Christmas Cake Pops

Add some festive cheer to cake pops with these 3 fun Christmas decoration ideas! These Christmas cake pops can be made into one, two, or all three of the following designs: cake pop Christmas trees, melting snowmen, and/or Santa hats. The cake batter is super easy to whip up from scratch and has warm and toasty brown sugar and cinnamon flavor for the ultimate treat!

what makes these so good?

These Christmas cake pops are everything we know and love about a cake pop, but decorated with 3 different festive designs! The cake pop itself is super easy to whip up and can be made using the homemade cake recipe below or using a box of cake mix if you prefer. Decorating the cake pops is the most time intensive part in this recipe, but it's so worth it for the super cute designs!

Cake pops are most traditionally made using crumbled up cake with some buttercream frosting mixed in to help the mixture stick together, but this recipe is a little different! For the sake of making things a lot easier, these cake pops are made without the need for frosting and are instead just mixed with some milk. It offers the same result, doesn't make the cake pop mixture overly sweet, and is just all around easier than having to make a whole batch of buttercream.

how to make the cake pop dough

Here' a quick little breakdown of how to make the cake pop dough:

1. Make the cake batter: Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, oil, and sugar. Whisk the eggs in one at a time, followed by the sour cream and vanilla. Alternate whisking in the dry ingredients and milk to finish up the batter.
2. Bake the cake. Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan and bake. Cool the cake for a few minutes in the pan, then turn onto a wire rack and set aside to cool completely before making into cake pops.
3. Crumble the cake and mix in milk. I find it's easiest to do this with an electric mixer. Simply drop the cake into a large bowl and run the mixer around to break up the cake into little crumbs. You can also crumble the cake with your fingers if you prefer - it just takes a bit longer. Mix in milk until it sticks together. You may need more or less milk depending on how fresh the cake is (older cake will be drier and will need more milk to come together) and depending on how your specific oven baked it (some ovens run hotter and are more drying, which will result in the cake needing more milk). So start off with less milk and gradually add more as needed.

Now onto the fun part: actually decorating these cuties! You can make an assortment of all 3 different cake pops that I'm going to go over, or just pick whichever design you like and make all the cake pops with the same decorations. As a little bonus 4th decorating option, you can also make little cake pop pinecones using the same method I outline here!

how to make Christmas tree cake pops

These might be my favorite out of the bunch, but they do require the most amount of work out of the three! They're inspired by these viral pinecone cake pops, but the almond slices are stuck onto the cake pop pointing down to create tree branches! Here's how to make the trees:

1. Shape the cake pop. For these trees, I like to use a large 2oz cookie scoop (you can also use a ¼ cup measure) to portion out some of the cake mixture. I find ¼ cup is the perfect size for the trees, but you can make them slightly larger or smaller if you prefer. Shape the cake pop ball into a cone and place onto a parchment lined board or baking sheet.
2. Freeze the shaped cake. After shaping the cakes into cones, it's important to chill them in the freezer until the outside feels firm and cold. This helps the almonds stick to the side and just makes the next few steps a lot easier.
3. Melt green candy melts or melting wafers. You could also use white chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate to create different colored trees!
4. Attach the almond slices to the cake pop. Once the cake cones are chilled, take one out of the freezer (leave the rest in the freezer to make sure they stay nice and cold). Push a toothpick or skewer into the bottom of the cone to make it easier to hold. Dip the wider tip of an almond slice into the melted candy then press it onto the side of the cake cone. Start from the bottom, widest part of the cake cone and attach a ring of almonds all the way around. Move up, and repeat the process until the whole cake cone is covered in almonds (see image below for visual).
5. Freeze again. Once the almonds are stuck onto the sides, freeze the cake pops again to make sure the almonds have fully adhered before dipping the whole thing in candy.
6. Dip the tree into melted candy. If you like the look of the trees with just almonds, you can skip this step. But dipping them in the melted candy will give them beautiful bright green branches! You may find the candy has thickened slightly while it sat, so if that happens, simply remelt it over a bain-marie or in the microwave to loosen it back up. The candy needs to be loose and a little runny, otherwise the branches won't really show distinct lines.
7. Chill again to set the outside shell. Once set, you can serve them right away!

how to make the melting snowman cake pops

These snowman cake pops are super easy to make and are a little less time consuming than the trees. Here's a little look at how to decorate them:

1. Scoop out some of the cake pop dough and roll into a ball. I like to use a small, 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop for the snowman heads.
2. Arrange the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet or board and freeze. Just like the trees, these cake pops are also easier to work with when they're cold.
3. Melt white chocolate or white candy melts. Either one works. I kind of prefer using candy melts just because they're easier to work with and they have a whiter finish. White chocolate will have a slightly yellowish hue.
4. Dip a cake ball in melted candy to coat. Allow any excess chocolate to drip off then place it onto a parchment lined baking sheet or board. You can leave the snowman heads plain or sprinkle some white sanding sugar on top to give them a snowier look! The chocolate should start to set up within a few seconds thanks to the cold cake. Repeat this process with the remaining cake balls.
5. Spoon about ½ tablespoon of melted candy onto a parchment lined baking sheet or board. Spread it out a little to make a melted puddle shape. While the candy is still wet, drop the snowman head cake pop on top so they stick together. You can also sprinkle some white sanding sugar on the puddle or leave it plain. Repeat this step with the remaining cake pops.
6. Freeze for 5 to 10 minutes or until the chocolate has set then add the finishing touches. Once they're set, pipe on little coal eyes, mouths, and buttons. You can use buttercream, melted dark chocolate / candy melts, or black colored royal icing / powdered sugar icing to do this. Add a tiny drop of melted white chocolate / candy to the tip of an orange jimmies sprinkle and stick that onto the cake pop for the snowman's carrot nose. You can also pipe on the carrot noses if you prefer using buttercream, melted candy, or icing.

how to make the Santa hat cake pops

I personally found these to be the easiest and quickest to decorate out of the bunch! Here's how to make cake pop Santa hats:

1. Portion out a little bit of the cake mixture. I like to use a small, 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop for the hats, but again, feel free to make them smaller or larger.
2. Shape into a cone. Just like the trees, these need to be molded into a cone shape (but smaller). Arrange the shaped cones on a parchment lined board or baking sheet.
3. Roll the cake pops in red sanding sugar one by one. This cake pop is actually best to work with at room temperature because it allows the sugar to easily stick to the sides. Try to avoid getting sugar on the very bottom or very tip of the cone or it can make this next step more difficult...
4. Pipe a white border on the bottom and a ball on the top with white candy melts / chocolate. I like to just use any leftover candy from the melting snowmen. The reason I said to avoid getting sugar on the bottom or tip of the cone is because it can make it more difficult for the candy melt to stick to the cake pop.

Although the Christmas trees and snowmen can be made ahead of time, I recommend decorating the hats on the day of or the night before you plan on serving them. The sugar coating can draw out moisture and can bleed into the white parts if it sits for too long!

tips

1. Room temperature ingredients: To ensure the cake has the best texture and flavor and whips up smoothly, make sure all of the cake batter ingredients are at room temperature before starting. The butter is particularly important to watch out for because, if it's too cold, the batter won't whip up smoothly or with enough air, and if the butter is too soft, your cake could end up feeling greasy!
2. Mixing the cake batter: Once the flour is added to the batter, watch out for overmixing. Overmixed cake batter will bake up flat, dense, and dry. Plus it's unnecessary extra work! Although cake pops are a great way to hide a less than ideal cake texture, if the batter is super overworked, it can eventually impact the cake pops as well.
3. Chill the pops: Cold cake pops are a lot easier to decorate and work with! This is especially important for the Christmas trees, which are very VERY difficult to decorate with room temperature cake pop dough. The Santa hats are the only ones out of the bunch that are actually easier to make with room temperature cake pops because it helps the sugar stick to them more easily.
4. Use toothpicks / skewers: These make it so much easier to hold onto the cake pops without ruining the designs! They really are SO HELPFUL in this recipe!

storage

Keep cake pops stored in a single layer in the fridge until you're ready to serve them. The chocolate / candy melt coatings can soften at room temperature, so keeping them in the fridge keeps everything nice and firm! If you made more than one of the different decorations, I'd also recommend keeping them spaced away from each other so the colors and decorations don't transfer onto each other.

Like I mentioned above, the Christmas trees and snowmen can be made ahead, but I recommend making the Santa hats within a few hours before serving to ensure the red sugar doesn't bleed into the white portions. The Christmas trees and snowmen can be made up to 4 days ahead and kept in the fridge until serving. The cake pop dough (undecorated) can be kept for up to 1 week in the fridge.

check out these other recipes!

• White Christmas Cake
• Christmas Tree Shortbread Sticks
• Stacked Christmas Sprinkle Cookies
• Gingerbread Cookie Bars

Lastly, if you made this or any of my recipes, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing your thoughts! Also tag me on Instagram @eatsdelightfulblog so I can see what you're making.

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Enjoy!

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