No-Bake Graduation Cake Pops

These no-bake graduation cake pops are the perfect, crowd-friendly treat to serve at your graduate’s party. Guests will love them!

Graduation season…aka absolute chaos is nearly upon us!! Yep that’s right. The ceremonies, the parties, and aaalll the planning and prep prior! It’s a lot, especially as temperatures rise and no one wants to turn on their oven. But don’t worry. I’ve got you covered!

Level up your graduate’s party with a beginner friendly, totally customizable, single serving, utensils-not-required, mess free dessert like these No Bake Graduation Cake Pops! They’re cute as can be and great for making ahead, too.

Disclaimer: These actually don’t contain cake. Or frosting. But hey – they also don’t require you
to make cake or frosting (or eat it, if that’s not your thing) which is a WIN in my book. Instead,
you’ll be using frosted sugar cookies and cream cheese which is truly a yummy combo.

And if you need any other help planning your graduation party menu, see this list of grad party foods with themed names!

Ingredients for Graduation Cake Pops

Here’s what you’ll need!

• 1 13.5 oz Package Frosted Sugar Cookies (Lofthouse or Store Brand)
• 8 oz Cream Cheese, Softened (not melted)
• 4-8 oz White Chocolate Baking Bar (not white chocolate chips)
• 10 oz Chocolate Chips (I prefer Dark)
• Optional: 1-2 tsp Coconut Oil
• Candy Melts (in your school colors)

Note – How much of each type of chocolate will depend on how many you coat in each color.

Kitchen Supplies Needed

• Cookie Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Cookie Scoop or Spoon
• Glass bowl
• Silicon Spatula
• Sucker Sticks
• Piping Bags (My Favorite)
• Piping Tips & Couplers
• Sprinkles
• Cake Pop Stand (purchased or make shift)

How to Make these Graduation Cake Pops

1.Prepare a cake pop stand! – I used a shallow box with a dish towel inside (to keep them up)
with holes punched in the top using a BIC pen about 1 ½ inches apart. A store bought
stand or a foam block also works great, however if you plan on using it for presentation as well, I
recommend covering it with plastic wrap to catch any chocolate drips

2. Bring your cream cheese to room temperature – I know you want to pop your cream cheese in the microwave – resist the urge! Melting it at all can highly alter the texture of your cake pops making them a sticky gloopy mess.

3. Crumble cookie into a mixing bowl – Using a mixer (stand mixer is easiest) crumble the entire package (less one – give yourself a little room so they’re not too dry) of cookies. Add in your softened cream cheese and mix on low/med until fully combined.

4. Roll cake mixture into cake balls – Scoop your cake pops either using a spoon or a cookie scoop. I used 1.5 scoops for each of my pops. It was a bit of trial and error until I found what I felt was most proportional to the sucker sticks I had.

5. Re-roll the balls – they don’t have to be perfect! Pop them (haha) in the fridge for about 20 minutes and roll again! This is the key – and maybe a good camera angle – to perfectly round pops!

6. Refrigerate balls and prep chocolate – Once rolled, place the pops back in the fridge while you prep either your white or dark chocolate. In a glass bowl, melt about ¼ cup of chocolate in 30 second intervals. Be careful not to scorch it! Stir after each interval, it won’t take long! (Note: You could also
use a double broiler.)

Note – I used only white and dark chocolate for coating – working with candy
melts is not my favorite so I left those for topping!

7. Use melted chocolate to add sticks to the balls – To assemble, dip your sucker stick about ¼ inch into the chocolate and insert about halfway into your cake pop. Allow them to chill for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to set. This will help you avoid your pop falling into chocolate when you try to dip them fully!

Cake Pop Decorating

1.Prepare dipping chocolate – Next, prepare your chocolate for dipping. Following the same 30 second intervals in a glass bowl, melt about one cup of chocolate. Again, be careful it doesn’t get too hot! If you feel like your chocolate is too thick, feel free to add a little bit of coconut oil. Only about ¼ tsp at a time, otherwise it will become too thin and won’t want to stay on the
pop. I actually didn’t do this at all and the end result was thick but sturdy with a nice smooth appearance.

2. Transfer your chocolate to a deep dish/glass – if necessary, move your chocolate to a vessel deep enough you can fully submerge your cake pop. Trust me. I used a drinking glass. If you’re unable to dip it fully, spooning chocolate onto it is an option but you’ll need to move fast to avoid any funky blobbing.

3. Dip your cake pops into your chocolate – Be careful not to touch the sides of your glass/bowl.
Remove gently and rotate slightly as you bring it up. This will give you a cute little
swoop on the top! (Having no evidence of dipping on top is almost entirely unavoidable
so just make it look intentional!) If you’d like sprinkles on top, add them now before the
chocolate sets!

4. Set cake balls in the fridge – Put your cake balls in the fridge at least 30 minutes prior to decorating. When you’re ready, fit a piping bag with a coupler and a small round piping tip such as a size 1 Wilton. Smaller is better here!

5. Prepare drizzling chocolate – Melt about ½ cup of your desired color and scoop into your prepared piping bag. Hold the cake pop in your non-dominant hand and decorate!

Tip: If trying to do lines back and forth, it’s better to be more chaotic than calm
and calculated! The latter tends to look clumsy so make a mess and a beautiful
pop! (I like to practice this, and writing, on a paper towel.)

6. Set balls in the fridge – For about 30 more minutes.

7. Enjoy your cake pops! – You can either eat them straight out of the fridge, enjoy them later at the party, or store in the fridge for up to a week. If your chocolate is hard enough (i.e. you didn’t use a lot of coconut oil) you can place them on their side in a tupperware. Another option is to store them upright on your stand wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

Whether you make these for a small gathering or a large party, these are sure to be a hit! And
don’t worry. If you’ve made it through the process and you’re thinking “I’m not sure about
these…” just change the lighting. Seriously. Move them to another spot in your house to take a
look. Cake pops are more of a mind game than anything but you’ve got this! And congrats on
your/your loved one’s graduation!

Other Party Desserts

• “Heaven on Earth” Coconut Cake Recipe
• Best Slutty Brownies Recipe – Homemade and Box Instructions
• Fluffy Pumpkin Cake Bars
• Philadelphia Cheesecake Bars
• Decadent Oreo Ball Truffle Recipe

Don’t Leave Just Yet

Here at Events to Celebrate, my whole goal is to help real people plan for their kids’ birthday parties, life events, and holidays! Life is crazy. I GET IT. You don’t have endless time OR money to spend on parties, but you still want to help your guests have a great time. I’m here to help give you tips, tricks, and ideas for celebrating life on a budget.

As a mom, you want to do it all. You want to make your family happy and create special memories. My brand is all about creating special moments with those you love. The kind of moments that you will look back on years later and wish you could relive! So, if that’s something you’re interested in, stick around! I have an email list you can sign up for, so you don’t miss my future party ideas!