Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop Recipe
Ever since I released my ultra easy cake pop recipe (that now has over 19.7 MILLION views on social) I’ve been getting requests to make a Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop. This recipe for Starbucks cake pops is the perfect copycat and is SO easy.
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Copycat Starbucks Cake Pop Recipe
Not to toot my own horn, but my popular method for making cake pops is insanely easy and this Starbucks cake pop recipe is no different. Here’s the secret: making homemade cake pops doesn’t have to be difficult to be beyond yummy! All you have to do is throw AN ENTIRE CAKE into your mixing bowl straight out of the oven. Mix it with your paddle attachment and add a little powdered sugar and vanilla to create the best dupe for the popular Starbucks cake pop you’ll find on the internet.
Starbucks Cake Pops Price
In the name of research, I bought two cake pops and it was over SEVEN DOLLARS. For two! So obviously, once I had perfected my Starbucks cake pop recipe, I calculated how much my homemade version cost. With this recipe, you can make 24 cake pops for only $8, which means each individual cake pop is ONLY $0.35 FOR EACH CAKE POP. And if we’re being honest, I liked my cake pops better.
Starbucks Cake Pop ingredients
- Vanilla cake mix – You’ll also need all of the ingredients on the back. Bake this as normal!
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Light pink color melts – You can choose a different color if you’d like, but to be the Starbucks dupe you need it to be pink.
- White nonpareils sprinkles – This is optional, but again, to stay true to Starbucks you’ll need these!
- Lollipop sticks
How to make Starbucks Cake Pops
- Prepare and bake the cake mix according to the boxed directions.
- Immediately after taking the cake out of the oven, pour the hot cake into the bowl of a stand mixer. (Do not over cook the cake! if so, it will have a harder time coming together)
- Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until a dough forms that can be pressed together into a ball.
- Portion out the dough and press into a ball in the palm of your hands or with a cake pop press.
- Place the cake balls on a cookie sheet and then into the freezer to chill.
- Melt the colormelts.
- Once the chocolate coating is melted, remove the cake balls from the freezer.
- Dip each lollipop stick into the candy melt and then press the stick into the center of each cake ball. This will help avoid the cake pop falling off of the stick.
- Return to the fridge or freezer to help speed up the process of the stick and chocolate setting.
- Once the chocolate is set on the sucker sticks, pour the remaining melted candy melt into a tall, skinny jar or glass.
- Dip the cake pops one by one in the candy melt and gently shake the cake pop to remove any excess melted chocolate. Tip right side up and add sprinkles, if desired.
- Allow the candy melt to set while the cake pop is right side up, you can poke holes into a cardboard box or foam block to help them stand up straight to dry, if desired.
- Serve as is or package up individually in bags with ribbon if desired.
- Enjoy! Store at room temp for up to 3 days.
How to store this Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop Recipe
Once your cake pops have set, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop FAQs
It is a delicious moist, tender, vanilla cake with a white chocolate candy melt coating.
The Starbucks cake pop is $3.75 a pop!
This recipe makes 24 cake pops out of one cake mix. That means each cake pop comes out to $0.35!
Other Copycats to Love
Birthday Cake Pop (Starbucks)
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla cake mix (plus the ingredients on the back)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 oz light pink color melts
- white nonpareils sprinkles
- 24 lollipop sticks
Instructions
- Prepare and bake the cake mix according to the boxed directions.
- Immediately after taking the cake out of the oven, pour the hot cake into the bowl of a stand mixer. (Do not over cook the cake! if so, it will have a harder time coming together)
- Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until a dough forms that can be pressed together into a ball.
- Portion out the dough and press into a ball in the palm of your hands or with a cake pop press.
- Place the cake balls on a cookie sheet and then into the freezer to chill.
- Melt the colormelts.
- Once the chocolate coating is melted, remove the cake balls from the freezer.
- Dip each lollipop stick into the candy melt and then press the stick into the center of each cake ball. This will help avoid the cake pop falling off of the stick.
- Return to the fridge or freezer to help speed up the process of the stick and chocolate setting.
- Once the chocolate is set on the sucker sticks, pour the remaining melted candy melt into a tall, skinny jar or glass.
- Dip the cake pops one by one in the candy melt and gently shake the cake pop to remove any excess melted chocolate. Tip right side up and add sprinkles, if desired.
- Allow the candy melt to set while the cake pop is right side up, you can poke holes into a cardboard box or foam block to help them stand up straight to dry, if desired.
- Serve as is or package up individually in bags with ribbon if desired.
- Enjoy! Store at room temp for up to 3 days.
Literally delicious!!! ❤️❤️
10 out of 10. This was not only delicious but so much fun to make with the kids. We will definitely make them again. Thank you so much
I’m assuming this method would also work with a cake made from scratch? Are there any other frosting options you could recommend?
It should work with a cake made from scratch! I have a lot of frosting recipes- you can use the search bar and search ‘frosting’ to find what I have. 🙂
I have used vanilla icing with green food coloring and chocolate chips with mint extract dipped in dark/milk chocolate 😎💚
Hi Karli!
Thanks for the fun idea and such an easy method! I’m going to make a batch of these by using a simple home made sponge sheet cake.
Since I have never come accross these ‘color melts’ (I live in Northern Europe) I wanted to ask – would the taste profile of the colour melts match with a shell made from white chocolate+dried strawberry powder+coconut oil for example? Or would you recommend something else, like melting some strawberry candy to white chocolate?
I’m not a customer of Starbucks, so I don’t mind if the taste is not one-to-one, but I’m trying to find a close alternative to the recipe. A quick googling didn’t give me much info on the ingredient’s taste, hence asking you here.
Thank you in advance! ❤️
They taste just like white chocolate chips! 🙂
Hi! What oil do you use for them?
could you use any cake mix with this too?!
Yes, you absolutely can!
What brand of vanilla cake mix do you use and what brand of candy melts?
These are both toddler and mom approved…my son gets one of these everytime we go to target and I 100% made them so I can give him these instead. I also froze some to see how they defrost so I can save them for later!
I’m so interested to know if they can be frozen. I want to try this for my son since he loves those pops and I can’t buy them every time. If you can please share to let us know how did they do after defrosting. Thank you.
You can freeze them! they take about 10 minutes to thaw sitting at room temperature.
What brand of vanilla cake mix and what candy melts do you use? Love your other recipes!
Amazing!!!
I don’t have a standing mixer can I make these by smashing by hand tool?
what brand of cake mix and candy melts do you use? Love your other recipes!
Im’confused is it candymelts or chocolate melts that you use here? Can you tell us olease what brand? Huge thanks 🙏🏼
I know it said bake as directed … So you keep the oil and water in the cake mix ?
Or do you use a box mix that is not oil ?
Or do you substitute milk and butter ?
I just follow the directions on the back of the box, so I used water, oil and eggs.
will this still work with a hand mixer?
Question! You said in your video on Instagram that the steam from the fresh-baked cake is what helps the dough come together and hold its shape. Does the dough dry out quickly or do you have a good amount of time to get them formed? I’m thinking my kids will want to help and it’ll probably take three times as long 😄
Can I make this without a stand mixer??Also where can I find the tool used to form the circles please?
Hi! What brand of colored melts did you use? Thanks!
I attempted this and I couldn’t get my melts to melt in a really smooth way. I think I need to get a better quality melt. What brand do you use? Glad I did a trial! Plan to make these for my daughter’s birthday next week!
Thanks!
Brooke
I don’t have a paddle attachment for my mixer (it’s an old hand me down). Is there another way to break up the cake? Thanks!
Making these today with my 5YO – how long should they stay in the freezer to chill? Thanks!
Wonder if I don’t have a kitchen stand mixer. Should I use my handheld electric mixer that would be ok, right?
SO yummy and easy! I dipped mine in almond bark because that’s what I had, but the kids loved them.
When you say they can be frozen, is that before or after they are dipped in the pink chocolate? If frozen after dipped, does that not change anything with the chocolate melts? And thank you! I have been following you for about six months and I love your energy and attitude! You are one of my favorites and social media land!
Can the pops freeze overnight before icing?
Hey Karli!
Quick question. In the video you use a French Vanilla cake mix and in the recipe directions you say just vanilla. Which is best for the most authentic SB copycat pop?
Love your recipes!!!
When you dip the sticks in chocolate then into the ball, how long should they be in the freezer before dipping the whole thing in the chocolate? I know mine weren’t in the freezer long enough because the balls fell off (HOWEVER, I ate the parts of the broken ones and am very pleased). 😂 Thank you!
Made these for valentine’s day for my kids and for them to give to their friends. Both teens said they were great – but coming from my son this was especially special!! Easy but still time consuming, but great payoff. A few notes: 1. made my balls 24 grams each so had more. I think 25 grams would be good. 2. No room in freezer so put in fridge. Better to dip them chilled than room temp so they harden quicker. 3. used a box I put knife X-cuts into – worked well enough.
I did alright for a rank rookie! They’re not very pretty but the sentiment will be appreciated. Made these for my Valentine sweetheart.
I’d use 20-24 oz of color melts next time. I didn’t have nearly enough and that’s one reason why they’re not pretty…I had to spread the little I had left on the pops. I’d assume you can reuse the leftover candy on something else if you reheat it, yes?
Procedurally, this worked well for me.
Thanks for a fun recipe and •definitely• saving money with these!
These turn out great. We have used a bunch of recipes and variations! I also have done almond bark, chocolate chips, and melts to coat and they all work great!
Just gave these a gluten free makeover using King Arthur gluten free cake mix. First time making cake pops and they turned out beautifully!!!