This easy homemade cake pop recipe is covered in a sweet chocolate coating with a delicious crumb. The perfect bite-sized party treat or favor for any occasion! 

Homemade cake pop with a bite taken out showing moist vanilla cake interior dipped in white chocolate coating.

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Homemade Cake Pops

These cake pops are one of my favorite treats to make for a party. Moist cake crumbles mixed with creamy buttercream are shaped into cake balls, put on a stick, dipped in a smooth chocolate coating and finished with sprinkles. They look like they came from a bakery but I promise they are so much easier than they look!

These homemade cake pops are perfect for birthdays, baby showers, wedding showers, holidays or anytime you want a fun bite-sized treat. You can even wrap them individually and give them as favors!

This is a great way to use up leftover cake and frosting, and my step-by-step tutorial makes it totally beginner friendly.

Recipe Ingredients

Cake pop ingredients laid out on a countertop including a baked cake, melting wafers and ingredients to make buttercream frosting.

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.

  • Cake mix: This cake pop recipe with cake mix is the easiest way to make them. Use your preferred flavor or swap in your favorite from-scratch cake recipe if you prefer.
  • Melting wafers: I prefer the Ghirardelli melting wafers in vanilla or chocolate. They give the smoothest finish and a sturdy coating. A high quality chocolate bar like Ghirardelli or Baker’s would be the next best option.
  • Salted butter: If you only have unsalted butter, just add in a pinch of salt to the frosting.
  • Powdered sugar: This will help bring the sweetness and stability to the frosting.
  • Heavy cream or milk: This helps makes the frosting creamy.
  • Sprinkles: Use your favorite sprinkles, jimmies, or other desired decorations.
  • Cake pop sticks: Don’t forget these! Without them you’ve just got cake balls.

Frosting and Flavor Combinations

A classic buttercream is my favorite type of frosting for cake pops, but feel free to use others like chocolate buttercream or strawberry buttercream.

Below are a few different flavor combinations that would taste delicious:

How To Make Cake Pops

Step by step collage showing how to make cake pops from crumbling cake to rolling into balls, inserting sticks and dipping in melted chocolate.
  1. Crumble. Allow the cake to cool slightly and then crumble in a large bowl.
  2. Mix. Add a few spoonful’s of frosting and use your hands to combine. The dough should hold together if squeezed. If it’s still crumbly, stir in a little more frosting.
  3. Scoop. Then scoop out the mixture with a medium cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Repeat until you’ve used all of the mixture.
  4. Add cake pop stick. Melt a few of the dark and white chocolate wafers in two separate bowls. Then dip the end of the cake pop stick into the melted chocolate and push that same end into the cake ball. The melted chocolate helps “glue” the stick to the cake ball. Once each ball has a stick, place them in the freezer to harden for about 20 minutes.
  5. Coat in chocolate. Melt the remaining dark and white chocolate in separate bowls. Use a taller glass or jar for easy dipping. Dip the cake balls into the melted chocolate, making sure it’s fully coated. Gently tap the stick on the side of the dish to remove any excess chocolate.
Dipping cake pop in melted chocolate.

Decorations

There are so many ways to decorate cake pops!

  • Add sprinkles or jimmies, drizzle with more melted chocolate or do both!
  • Sprinkle crushed oreos like I did in these Oreo cake pops
  • Make them for a holiday like my easy Halloween cake pops or Easter cake pops.
  • Dye the cake batter with food coloring for a fun surprise when biting into them.
  • Make them into a cake pop bouquet for a fun gift or centerpiece.
Cake pops on sticks dipped in white chocolate with colorful sprinkles.

Recipe Tips

  • Half batch of frosting: I made a half batch of my buttercream frosting and used only half of that. How much you need depends on how moist the cake is.
  • Chill in the freezer: This step is essential. The cake balls need to be cold before dipping or they won’t hold their shape or grip the stick.
  • Melting the chocolate: If the chocolate hardens while you’re working, reheat in 30-second increments. Any longer can burn it.
  • Dipping method: Use a deep 2-cup measuring cup or tall glass filled with melted chocolate. Tap the stick on the edge to remove excess.
  • Holding upright: Use a glass filled with rice or sprinkles, or a styrofoam block to hold the pops upright while the chocolate sets.
Cake pops with white and dark chocolate coating and rainbow sprinkles lined up on a white countertop.

Troubleshooting

Cake pops falling apart: It’s all about the frosting. The mixture should hold together when squeezed. If it’s crumbly, add a little more frosting at a time. If you have a very moist cake, you may not need much at all.

Coating is cracking: This is usually a temperature issue. Don’t freeze the cake balls longer than instructed as the super cold cake combined with warm melted chocolate causes cracking. Also make sure you’re using melting wafers rather than chocolate chips. Wafers give a thicker, smoother finish once hardened.

White and dark chocolate cake pops with colorful sprinkles standing upright in a glass of rice.

More Bite-Sized Party Treats

Homemade cake pop with a bite taken out showing moist vanilla cake interior dipped in white chocolate coating.

Cake Pops Recipe

4.98 from 244 votes
Recipe by: Jamielyn Nye
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Freeze: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 24
Easy homemade cake pops covered in a sweet chocolate coating. The perfect bite-sized party treat or favor for any occasion! 
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Video

Equipment

Ingredients 

  • 15 ounce box white cake mix , cook according to package directions in a 9×13" pan
  • 10 ounce package dark chocolate melting wafers
  • 10 ounce package white chocolate melting wafers ,I prefer Ghiradelli

Buttercream Frosting

  • 1 stick salted butter , softened
  • 2-2 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon heavy cream or milk

Optional: Sprinkles, jimmies or other desired decorations

Instructions

Make Buttercream Frosting

  • In a medium bowl, whip the butter. Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix until combined. Add the vanilla and additional powdered sugar, a little at a time. Add 1 Tablespoon of heavy cream or milk to make the frosting thick and creamy. It should hold a point.

Make Cake Pops

  • In a large bowl, crumble the prepared cake into fine crumbs (make sure it has cooled slightly before crumbling). Add 2 spoonfuls of buttercream frosting to the cake. Combine with your hands or a spoon. Gradually add more frosting until the cake holds together if squeezed. You don't want it too crumbly or it won't hold together.
  • Using a cake pop press or medium cookie scoop and scoop cake mixture. Roll into a ball and place onto a plate. Repeat until all the cake mixture has been formed into balls. Freeze balls for about 10 minutes.

Dip in chocolate

  • Right before they are ready to be taken out of the freezer, melt the dark chocolate and the white chocolate in two separate microwave safe bowls. Begin by heating for 30 seconds and then stirring.
  • Dip each lollipop stick into the chocolate and then into the center of the cake pop. Return to the fridge or freezer until chocolate is set. Pour chocolate into a glass cup or skinny jar and then dip cake pops, one by one. Gently tap the stick on the side of the melting dish to let the excess drip off. You can also spin or twirl the cake pop to remove the excess.
  • Before the chocolate starts to harden, add sprinkles, jimmies or other decorations. If decorating with more chocolate, let the chocolate covering harden on the cake pop.
  • Push the cake pop stick into a styrofoam block or use a glass filled with rice to hold them upright. The chocolate will be set in about an hour. Store for 3-4 days in an airtight container in a cool place.

Last step: Please leave a comment and rating after you make the recipe.

Notes

Frosting: You can also use 8 ounces of frosting from the store (half of a 16 ounce can) to make it easier, I just prefer the homemade buttercream. 
Work with 5 cake pops at a time and keep the rest in the freezer so they don’t soften.
After dipping the stick in melted chocolate, let it set before inserting into the cake ball so it doesn’t slide out when dipping.
Discard any brown edges before crumbling the cake.
Storage: Store in an airtight container in a cool place for 3 to 4 days.
Freeze: To freeze, make sure the chocolate coating has completely dried before freezing. They will keep for up to 6 weeks. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 110kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 9mg, Sodium: 36mg, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin A: 101IU, Calcium: 1mg

Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.