Cake pops are one of my favorite recent food trends, not because I think they taste all that much better than regular old cake, but because once and a while we all make that cake that doesn’t rise or come out just how we planned and won’t serve to people but can’t bear to throw away.

That’s the beauty of cake pops: They’re very forgiving. You can start out with dry or crumbly cake and still come out with something delicious.

Chobani sent me a few of their 32oz yogurt containers for their Just Add Good cooking campaign. They’ve added a new Kitchen page to their website full of yogurt recipes and beautiful photos to get your gears turning.

When I made these cake balls, I swapped out the oil in the cake recipe for an equal amount vanilla Greek yogurt. For the frosting I mixed the cake with, I swapped out the butter for 1/2 the amount called for of plain 2% greek yogurt. The result was just as moist and delicious as any cake ball I’ve made before.

Since you lose richness when you cut the fat out of a recipe, this works better with bitter or spicy cake flavors like chocolate, pumpkin, or carrot cake. I used a gluten-free pumpkin spice cake with a white chocolate coating. 

Don’t forget when melting chocolate to look for baking chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Baking chocolate melts smoother and makes a better coating for the cake pops.

I don’t think bark should be a holiday food. It’s chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit—what’s holiday-like about that?! That sounds like anytime food to me. So feel free to make this whenever you feel like.

This is an actually an old recipe from my archives. Last time I made it I wasn’t happy with the photos so I thought I’d give it another post, not that I need much convincing when chocolate’s involved. I love white chocolate but don’t buy it very often. It’s much better at pairing with other flavors than just on its own.

The tart cherries and unsweet almonds help to curb the sweetness of the white chocolate, and the dark chocolate on the bottom adds a bit of bitterness to the mix. Altogether it’s a winning combination.

You can use sliced, crushed, or slivered almonds—whatever you have. Also feel free to swap in cherry flavored craisins if you get to the store and realize you don’t feel like paying more for dried cherries; you’d be in good company.

White Chocolate Cherry Almond Bark

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound white chocolate
• 1/2 pound semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup sweetened or unsweetened dried cherries
• 1/2 cup shaved almonds

Method:

1. Start by melting either the white or dark chocolate—whichever you want to be the base of the bark(I started with the white)—in a microwave or over a double boiler. Melt until completely smooth.
2. Lay the chocolate out in a thin layer on a non-stick surface like wax paper.
3. Melt the other chocolate and carefully spread it on top of the first layer, gently swirling the two together with a utensil.
4. Sprinkle on the cherries and the almonds all over the chocolate and press them in lightly with your hand.
5. Freeze the chocolate for about 20 minutes until it has completely hardened.
6. With a sharp knife, cut the chocolate into unequal pieces. Store for up to 2 weeks.

There are few things better than fudge or candy, except maybe fudge that tastes like candy.

Coconut tends to be one of those touchy flavors; people either love it or hate it. Alone I think it’s pretty good—nothing special. Combine it with chocolate and sugar, though, and you’ve got a clear winner. This fudge has a standard chocolate base but with a layer of coconut-white chocolate fudge on top, topped with an almond. If you omit the almonds it’ll taste just like a Mounds bar.

The best part about this dessert? It can all be made in the microwave so you can enjoy it any time. OK, maybe that’s not such great news…

Almond Joy Fudge

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16 servings):

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons coconut milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
• 16 almonds

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave or over the stove.
2. Mix into the melted chocolate 2 Tablespoons of butter, 3 Tablespoons of coconut milk, and 1/4 cup of sifted powdered sugar until the chocolate is smooth.
3. Pour the fudge into the bottom of a non-stick 6×6 pan. Put the pan in a refrigerator temporarily to cool the chocolate.
4. Melt the white chocolate using the same method, keeping an eye on it making sure that it doesn’t burn.
5. Mix in the remaining butter, coconut milk, powdered sugar, and coconut until smooth.
6. Take the pan out of the refrigerator and spread the coconut layer on evenly(It won’t be runny but shouldn’t be too solid to spread either).
7. Place each almond about an inch apart in a 4×4 square pattern.
8. Refrigerate the fudge for 20-30 minutes until it’s solid. Cut into 16 squares with an almond at the center of every square and serve cold.

By itself the top layer tastes too much of white chocolate(I wasn’t aware that was even possible) to be like the coconut center of a Mounds Bar. But eaten together the chocolate and coconut fudge taste eerily similar to the candy joy. You might want to use an even larger pan such as 8×8 for flat rectangular pieces of fudge.

And as long as we’re on the topic of coconut and chocolate, recently I updated the recipe page for Homemade Mounds Bars with better pictures and easier to read steps. It’s one of the most pinned dessert recipes I have so I can’t be the only one who thinks they’re amazing.

I’m not a popcorn-at-the-movies kind of person. Buttery popcorn just doesn’t do it for me; I’d rather have the sour patch kids or peanut M&Ms. But when it’s chocolate on popcorn—that’s another story.

I’ve been obsessed with white chocolate lately and this is just another way to eat it up. It’s a crunchy, creamy, salty dessert that’s unexpectedly incredible. And it has whole grains so it’s not entirely unhealthy, right?

If you’re worried about this being a messy treat, the chocolate doesn’t actually stick to your hand once it’s cooled down to room temperature. It’ll make your hands about as greasy as any buttered popcorn, though, so have a napkin nearby.

White Chocolate Popcorn

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 8 servings):

• 8 cups plain popcorn
• 6oz white chocolate
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
• 3/4 teaspoons salt

Method:

1. In a microwave or over a double boiler, melt the white chocolate and butter together until smooth.
2. Stir the salt into the white chocolate evenly.
3. In a large bowl, poor the melted white chocolate over the popcorn. Fold the popcorn into the white chocolate until it’s all coated.
4. Let the popcorn sit at room temperature and the chocolate solidify slightly. Scoop into bowls and serve.

This is definitely not as good as leftovers since it keeps so poorly, so I would suggest making it and eating it on the same day. I don’t think it’ll be too hard once you take a taste to finish the batch.

Gluten-free baking is a crapshoot. Before I came out with a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies that looked halfway decent, I had a big tray of cookies that spread too much and wouldn’t hold together. That’s what you get for trying new recipes.

I couldn’t bring myself to throw away the crumbs since they tasted delicious, so I needed to think of a new way to use them up. Cake pops are fun and delicious but these are cookies and needed something slightly different. Why not cookie truffles?

I think the white chocolate compliments the flavors of the oatmeal, raisins, and cinnamon more than a dark or milk chocolate would, but you could use whichever is your favorite. Follow the directions and use only as much liquid as necessary.

White Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Truffles

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 dozen soft oatmeal cookies
• 1-2 Tablespoons milk*
• 1lb white chocolate

*Depending on how fresh your cookies are, you might not need any liquid. Follow the directions and adjust accordingly.

Method:

1. Either by hand or in a food processor, mash the cookies into crumbs. If your cookies are dry, slowly add milk until the dough is moist and sticks to itself.
2. Melt the white chocolate carefully in a microwave or over a double boiler making sure not to burn it.
3. Break off cookie dough by the ounce and roll it into a ball in your hands. With a spoon, dip the truffle into the chocolate and move it around to cover all sides. Lift out of the chocolate and place on a non-stick surface.
4. Repeat until all the dough and chocolate is used up.
5. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Next time I might try adding cinnamon into the white chocolate coating; you can never have too much cinnamon.