Halloween Cake Pops
These Shortcut Halloween Cake Pops are a quick and easy way to make a treat for spooky season. Using donut holes dipped in candy melts is the smart secret to a homemade look in half the time.
Spookily Easy Halloween Cake Pops – Donut Hole Edition
Confession time: We love the idea of cake pops, but sometimes we just can’t muster the energy to haul out the electric mixer to bake a whole cake, crumble it, mix it with frosting, and THEN shape it into perfect little spheres. Even using store-bought cake and store-bought frosting, it’s a pain.
This shortcut for simple Halloween Cake Pops is here to save your haunted day. We’re talking donut holes, also known as mini donuts in some parts, a bag of candy melts, and having a whole lot of decorating fun.
They come together in under an hour, and honestly? These spooky cake pops might be even cuter than the from-scratch version.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe For Spooky Cake Pops
- No oven required, no waiting for a cake to cool, just instant spooky fun. Using donut holes skips straight to the best part: the decorating.
- Let your creativity shine with different colors and spooky themes. Make a batch of mini monsters, candy corn stripes, or even a ghost or two.
- This Halloween cake pops recipe is perfect for little helpers. Kids love dunking, sprinkling, and sticking on googly eyes.
- Great for parties, trick-or-treating handouts, or just a cozy family night with a Halloween movie.
Halloween Cake Balls Ingredients
This section contains affiliate links. A full recipe card, including exact ingredient amounts, appears at the bottom of this post.
- small donuts – we used a combination of mini donuts and donut holes for these Halloween cake pops, but you can use all one or the other. You’ll need 24 pieces, total. We used plain flavored donuts, but discuss other options below.
- candy melts – you’ll need 1 cup total candy melts to coat all of the Halloween cake balls. You can use all green candy melts, or a smaller amount of a variety of colors, like a combination of green, purple and orange candy melts.
- candy eyeballs – it isn’t a Halloween dessert without candy eyeballs.
- assorted sprinkles – you can find fun Halloween sprinkles online and in a ton of stores these days. You can also buy a package of assorted colored sprinkles and just use a few tablespoons of select Halloween-ish colors, like green, orange and purple.
- black food coloring writing gel – we used black decorating gel to make the mouths on this Halloween treat.
- lollipop sticks – 6 to 7-inch are a great size for cake pops for Halloween. White lollipop sticks and colored lollipop sticks are found online or at craft stores. Popsicle sticks also work in a pinch.
How To Make Easy Halloween Cake Pops (Without Making Cake)
- MELT THE CANDY. Follow the package directions to melt the candy melts (each color in its own ramekin or small bowl). Each brand may vary slightly. We usually use the microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring in between. And not just a quick stir, either. Give it a full minute of mixing. Sometimes those last few lumps just need a little time and patience.
- ATTACH THE STICKS. Dip each lollipop stick about 1/4 to 1/2 inch into the melted candy, then gently insert into a donut hole. Let them rest upside down on wax paper or parchment paper (sticks pointing upward) until the candy sets. This little trick helps anchor the stick securely in place.
- COAT. Dip each donut pop into the melted candy, turning to coat thoroughly. Set them back upside down on wax paper to harden completely.
- DECORATE.
– For sprinkle-topped Halloween cake balls, let the coating set for just 3 minutes before dipping into sprinkles.
– For drizzled Halloween cake pops, let the base coat nearly set and then drizzle a second color on top.
– For monster cake pops, wait until the base is fully hardened, then glue on candy eyeballs with more melted candy and go wild with sprinkles and black gel.
– Want monster horns? Pipe horn shapes onto wax paper using melted candy and let them cool. Then, stick them onto pops with more melted candy. (Tip: A sprinkle behind a big horn makes a great little brace.)
Halloween Cake Pop Home Chef Tips
- Steer clear of candy melting wafers with a white film inside the bag. That film will likely show up on your finished pops. Wilton is our go-to brand, but most packages have a little window so you can peek inside before buying.
- If your candy melt mixture is too thick and is pulling the donut holes off their sticks, stir in vegetable oil or coconut oil 1/2 teaspoon at a time to thin it out.
- Planning to add a second layer of candy melt for drizzles or details? Let the candy cool to room temperature before layering so it doesn’t crack or separate.
How To Serve This Halloween Cake Pops Recipe
To serve, you can either prop Halloween cake pops up in something, or lay them on a platter.
To prop them up, fill small glasses with granulated sugar and stick the donut cake pops into the sugar so they stand up. You could also press the sticks into a small styrofoam block. This looks super cute for a Halloween party.
Or, lay monster cake pops out on a simple baking pan or Halloween-themed platter.
Spooky Cake Pops Storage
These Halloween cake pops are best enjoyed on the same day, but they can be made up to 24 hours ahead. Just don’t refrigerate or freeze them. Candy coating doesn’t like the cold and may crack or bleed. Instead, store your Halloween cake balls in an airtight container at room temperature.
Halloween Cake Balls FAQ
With traditional cake pops made with crumbled cake, refrigerating before dipping is a crucial step. But with these easy Halloween cake pops, we’re starting with donut holes, so no refrigeration is necessary!
These Halloween cake balls are best enjoyed the day they are made, but you can make them up to 24 hours in advance. Do not store them in the fridge or freezer. The candy melts may sweat when brought to room temperature, and this can cause cracking and color bleeding. If storing the donut cake pops overnight, store at room temperature in an airtight container.
When dipping, make sure the coating isn’t too thick, as it can lead to a messy presentation. Allow excess candy melt to drip off the cake pop as much as possible before cooling.
Inserting each stick into some candy melt before inserting it into the donut hole is a crucial step so that the stick stays adhered inside the donut hole. If you skip this step, the cake pops will fall off their sticks easier.
While candy melts are commonly used for cake pops due to their smooth consistency and vibrant colors, you can use melted white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark chocolate for this Halloween cake pops recipe instead. Be sure to use high-quality chocolate for the best flavor, and add bit of vegetable oil to it to achieve a smooth dipping consistency. Depending on the chocolate, it may require tempering to ensure a glossy finish, which is a more complicated process. For this reason, we highly encourage using candy melts.
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Halloween Cake Pops Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 cup candy melts green, purple and/or orange
- 24 6- to 7-inch lollipop sticks
- 24 plain mini donuts and/or donut holes
- Candy eyeballs, assorted sprinkles and black decorating gel, for decorating
Instructions
- Melt the candy melts according to package directions.
- Carefully dip each lollipop stick about 1/4- to 1/2-inch into the melted candy melts and stick into each donut. Allow to cool upside down (with the donuts on wax paper-covered work surface and the sticks pointing toward the ceiling) for a few minutes until candy melt is hardened.
- Carefully dip each donut into the melted candy melts and rotate it around until it’s fully coated. Again, allow these to cool upside down, on wax paper, until completely hardened.
- Use the candy eyeballs, sprinkles and black writing gel to decorate cake pops as desired (see Notes below) and serve once the candy melts have set.
- These Halloween Cake Pops are best enjoyed the day they are made, but you can make them up to 24 hours in advance. Do not store them in the fridge or freezer. The candy melts may sweat when brought to room temperature, and this can cause cracking and color bleeding. If storing the donut cake pops overnight, store at room temperature in an airtight container.
Notes
- For sprinkle-topped pops, allow the first layer of candy melt to set for just 3 minutes before dipping tops in sprinkles.
- For drizzled pops, allow the first layer of candy melt to almost set completely before drizzling on the second layer.
- For monster pops, allow the first layer of candy melt to completely dry. Then, use additional melted candy melt to stick the eyes to the cake pops and decorate with sprinkles and black writing gel as desired.
- To make monster horns, pipe candy melt into horn shapes onto wax paper and attach to cake pops using additional candy melt. For large horns, we like to stick a sprinkle in the head for support/backing.
