My NDA summer officially begins next Monday (yep – the 4th of July) when I board a flight to Kansas.  Never been there and very excited to visit.  Ergo, I have lots of routine learning to do which is why I opted out of the gym yesterday to dance around in my living room.

I also decided that I want to invest my time in trying at least 2 new recipes a week.  Recipes that are healthy, fun and different.  Last night, I dove into the world of Cake Pops after Hungry Girl remade them.  (The secret to their low calorie success = marshmallows!)

Warning: This recipe, while not complicated, gets VERY messy.  It says to “dampen your hands often” to prevent the cake from sticking, but the cake will probably stick to your hands anyway.  You will become a gooey mess and wonder why the hell you are doing this about halfway through the process.  Are we all okay with that?  Alright.  Moving on…

The cake pops are chocolate-y, soft and rich and while they are supposed to resemble the classic pops that Starbucks now offers at 200 calories each (and those things are teenie tiny), this recipe lightens the load and they are BIGGER.  They are 3 PointsPlus on Weight Watchers (oh yeah, did I mention I’m trying that again? But the book version this time, not the online.. more details about that another time) and I could’ve eaten the whole tray.  I restrained myself, don’t worry.

Cake Pops
Adapted from Hungry Girl
Should yield 20-24 pops, I got 21

Ingredients:
Half a box of Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake Mix (about 1.5 cups)
1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce
1 cup Cool Whip Free
12 regular-sized marshmellows, halved widthwise
1 cup mini chocolate chips
20-24 lollipop sticks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray an 8×8 baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside.

Combine cake mix, applesauce and 1/2 cup water in a bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine.  The batter will be thick but if it’s a bit lumpy, add a bit more water to thin in it.  Pour batter into the prepared baking dish and bake in oven for approximately 35 minutes or until a knife comes out of the center clean.

Let cake cool completely.  This is very important – don’t ignore it!

While the cake is cooling, you can line a baking sheet with parchment paper and make room in your fridge for it.  That should take all of 30 seconds, leaving you plently of time to watch tv, read a book or stalk follow a blog.

Once cake is cooled, place it in a large bowl and crumble it with your hands until you have crumbs.  Add the Cool Whip and use your hands to combine the two.  The mixture should hold its shape once fully combined and will be very moist.

Place half of the mixture on a non-wooden cutting board and form a log.  Slice the log into 12 equal pieces.  Dampen your hands often to help prevent the cake from sticking (…..) Take each piece, roll into into a ball and flatten it on your palm.  Place a marshmallow half in the center of the cake and mold the cake around the ‘mallow until it is completely covered.  Roll the cake-covered-mallow in your hands to form a ball and place on prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with all of the pieces and the other half of the cake mixture until you have a lovely sheet full of cake-covered marshmallow balls.

Insert a lollipop stick into the center of each pop.  Be careful not to go all with way through the ball. 

Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl.  Start with 45 seconds on 50% power, and then in 30 second intervals at 50% power, stirring in between until the chips are melted completely.

Using a spoon, cover each cake ball with chocolate and place back on the baking sheet, stick up.  Transfer sheet to fridge and let the chocolate harden (should take about 45 minutes.)

Then mow inhale enjoy responsibly!