Equipment needed:
- Whisk
- Mixing bowl
- Fat Daddio’s 9″x3″ baking pan
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment
- Airtight container or Saran Wrap (for cooling dough)
- Rolling pin (with 5/8-inch guides)
- Round cake pop maker — bite-pop size
- Spatula
- Microwavable bowl (for chocolate)
- Laser thermometer
- Cake pop sticks
- Hand massager (for quick-drip technique)
- Mat with heat-resistant pad
Cake Pop – Animal Cracker
Description
Makes approximately 23 to 28 cake pops
Ingredients – Cake Dough Base
Ingredients – Dipping & Decoration
Step by Step
- Preheat your oven according to the box directions.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the white cake mix, water, eggs, sour cream (swapped 1:1 for the oil), and 1 tsp vanilla bean paste until combined.
- Pour into your Fat Daddio’s 10×10 baking pan and bake according to package instructions.
- Once the cake comes out of the oven, let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
- Transfer the rested cake directly into your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Mix on low speed for 5–8 minutes until a smooth, play-dough-like dough comes together.
- Place the dough in an airtight container or tightly wrap it in Saran Wrap so it doesn’t dry out, then allow it to cool completely to room temperature.
- Once cold, give the dough a quick hand-knead, then gently fold in the 4 oz of crushed animal crackers.
- Roll the dough out using 5/8-inch guides.
- Use the Bite Pop size round cake pop cutter to cut individual portions and place them on a parchment-lined tray.
- Microwave your white chocolate base, Deluxe melts, and color accent (a few pink wafers OR a couple of drops of liposoluble food color) at 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir thoroughly with a spatula to evenly blend the soft pink color.
- Continue melting in 15- to 5-second intervals, stirring well after each.
- Check Temperature: Before dipping, use a laser thermometer to check your chocolate blend. Ensure your coating temperature is between 92°F and 98°F for optimal dipping consistency.
- Dip the tip of a cake pop stick into the melted candy coating, then insert it almost all the way to the top of the cake pop for maximum stability.
- Dip the entire cake pop to coat, then gently tap off excess chocolate (or use the hand massager method against your wrist to help the chocolate drip faster).
- Lay your cake pops down flat on a flat surface before applying toppings so they don’t slide off. Immediately attach 1 whole animal cracker to the center and shower with rainbow nonpareil sprinkles while the coating is wet. Let set completely.
Important: Be careful not to overbake, or you’ll get dry edges!
Make the Cake Pop Dough
Cool, Mix-ins, Rolling, & Shaping
Dip & Decorate
Residual heat will keep melting the pieces—do not overheat your chocolate!
Pro Tip: Why Sour Cream & Deluxe Melts?
- Sour Cream: Vegetable oil makes dough greasy and soft. Sour cream adds moisture and natural lactic acid, which tightens the cake’s structure, giving you a dense, rollable dough that holds its shape—no frosting needed!
- Deluxe Candy Melts: Blending 10%–20% Deluxe Melts into your Sweet Shop coating naturally thins out the liquid chocolate, making it effortless to achieve a smooth, thin shell at 92°F–98°F.
Baking, Animal Crackers, Cake Pops
Feel free to use any of our amazing cake-pop makers!
If you like to experiment with more cake-pop recipes, click here to see all my free recipes!