Skinny Red Velvet Cake Pops

I'm always looking for an excuse to bake. Birthdays, holidays, Arbor Day...I really don't care. Just point me towards the oven and I'm on it.

The problem is when I'm done, I'm left with an entire cake, three dozen cookies, or a truckload of cake pops. I'll happily try to to polish off the pan on my own.

Don't think I wouldn't eat every single one of these.  

So, I decided Kristen's students needed to have cake pops for Valentine's Day. This was a solely selfless act, and not just because I wanted an excuse to try my hand at making cake pops and lick red velvet off a spatula. I'm basically a saint, I know.

Looking back on the entire process, making these pops was a comedy of errors. First, I had to push back dipping them a day because I screwed up the chocolate. Instead of reading the directions, I thought thinning the chocolate out with a couple drops of milk was a great idea.

Wrong. So, so wrong.

What started out as creamy pink chocolate turned into an unusable, clumpy, oily mess. The next day you could find me cursing my way out to the store after work to buy more chocolate and try again.

I also forgot about the whole styrofoam thing, which was pretty important. We settled for a piece I dug out of an old food processor box (tip: this doesn't work well!) and were knocking over pops left and right. No sooner was one pop perfectly balanced when another would tip over and knock the rest down like candy coated dominoes.

By the time dipping and decorating were complete, the kitchen looked like a clown's crime scene -- there were streaks of red chocolate all over the counter, the floor was covered in pink and white sprinkles and my hands were stained velvet. 

Baking is fun! I just need to keep reminding myself that.

Ok, it really wasn't that bad. And they turned out delicious, as anything red velvet always does. Please don't let me scare you away from this recipe, trust me, they're worth it!

Cake pops are one of those things that really aren't that hard to make but people are always super impressed anyway. This recipe especially, since you can count the ingredients on one hand.

Normally, I like to bake from scratch. Mainly because I enjoy the entire process, rather than throwing together some boxed mix, eggs and oil -- plus avoiding all the processed ingredients is an added bonus. But when a box of red velvet cake mix is on sale for 75 cents, you better believe I'll grab a box or three.

Ingredients:

1 box Red velvet cake mix

6oz plain Greek yogurt

1 1/3 c water

12 oz cream cheese frosting

18 oz wilton candy melts

60 lollipop sticks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 pan. Combine cake mix, yogurt and water. Pour into pan and bake for 30 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Make cream cheese frosting. (I have an awesome, healthy recipe. Try it here!)

Once cake has cooled, crumble it in a bowl and combine with cream cheese frosting. Roll into 3/4 inch balls, place on a baking sheet and freeze for an hour.

Melt chocolates in 30-second intervals in the microwave, or over a double boiler. Dip stick into chocolate and insert into cake pop. Freeze for another hour to set.

Like this.

Remove from freezer. Remelt chocolates. Thinly coat pops by dipping them in chocolate. If you like, this is where you can add sprinkles or other decorations. Just do it quickly since the chocolate dries fast. Stick them in styrofoam to dry upright.

Keep in the freezer or fridge until ready to eat. They'll stay fresh for about five days.

Makes 60.

The finished product. Try and be more adorable, I dare you.

Nutrition: 1 pop = 100 calories

Carbs: 14g Fat: 4g Protein: 1g