Cookies ‘n Cream Cake Balls !

Hey Y’all,

I’ve been baking since I was 15 years old. (I’m a dinosaur.) I baked a birthday cake the other day for our “little brother”, Thomas’s, 18th birthday, and guess what? It FLOPPED! That cake would not cooperate and come out of the pan on its own. Needless to say, when the 9×13 cake finally decided to let loose of the pan, it was broken in a dozen pieces. Well, so much for Thomas’s bday cake that day. But, not the end of using that uncooperative cake. I realized a perfect opportunity was at hand: CAKE BALLS!!!

We met Thomas in 2011 when Thomas was almost 11 years old. Bill and I have been his “Big Couple” ever since! We’ve celebrated 7 birthdays together! The bday cake is his favorite Cookies ‘n Cream! It’s basically a white cake with Oreos crumbled into the batter.

Needless to say, I was disappointed that there wasn’t enough time to make another cake that day. But, Thomas is such a great young man and understood! A store bought cake was an acceptable substitution!

Cake balls are SUPER easy to make and fun to eat. Kids of all ages love cake balls.

The trick to a great cake ball is 1) a yummy cake & 2) delicious cream cheese frosting! The frosting is the “glue” to make a great cake ball.

This is my go-to recipe for Delicious Cream Cheese Frosting:

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
1 16 oz. box powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (Optional)
1 1/2 tsps. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed until smooth.
Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
Stir in vanilla. Pecans are great, but may not work well for cake balls.

DELICIOUS!

SCROLL DOWN FOR HOW TO FORM CAKE BALLS & DIP ‘EM!

Cream Cheese Frosting, cake that has cooled and a mixing bowl – Voilà !

TO FORM CAKE BALLS:

Let the cake completely cool.
Use your hands (I love wearing surgical gloves to do this) to crumble the cake in a large bowl.
Start off with a little bit of cream cheese to form the cake balls. Add more if needed. Remember to start with a little…you can always add to, but can’t take away. LOL!
Mix the crumbled cake & cream cheese frosting until the nice cake ball is formed.
Put the cake balls in a large air tight container and freeze till firm.
Before dipping, remove from freezer and put in frig, just to get off the frozen chill

PREPARE THE DIP:

I like Ghirardelli Melting wafers. Wilton Candy Melts are good & come in great colors, especially if the cake balls are for a special occasion. (BTW, don’t use chocolate bars! They are great for baking, but not for dipping / coating.
Melt the wafers in a microwave friendly bowl. Let the dip slightly cool. If it’s too hot, the dip may crack once the cake balls are dipped & dry. But, no worries…they’ll still be delicious!
If you want to add sprinkles, do so before the cake balls dry.
Store in an airtight container in the frig.Serve at room temp.

This is such a fun recipe to do with the kids and g’kiddos! They have a blast forming the cake balls and then decorating. Great for kids’ bday parties. Add a cake ball stick and you have a cake pop! HOW FUN IS THAT?!??!

xoxo connie