Valentine’s Day Cassava Flour Cake Pops

The time has come for the gluten-free and gluten-eating alike to enjoy cake pops together for all occasions!!! These pops are so incredible, no one will ever guess they’re gluten-free! Not to mention grain-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and nonGMO!!!

I must admit, I’m known for my cake pops! Making themed pops for holidays, special occasions, and gifts has been a little hobby of mine. I started making them years ago – (in my previous life) – before going gluten-free and eliminating processed food from my diet. I was still making them to bring to parties and other gatherings since they’re such a crowdpleaser, but I haven’t eaten them because they were full of crap!!! They were GORGEOUS, but I can’t think of anything less healthy to eat! I’d actually cringe a little when serving them, feeling like I was giving people poison wrapped up like a beautiful present!

Those days are over now that we have Gluten-free Cassava Flour Cake Pops!

I set out to make healthy cake pops using Otto’s Cassava Flour and all natural ingredients and decorations. I must admit, I’m VERY happy with the results! They might not be as brightly colored as my pops from the past made with chemically dyed toppings, but they taste WAY better and are made of all “real” food. What can be better than that? I can’t wait to share this recipe with you!

You can make this basic Gluten-free Cassava Flour Cake Pop recipe, and then customize it to fit any holiday or occasion!

Here are my Holiday Cassava Flour Cake Pops. 

(See below for decorating instructions for each of these pops.)

With these Gluten-Free Cassava Flour Cake Pops you can have all the fun with no guilt! (or at least very little.)

Otto’s Cassava Flour can be purchased in some specialty stores, or online here!

Otto’s Naturals 100% Natural Cassava Flour Made from Yuca Root Bag, 2 Pound

Many believe that making cake pops is difficult. While it is a bit time consuming, there’s nothing difficult about it.

Steps for making cake pops:

1. Bake the cake.
2. Once cake has cooled, shred it into crumbs.
3. Add almond butter to crumbs and roll into balls (or whatever shape is desired.)
4. Attach a stick to each pop with a little dairy-free melted chocolate.
5. Freeze for 20 minutes.
6. Melt chocolate.
7. Dip pops into chocolate.
8. Decorate with whatever toppings are desired.

Ingredients needed to bake the cake: (Makes 12 pops)

-3/4 cup Otto’s Cassava Flour

-1/3 cup organic coconut oil

-1/2 cup organic maple syrup

-1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

-pinch pink Himalayan salt (chosen because of its purity and high mineral content)

-1 cage-free egg

-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

-2 cups melting chocolate (I use EnjoyLife Dark Chocolate Morsels or Pascha Dark Chocolate Chips – 55% Cacao. They are both gluten and dairy-free)

Ingredients to create pops

-1/4 cup Trader Joe’s Raw Almond Butter (or preferred nut butter)

-12 lollypop sticks

-cake pop stand or styrofoam to hold dipped pops

Let’s take it step by step in more detail. 

(*See full printable recipe below*)

Step 1: Bake cake:

In a large bowl, blend Otto’s Cassava Flour, xanthan gum and pink Himalayan salt. In a second bowl combine melted coconut oil, egg, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredient bowl and mix until fully combined.

Place batter into a small baking dish (about 7″ x 7″) lined with parchment paper (for easy clean up and toxin-free baking.) Any shaped baking dish can be used, since the cake will be crumbled after baking.

*The key is to use a baking dish that fits all the batter, with batter only about 1/2 – 3/4 inch deep. Cassava flour can be tricky to bake with in that the perimeter of cakes can cook faster than the middle, if the cake is too thick. This small, thin cake will bake quickly and evenly, without browning. Browned cake becomes too dry and doesn’t hold its shape well when rolled into balls. For best results, remove any browning after baking before moving to the next step.

Be sure not to over-bake. The cake should be baked for 15 minutes – just until a fork inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Step 2: Allow baked cake to cool then break into crumbs. 

In a large bowl crumble cake, either with your hands or by raking with a fork, until it’s the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs.

Step 3: Add almond butter and thoroughly blend.

This is the “glue” that holds the balls together so be sure all crumbs are coated evenly.

Divide dough into 12 balls, rolling each between your hands as you would to make a meatball (or use a cake pop former if you have one.) This dough is highly malleable, yet holds its shape well, so use your imagination and create whatever shapes you want! (Below there are 2 oddly shaped “balls” that I was originally going to make into Santa hats, but then decided to stick with balls for this post.)

Step 4: Melt 1/4 cup chocolate in either a microwave or double boiler to use as “glue” to attach stick to each ball.

Dip the tip of each cake pop stick into chocolate, then push it through the center of each cake ball until it’s about halfway through the circumference of ball.

Step 5: Freeze balls for 20 minutes.

Once all balls have sticks in them, place in freezer for 20 minutes while setting up for decorating. Pops can be made a day ahead, stored in the refrigerator overnight, then decorated the next day.

*Note: Overly frozen pops will contract in the freezer, then expand once thawed out. If pops are frozen for much longer than 20 minutes and then dipped into warm chocolate, they will eventually expand causing cracks in chocolate.

Step 6: Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in double boiler or microwave.

(I used Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels. They’re dairy, nut, and soy-free as well as non-GMO verified. Any preferred chocolate can be used. )

If using a microwave, heat chocolate in intervals of one minute or less to avoid burning. Stir in between each heating. A double boiler is the preferred method since there’s no risk of burning, and chocolate can be kept over a low heat or covered so it stays melted throughout decorating.

*Note: If using a double boiler, ensure that absolutely no water drips into chocolate, as this will seize the chocolate and destroy its smooth texture. Seized chocolate must be discarded.

Step 7: Dip each pop into chocolate. 

Ensure that each pop is fully covered in chocolate, while allowing excess chocolate to drip back into pot. A thin coating of chocolate is preferred. Too much chocolate can drip down stick while drying, take too long to dry, or cause pop to become top heavy and fall off stick.

Step 8: Decorate pops any way desired.

If adding topping such as nuts, dried fruit, coconut, mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, colored sugar, decorate immediately after dipping into chocolate, as chocolate begins to dry very quickly (within a minute or two.) I like to set up my toppings in separate little bowls so I can dip my pops, then place toppings on quickly and easily.

Once decorated, place each pop into a block of styrofoam (or cake pop holder if you have one) to dry undisturbed. I save large pieces of styrofoam that come as packaging to hold my drying cake pops. When creating decorative baskets and boxes for guests or gifts, I buy appropriate sized styrofoam shapes to fit inside whatever holder I’m using. These can be purchased at craft stores such as Michaels or at Dollar Tree (seasonal item, but each one is only 99 cents, so I stock up on varied sizes when I see them!) They’re typically used in floral arrangements to keep flowers in place.

For these Valentine’s Day cake pops I used a heart shaped cookie cutter so they would all be exactly the same size and shape. Since multiple layers of chocolate and colored icing was used, I allowed the first layer to dry fully before adding additional colors.

For the white icing: Blend one cup powdered sugar (sifted,) 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon filtered water.

For the red icing: I added a few drops of Color Garden 100% Plant Based Red Food Color to the white icing. This food coloring is made of beet juice, turmeric, annatto, and less than 1% ethyl alcohol as a preservative. It’s the first natural food dye I’ve tried that gives a true red color!

In the picture below I’m covering a pop with Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips – a true chocolate lovers dream pop!!!

Here’s the finished chocolate chip cake pop. YUMMY!!!

There are many natural options to use to decorate your cake pops beautifully!

This pop was rolled in Trader Joe’s Organic Unsweetened Coconut!

This pop is covered in Trader Joe’s Unsalted, Dry Toasted Pecan Pieces! (I LOVE pecans, but any chopped nut can be used.)

This cake pop was decorated with a combination of Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips and chopped up Trader Joe’s Dry Roasted & Unsalted Pistachio Nutmeats! ……Oh yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!!!

I love the colors of this pop that was decorated with chopped Trader Joe’s Golden Berry Blend. It’s a combination of golden raisins, cherries, cranberries, & blueberries! Who says deliciously sweet, pretty colored cake pops have to include candy and sprinkles filled with chemical dyes??? I think this one looks like a bouquet of flowers!

If a little green and red are desired for your holiday cake pops, consider this sanding sugar made by TruColor. Colors are derived from fruits, vegetables, roots, seeds & minerals, without synthetic FD&C dyes or artificial preservatives! It’s still sugar, but if one wants to use a colored sugar, this one holds up to pretty high standards.

Creating a few character cake pops for holidays and special occasions adds extra fun to your assortment. How adorable are these guys???

The antlers of this Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer pop was made with Trader Joe’s (are we starting to see a pattern here? – lol) Gluten-free Pretzel Twists. I cut off one side of each pretzel using a very sharp, fine knife, moved gently back and forth over the pretzel in a sawing motion. (I only broke 4 while perfecting these two!!) The nose is a dried cranberry from my Trader Joe’s Golden Berry Blend. The eyes are two Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate chips placed on top of white icing. (See recipe for white icing in description of the making of the snowman pop below.)

The basic white icing used for this snowman was a combination of 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted,) 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of water. (That was what I used for the whites of Rudolph’s eyes as well.) The snowman’s eyes are Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips. His nose is a slice of dried apricot. His mouth was drawn on using the melted dipping chocolate applied with a toothpick. His adorable hat was molded from a piece of a blueberry RXBAR (a protein bar made with dates, egg whites, almonds, cashews, blueberries, and natural blueberry flavor.) It has a consistency similar to a tootsie roll.

Have fun decorating your pops! One can decorate cake pops simply, or as elaborately as one’s creativity allows.

Cake pops can be presented in a variety of ways. They look great simply placed in a coffee mug!

Various sized boxes or baskets can be inexpensively purchased to display cake pops in decorative ways. Each of these boxes was bought at Dollar Tree for $1 each. You can’t beat that!!!

These pops look like a party simply laid out in a fan shape!

These pops look great displayed in this little holiday box! When giving cake pops as gifts, I wrap decorative boxes of all sizes in cellophane, and tie them with curly ribbon for a truly professional look!

I hope you enjoy your Gluten-Free Cassava Flour Cake Pops!!!

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If you have any questions, reach out to me through the comments sections below and I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.

May your holidays be filled with the warmth of family and friends, food that truly nourishes you, good health, and peace. Warm regards – Lauren from CrazyForYuca.com

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5 from 3 votes

Print

Gluten-Free Cake Pops

Cook Time

15 mins

 

Nothing says fun like cake pops! They bring smiles and excitement to any dessert table! Finally, a cake pop that everyone can enjoy, whether gluten-free, dairy-free, or soy-free! They're so delicious, your guests will be shocked to know they're gluten-free!! (And you don't have to tell them!) These pops will be the talk of your holiday dinner or next party! 

Course: Dessert

Servings: 12 pops

Author: Lauren from Crazy For Yuca

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 3/4 cup Otto's Cassava Flour
• 1 pastured (cage-free) egg
• 1/3 cup organic coconut oil - melted
• 1/2 cup organic maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• pinch Himalayan sea salt. Any salt can be used. I chose Himalayan sea salt because of the added minerals.
• parchment paper

To Make Into Pops

• 12 cake pop sticks
• 1/4 cup Trader Joe's Raw Almond Butter
• 1/4 cup Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Chips - melted (to adhere pops to sticks) Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips are gluten, dairy and soy free.

For Dipping and Decorating - Any preferred nuts, dried fruits, or candies can be used. I used:

• 2 cups Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Chips - melted
• Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini-Chips - for decorating pops
• chopped nuts of choice (I used Trader Joe's Unsalted Dry Toasted Pecan Pieces and Pistachio Nutmeats
• Trader Joe's Organic Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
• Trader Joe's Golden Berry Blend - (Mix of golden raisins, cherries, cranberries & blueberries)
• Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Pretzel Twists (for reindeer antlers)
• TruColor Sanding Sugar - red and green
• 1 RXBAR (for snowman's hat)
• cake pop stand or styrofoam block (typically used in floral decorating)

Instructions

For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. In a large bowl, mix Otto's Cassava Flour, xanthan gum and Himalayan sea salt. 

3. In a second bowl blend maple syrup, melted coconut oil, egg, and vanilla.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredient bowl and mix until fully combined.

5. Line a small baking pan with parchment paper. (This step is optional, but allows for easy clean up as well as non-stick baking without greasing baking pan.) 

6. Choose a small baking pan that allows for a very thin cake (batter depth about 1/2 -3/4 inch.) This will allow cake to bake quickly and evenly throughout, without browning.

7. Bake for 15 minutes - just until a fork inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean. *Don't wait for browning to occur. If browning does occur, cut off browned parts before next step. Browned cake is too dry and will prevent pops from holding their shape once rolled into balls. 

8. Allow to fully cool (about 15 minutes.)

To Make Balls

1. In a large bowl, crumble the cake, either with your hands or by raking it with a fork, until it's the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs. 

2. Add almond butter, mixing to ensure it's evenly blended throughout cake crumbs. (This is the glue that holds the pops together.)

3. Form 12 equal sized balls, rolling them with your hands the way you would a meatball. (A cake pop former can also be used if you have one, but isn't necessary.)

4. Place each formed cake ball on a parchment lined baking sheet or plate. (Wax paper can also be used.)

5. Melt a small amount of chocolate (about 1/4 cup) either in the microwave or in a double boiler. (If using microwave, heat for one minute, stir, heat for an additional minute, stir.... until fully melted. Heating for longer than a minute at a time can burn chocolate.)

6. Dip the tip of each cake pop stick into chocolate, then push it through the center of each cake ball until it's about halfway through the circumference of the ball. 

7. Place the baking sheet with cake pops into the freezer for 20 minutes. (This allows pops to harden and adhere to the sticks so they won't fall off while being dipped in chocolate.) *Don't keep pops in freezer longer than 20 minutes. Pops that are too cold will contract, and later expand once they're dipped in warm chocolate, causing cracks in your pops. Pops can be kept in refrigerator overnight if decorating isn't being done on the same day. They can be dipped the next day without first putting them in freezer.

Decorating Cake Pops

1. Melt chocolate in either the microwave (in intervals of no longer than 1 minute) or a double boiler (preferred method since there's no risk of burning, and chocolate can be kept over a low heat or covered so it stays melted throughout decorating.) *If using a double boiler, ensure absolutely no water drips into the chocolate, as this will seize the chocolate, destroying it's smooth texture. Seized chocolate must be discarded.

2. Dip each chilled pop into melted chocolate, tipping the bowl of chocolate and slowly rotating the pop to ensure full coverage. (Don't roll pops in chocolate, as this can place too much pressure on pop and cause it to fall off stick.)

3. Once pop is fully covered in chocolate, decorate immediately with chopped nuts, dried fruit, mini-chips, colored sugar, candy, etc. To make characters, additional embellishments can be adhered to pop with small dots of melted chocolate.

4. Place pops in cake pop stand or poke holes with pop into styrofoam block and allow to dry.

5. Display in any number of fun ways to serve to guests or to give as gifts.

6. Happy Holidays to you and your family from Lauren at CrazyForYuca!

Disclaimer– In Crazy for Yuca I write about my own personal health and diet journey.  My experience and recipes are not to be considered expert advice or suggestive that anyone follow any particular diet protocol.  Each person’s body and medical issues are individual and need to be evaluated by a medical professional.  If you have any concerns due to your specific diagnoses, please consult your doctor before eating yuca.