Vegan Cake Pops

close up of a pink vanilla vegan cake pop with a bite taken out of it.

5 stars (4 ratings)

Treat yourself to these Vegan Cake Pops, vegan vanilla cake balls dipped in melted chocolate! They’re a delicious two-bite treat everyone loves and are fun to customize with different flavors and decorations.

Prep Time40

Cook Time35

Chilling time2

Total Time3 15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cake pops

Calories: 243kcal

Author: Nora Taylor

Equipment

35 lollipop sticks

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk or almond, oat, coconut
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting

1/2 cup vegan butter softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Coating

32 ounces vegan white chocolate chips or regular vegan chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or refined coconut oil
vegan friendly sprinkles

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the cake and let cool

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a round 8-inch cake pan.
In a large bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and sugar. Whisk well to combine. To the bowl with the dry ingredients, pour in the oil, soy milk, apple cider vinegar and vanilla. Mix with a large spoon until just combined.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. let the cake cool all the way before proceeding with the recipe. I like to make it the night before I make cake pops.

Make the frosting and cake balls

With a handheld or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the vegan butter until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Now add the powdered sugar, soy milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy, for about 3 minutes.
Once the cake has cooled, crumble it into the bowl with the frosting. Turn the mixer on low speed and beat to combine, scraping the bottom and sides as needed. It should resemble crumbles.
Scoop 1 tablespoon of the mixture at a time and roll into balls (they won't be perfectly round since the mixture is so soft). Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. Take them out and re-roll, to smooth them out into more perfect circles. Place the pan back in the freezer for 30 more minutes.

Coat the balls and finish

Melt half of the chocolate of your choice with half the vegetable oil in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Or melt in a double boiler on the stovetop. I like to do this in a glass measuring cup for easy dipping, not a large shallow bowl.
Remove a few cake balls at a time (you want them to be very cold when you dip them in chocolate). Dip a lollipop stick about 1/2 inch into the chocolate coating, then push it halfway through the cake ball. Dip the ball into the chocolate until completely coated. When you are nearly out of melted chocolate, melt the other half of chocolate and oil (I do half at a time because it starts to firm up after awhile).
Gently tap the stick against the bowl to let any excess chocolate come off. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired and place upright to set. You can use a box with tiny holes poked in it, or a stand meant for drying cake pops.
Let them set and dry, then serve. You can also wrap them for gifting. They will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator, and they freeze perfectly as well.

Notes

Gluten free? Substitute gluten free all purpose flour in the cake.
Flavor variations - Make them lemon by adding some lemon zest and lemon extract to the cake and frosting. Or peppermint by adding peppermint extract to the cake and white chocolate coating, and sprinkle candy cane pieces on top. See post above for even more ideas.

Nutrition