Easy Halloween Cake Balls
Easy Halloween Cake Balls are a fun and toddler friendly dessert treat! This recipe is from adapted from Betty Crocker and is great for Halloween parties. Halloween cake balls are pretty much the same as Halloween cake pops- just minus the stick! This recipe is perfect to make ahead. You can prepare the cake balls 1-2 days ahead and coat them later.
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Why this recipe works
Just like my Best Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake with Spiced Streusel and my Gluten Free Monster Brownies these Halloween Cake Balls are a great seasonal treat and perfect for sharing at parties or at the office. They make a good baking project for the littles ones as well!
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Ingredients
You will need just a few ingredients to make these Halloween Cake Balls:
- Store bought cake mix. If you have a favorite homemade cake you’d like to use, that works as well. Either vanilla or chocolate works.
- Eggs. This is for the cake mix.
- Vegetable oil. This goes into the cake mix as well snd can be used to help with the consistency of the meltables.
- Frosting. A tub of frosting will be used as a binder to mix with the cake in order to form the balls. Cream cheese works too.
- Assorted candy melts. Go with festive Halloween colors such as orange, purple, black or green.
- Gel coloring. This is optional if you got white candy melts and want to play around with other colors.
- Halloween sprinkles. Assorted colors are great such as black and orange or orange and purple.
- Candy eyes. This is must for the Monster Cake Balls! You can find candy eyes at Michael’s or on Amazon.
How to make Easy Halloween Cake Balls
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Prepare and bake the cake mix as directed on box. I use 2- 9 inch cake pans.
3. When the cake is done, remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
4. With your hands, break up the cake into a large bowl. Add the frosting; mix well with a spatula. Using a cookie scoop, shape into 30-35 balls; and then place them on the cookie sheet. Freeze for about an hour or until the cake balls are firm. You can place them in the fridge overnight as well.
5. In a medium size microwavable bowl, microwave the first color of meltables uncovered for 1 minute 30 seconds; stirring every 30 seconds. You can also melt them using a double boiler.
6. Remove the cake balls from the freezer. Using 2 forks, dip and roll 1 at a time in melted coating; then place on a the lined cookie sheet. Decorate immediately with the sprinkles and the spooky eyes. (so that they will stick properly to the coating)
7. Repeat with the other color meltables.
8. When you are done coating them, place them back in the fridge and cover with plastic wrap.
Helpful tips for cake balls
- If you want to make Halloween cake pops, you would follow this same method for preparing the cake and binding it with the frosting. The sticks for the cake pops jump off the shelves so you want to buy them a little bit early like in August or September.
- You can use the Halloween sprinkles and candy eyes for cookies, cupcakes or whatever Halloween recipes you want.
- If the cake ball gets too warm, it will fall apart while you are coating it.
- Cake balls are great for any season. Change up to red for Valentines, pastel colors for Easter, or pink and blue for baby showers.
- If you want to make this gluten free, many national brands have gluten free cake mixes available.
- Gel coloring is optional if you got white candy melts and want to play around with other colors.
- Candy melts can sometimes get lumpy when melted and not have a great consistency. Adding paramount crystals, a drop of vegetable oil or shortening helps with the texture.
- Also make sure that the candy melts are not expired, as that can mess with texture too.
Storage
You can store the Halloween Cake Balls in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Cover the tray with plastic wrap or store them in an airtight container.
Cake balls can be frozen but you will want to freeze them without the coating.
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Easy Halloween Cake Balls
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Equipment
- cake pan 9 inch
- cookie scoop medium cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla cake mix
- 16 ounces vanilla frosting 1 tub
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 3 large eggs
- 30 ounces black, orange or green meltables 2-3 bags of assorted candy melts
- 1/4 cup halloween sprinkles
- 2 tablespoons candy eyes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Prepare and bake the cake mix as directed on box.
- When it's done, remove from the oven and let it cool down completely.
- Then line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. With your hands, break up the cake into a large bowl. Add the frosting; mix well with a spatula. Shape into 35 balls; and then place them on the cookie sheet. Freeze for about an hour or until the cake balls are firm.
- In a microwavable bowl, microwave the orange meltables uncovered for 1 minute 30 seconds; stirring every 30 seconds.
- Remove the cake balls from the freezer. Using 2 forks, dip and roll 1 at a time in melted coating; then place on a the lined cookie sheet. Decorate immediately with the sprinkles and the spooky eyes. (so that they will stick properly to the coating)
- Repeat with other colors meltables.
- When you are done coating them, place them back in the fridge and cover with plastic wrap.
