This is a little twist on cake pops. Except there’s no cake, just a donut hole! These are twice as tasty, and half as hard to make.
So, I suppose these are “Donut Pops”– I’ll admit it, it’s a little kitschy, but you’ll thank me when you don’t have to make a cake, crumble it, add icing, and roll it into perfect little cake balls. I’ve circumvented that whole process and took the lazy smart way out. Enjoy this little trick, and make cute little donut pops all day long.
Pumpkin Donut Pops
Ingredients:
- a dozen or so of donut holes (Munchkins, TimBits, etc) (tip: I find the “old fashion” donuts, that have a firm cake texture to them work better with keeping their shape, and are easier to dip and work with. The other donuts tend to crumble) - 12 oz orange candy melts (you can use white candy melts as well) - orange decorating sugar - a dozen or so pretzels sticks (for the stumps) - dark green decorating sugar - green frosting/icing gel (optional, for piping on vines) + toothpicks + parchment paper
Directions:
1. Prep your donut holes, by sticking a toothpick in the center of each one. This is to help with the dipping.
2. Melt your orange candy melts according to the manufacturer’s instructions. I used Wilton Candy Melts (orange), purchased at Michael’s Craft Store.
3. One by one, dip each donut hole into the chocolate, gently tap off excess. Over a shallow bowl, liberally sprinkle orange decorating sugar to cover the donut hole. I found it easier to sprinkle over top, rather than rolling the donuts into the sugar– but try both ways and decide what works for you. Lay each donut pop on parchment paper to set and fully hard.
4. While your donut pops are setting, dip half of the pretzel sticks into the chocolate, and roll around in green decorating sugar. Using a wooden stick (like a chopstick, or mini-dowel), carefully create a hole in the top of each cake pop, and push the pretzel stick into the center of the pop. Allow to set again.
5. Once your chocolate has set, pipe swirls on the pumpkin with green icing to resemble vines.
Et voila– sure donut pops are a little labor intensive labor of love, but if you’ve tried making cake pops from scratch, you’ll thank me later.