprinkles if desired. Place upright into glasses or a styrofoam block and let dry. Repeat with remaining cake pops and work in batches. Store in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Draw faces or patterns with a brush and melted candy melts on top of the dried coating if desired.
- Store in the fridge up to 4 days or freeze for up to 6 weeks.
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