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+ servings
Decorated cake pops on black background some of them half eaten
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5 from 4 votes

Halloween Vanilla Cake Pops

This delightfully spooky vanilla cake pop recipe is perfect for Halloween! You will need 11 ingredients plus decorations. Watch out, these seem to disappear as fast as you can make them!
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time1 hour 40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 40 Cake Pops
Calories: 190kcal
Author: Sabine

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. 
  • 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 71mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 195IU | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg