Daring Bakers and the Cheesecake Pops

Well today is the day and my first challenge completed for Daring Bakers!!! And I'm already looking forward to May and the next challenge. And a special thank you to Elle of Feeding my Enthusiasms and Deborah of Taste and Tell for hosting our April Event!

The Cheesecake Pops were fun to make, but...a big but, I don't think I would make them again. Not that they're not good, in fact delicious, but there were problems. Everything went as expected but as soon as the pops started warming to room temperature, they did not adhere to the stick which became very messy, very fast. There's nothing more depressing then to see a child happily munching away and then all of a sudden the tasty Pop has fallen off the stick and the dog is making a beeline for the treat!!



Cheesecake Pops
Recipe adapted from "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey"

5 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 c. sugar
¼ c. all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ c. heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
30-40 (8-inch) lollipop sticks
1 lb. chocolate, finely chopped (whatever type you want for dipping)
2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
Assorted decorations (sprinkles, sanding sugar, chopped nuts, etc.)

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 F. Set some water to boil.


In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes (*note: I baked mine for an hour, so keep in the oven longer if needed).

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.


Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.). Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.




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