Cheesecake Pops: A Daring Baker's Challenge

Cheesecake Pops have been popping up all over the internet today. They were the choice for this month's Daring Baker's challenge hosted by Elle from Feeding my Enthusiasms and Deborah from Taste and Tell. The recipe is from Jill O'Connor's darling cookbook: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. Warning: This recipe has a super-high cute factor!

Although I would do just about anything for a slice of cheesecake, I was a little apprehensive about making these... since the recipe yields between 30 and 40 pops! That would be treading on dangerous ground for me. With no desire to add extra inches to my thighs in the midst of shopping for new swimsuits, I decided to divide these treats between two events- the teacher luncheon at my son's school and a PTA meeting that I was hosting at my house.

The pops were created in several steps- Make the cheesecake in a regular cake pan, firm it up in the fridge, scoop it out and place a lollipop stick inside each ball, freeze until firm, and then dip and decorate.

At our local cake decorating supply store, I picked up 4 flavors of Guittard Chocolate Company's A'Peels, lollipop sticks and sprinkles galor. The A'Peels are the little wafer-shaped pieces that melt easily. They don't need to be tempered and they come in a whole bunch of different flavors and colors. Fun for dipping!!

I couldn't resist Guittard's orange flavor since the color was so pretty. It was actually very flavorful too. O'Connor's cookbook picture featured ribbons in her photo of the pops, so I used a variety of ribbons to help decorate mine.

Chocolate was another obvious choice. I dipped a few in sprinkles and tried toffee bits too.

The butterscotch disks were our favorite flavor. They paired nicely with the pastel sprinkles, and I tied on pink bows for added cute factor. I thought these might be fun for a baby shower.

The white chocolate disks provided the most flexibility for added decor. Wouldn't these be perfect for the 4th of July?


These pops were almost as good as a slice of my favorite cheesecake. I kept mine in the freezer for several days- they were quite good when eaten frozen solid. If they're left at room temperature for too long, you might need a fork to finish it as it tends to soften up some.

They were a hit at the teacher luncheon... I received an immediate request to make them for someone's baby shower. I declined (too time consuming!) My PTA friends liked them too and brought some home for their husbands.

The best part about the pops is that they're as delicious as they are adorable.

This recipe can be found HERE.