Chocolate Protein Cake Pops

These vegan cake pops are healthy, gluten-free & simple to make! No baking required. + They call for plant based protein powder for added nutrition.

My son used to love the cake pops carried by Starbucks. Unfortunately, they contain animal products and are pretty full of sugar and other unhealthy ingredients.

I made homemade cake pops once, in the traditional way where you bake a cake, let it cool, crumble it and turn it into cake pops. While those were delicious, the process just took way too long. I’m impatient that way! And so is my 3 year old.

I decided to try to figure out a healthy, vegan, cake pop recipe that did NOT require baking. So while these cake pops aren’t technically made from “cake”, they come out basically the same! That moist cake-y filling, surrounded in delicious chocolate. Nom nom nom.

Protein powder is also added into this recipe, because I have a thing lately where I try to add protein powder into everything! Plant based protein powders are super nutritious in more ways than just protein. I love Manitoba Harvest’s hemp protein powders. They’re made from hemp seeds – and hemp seeds are SO GOOD for you. Vega is also a great brand.

If you are a parent, you know that feeling when you make something new and you’re anxiously waiting to see if your child will devour that labor of love or spit it out in the sink? I just about jumped for joy when my incredibly picky son not only ate the first one, but asked for MORE protein cake pops.

Ingredients

• Coconut flour: I do not recommend a substitution – other flours don’t work the same.
• Cocoa powder
• Protein powder: Just use your favorite!
• Non-dairy milk
• Maple syrup: For added sweetness. You can use your sweetener of choice or leave it out and substitute with more milk to get the right consistency.
• Chocolate chips: The chocolate chips I use for this recipe are by Enjoy Life – they are soy-free and vegan. I could eat these things by the handful! And I do.
• Coconut oil

Instructions

Cake pops are pretty simple to make, especially these ones, but you will need a couple things you may not have: cake pop sticks (or lollipop sticks) and a cake pop stand. I find cake pop sticks right at my local Kroger.

For a simple, inexpensive cake pop stand/holder – purchase a foam block from your nearest craft store! You can press the sticks right into the foam block and it’s very stable.

If you’re displaying these at a party or event, you might want something a little more visually pleasing than a foam block. Wilton sells an inexpensive cake pop stand, or you can get something a little cuter like this tiered one!

Trying to go vegan? Sign up for our (FREE) Vegan Beginner’s Guide!

First, start by mixing together the dry ingredients. Then melt 1/4 cup of chocolate chips with the coconut oil. Use the double boiler method or the microwave. If using the microwave, heat for 10 seconds at a time, stirring between each cycle. Make sure not to overheat or the chocolate will seize up and no longer melt.

Mix the melted chocolate into the dry mixture. Toss in additional chocolate chips if desired. Roll the dough into balls, about 1 tablespoon each. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

For the chocolate coating, melt together the chocolate chips and coconut oil. Dip the end of a cake pop stick into the chocolate coating and gently press into a cake pop. Do this for each cake pop. The chocolate will help the cake balls adhere to the sticks. 

Place the sheet of cake pops into the fridge for 20 minutes. Warm up the chocolate coating a little if it has cooled and thickened. Dip each cake pop into the chocolate coating, letting the excess chocolate drip off before pressing the cake pops into a block of foam.

Let the protein cake pops set in the fridge for about 20 minutes.