I've never met a cake pop I didn't like. What's not to love? They are deliciously moist, easy to eat, and just plain adorable! I have eaten my fair share of cake pops but I had never actually made them until recently. I know....gasp!

With Easter right around the corner I wanted to practice making a sweet treat that I can bring to share with my family. Here is my Easter dessert criteria: fresh ingredients (hi, Spring!), and CHOCOLATE. Is it even Easter if you don't eat something chocolate? I'll be honest, I don't pride myself on being a fantastic baker. A savory dish with a flavorful sauce....now that's that I'm talking about! But dessert? Eh...it's hit or miss with me. Meaning it's hit or miss that what I make actually turns out as delicious as it looks and sounds in my head. Baking can feel technical - you need to have the right measurements and follow a recipe exactly in order for it to come out right. I'm more of a "let's throw this together and see what happens" kinda girl. Hence why I needed to practice making a dessert!

Remember my 2018 motto to "work smarter, not harder"? I'm literally applying that everywhere I can....baking included!

I'll let you in on a little secret. Instead of making a cake and frosting for these cake pops from scratch, I'm using Simple Mills Vanilla Cupcake & Cake Mix and Organic Vanilla Frosting! Have you tried them yet?! There are two words that best sum up how I feel about Simple Mills products: YAY and YUM!

Yay because their products don't include any artificial flavors, preservatives, or fillers and are filled with all real food ingredients. And yum because....well YUM! It's absolutely delicious. And takes the hassle out of baking from scratch. The reason I would bake from scratch is so that I know exactly what I'm putting into my baked good. Luckily Simple Mills does that for me. All you do is add eggs (or flax eggs to keep it totally plant-based), oil, water, and vanilla to the mix, stir it up, and your ready to bake!

And the frosting. THE FROSTING! Yum! It's a frosting you want to dip your finger in for a sneak taste. The best part about it? Its already made. Perfect for my work smarter, not harder motto.

So let's talk about these cake pops. They are easy to make, flavorful, fresh, moist, and DELISH. Basically my kind of dessert. And they are just so fun! I have made two batches of these (because they are that good) with Rhys as my cute baking assistant. Except he is much better at being cute than being a helpful assistant ;)

When Scott came home from work and saw these in the fridge, his eyes lit up! He promptly tried one (OK more like 3) and declared them to be his favorite dessert I have ever made. Whoa! I guess I'll need to make these more often.

So go grab yourself a box of Simple Mills Vanilla Cupcake & Cake Mix, a tub of Organic Vanilla Frosting (available at your local Meijer store), and make yourself a big bouquet of these delicious cake pops. And I guess share with your family at Easter if there are any left :)

Raspberry Vanilla Cake Pops

|Makes 16-20|

Ingredients:

20 paper straws OR cake pop sticks
1 box Simple Mills Vanilla Cupcake & Cake Mix
3 Tbsp Simple Mills Organic Vanilla Frosting
1/4 cup fresh raspberries
1 (12 oz) bag dairy-free chocolate chips
1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
Freeze dried raspberries, crushed (optional for topping)
Sprinkles (optional for topping)

Instructions:

Bake the cake according to the package and let it cool down to room temperature.
Cut the cake into 4 pieces and peel away the browned outside layer of the cake. *The outer layer tends to be too dry to form the cake pop.
In a large bowl, crumble the cake with your hands. Add 3 Tbsp of frosting to the crumbled cake and mix with a spoon or your hands. Add the raspberries and mix until incorporated.
Shape the cake into balls with your hands (or cake pop former if you have one) and set aside.
Melt about 1/4 cup of the chocolate in a small bowl. You can do this in the microwave by heating in 30 second intervals to avoid overheating the chocolate.
Dip the tip of the straw or stick into the melted chocolate and poke it into the ball half way through. Place each cake pop onto a baking sheet and place in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the rest of the chocolate and coconut oil in the bowl.
Once the cake pops have been frozen for 20 minutes, dip each one into the melted chocolate and tilt the sides to make sure the entire cake pop is covered. Then slowly pull up the cake pop and gently tap against the side of the bowl so that the excess chocolate drips off.
Roll the cake pop in crushed freeze dried raspberries and/or sprinkles before the chocolate hardens.
Place in a styrofoam block or anything that can keep the cake pops upright for about an hour.
Enjoy!

Notes

*Since Simple Mills products don't contain any preservatives, store your cake pops in the fridge or freezer!

xoxo,

Lauren

This post is sponsored by Simple Mills. Like always I’m keeping it real and all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting brands that support Whole Living Lauren!