Reese's Pieces Cake Pops

These cake pops turned out so cute & so yummy, but I have to say, I have a love-hate relationship with making cake pops. I'll expand a little more later, but if you have any advice for me, I would love to hear it! If you have any cake pop making knowledge, please leave me a comment!! Here is how I made these Reese's Pieces Cake Pops:

Start by whipping up some peanut butter frosting by combining 2 tablespoons of butter with 1/4 cup of peanut butter using an electric mixer.

Using the electric mixer, mix in 1 tablespoons of milk, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 cup of icing sugar. [I quartered this peanut butter frosting recipe from Two Sister's Crafting]

Once your icing is prepared, mix in some cake - I used my favorite chocolate cake, you can find the recipe HERE. I baked my cake in a 10'' cake pan, let it cool, cut it into cubes, then stirred it into the icing

I never measure the amount of cake I add, I typically just ad little bits at a time until my cake dough holds together and is easier to handle.

Then, use a tablespoon to measure out the dough, roll each tablespoon into a ball and place the ball in a cake ball mold. Once all of the cake is rolled and in a mold, place the filled mold in the fridge (or the freezer) to allow the dough some time to cool and congeal.

While the cake balls are in the fridge/freezer, prep the toppings - about 2 tablespoons of peanut butter chips, 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup of crushed Reese's Pieces.

Melt the peanut butter chips and use them at the base of each cake pop to hold them in place. Dip the bare popsicle stick (or lollipop stick) in the melted peanut butter chips, then push the popsicle stick into a cake ball. I recommend setting the cake pops into styrofoam, cardboard (like an egg carton) to let the chocolate solidify.

Melt the milk chocolate chips by microwaving them for 20 second increments, stirring between each 20 seconds. Once the chocolate is melted, dip one cake ball into the chocolate, make sure it is completely coated. While the chocolate is still wet, dip the cake pop into the crushed Reese's Pieces. I only dipped the tops or the sides into if each cake pop into the crushed Reese's Pieces. Once they are dipped, set the cake pops back into your styrofoam/cardboard support to allow them to solidify.

This is where my cake pops started to fall apart :( For the first three cake pops, I would dip the cake ball in chocolate, roll it in crushed Reese's Pieces, place it back into my cardboard holder and the cake ball would fall right off the stick! Eventually, I resorted to this...

Not the prettiest option, but it worked! My cake pops stopped slipping (probably because there was nowhere for them to slip)! I covered a tray with waxed paper, dipped my cake pops and then set them right down on the waxed paper. I didn't love this option because it flattened the tops of my cake pops. Do any of you have ideas about this? Did I have too much icing and too little cake right from the get go? Should I let my cake balls congeal in the fridge/freezer a little longer before dipping them? Should I be putting less topping on them? If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them!

I wrapped these up and delivered them to some friends near by and like I mentioned before the end result was darling & tasty but the in between had me nervous!!

REESE'S PIECES CAKES POPS
ingredients
chocolate cake (find my favorite recipe HERE.)
2 tablespoons peanut butter chips
1/2 - 1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup Reese's Pieces, crushed
20-25 popsicle sticks or lollipop sticks

for the icing
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup icing sugar

directions
1. Make the frosting by combining butter with peanut butter using an electric mixer. Mix in milk, vanilla extract and icing sugar.
2. Mix in baked and cooled cake in to the icing, little by little until the mixture holds together and becomes easier to handle (I typically use 1 recipe of this chocolate cake baked in a 10'' cake pan).
3. Use a tablespoon to roll dough into balls & place balls in cake pop mold. Once all of the dough is rolled, put the mold in the fridge or freezer and allow it to cool for about 1/2 hour.
4. While the dough is cooling, prep the toppings - melt the peanut butter chips and the chocolate chips. Crush the Reese's Pieces.
5. When the Cake pops are cooled, take them out of the fridge. Dip a popsicle stick or lollipop stick into the melted peanut butter chips and press that end into a cake pop. Repeat this for every cake pop. Once the cake pops have been put on a stick, stand them up in styrofoam or cardboard (an egg carton works well) to allow them to solidify.
6. Once the peanut butter bases have solidified, dip the cake pops in the melted milk chocolate and then roll them in crushed Reese's Pieces while the chocolate is still wet. Set the dipped cake pops back into the styrofoam or cardboard and allow them to solidify completely. [If your cake pops slip like mine did, place them upside down on waxed paper once they've been dipped and allow them to solidify.]

Let me know know if you have any suggestions to make these better! Thank you for reading!