Cake Pops are indubitably a kid’s favorite. Why wouldn’t they be? They are essentially small lollipop cakes, versatile, colorful, easy-to-carry, and oh-so-tasty. Another benefit of them is they are a joy to decorate, for depending on the season you can make them Easter, Christmas, Fall, Valentine’s, even Labor Day themed. (Wait, scratch that last one.) Let’s talk about Dark Chocolate Paleo Cake Pops.
Dark Chocolate Paleo Cake Pops
Why do we need Dark Chocolate Paleo Cake Pops? Well, despite being a child favorite, regular old cake is nutrient-deprived, diabetes-causing garbage. It is arguably the least nutrient-dense food, next to donuts, and just a notch up from sodas.
Cake is comprised of flour, eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil or butter. Aside from the 1-2 eggs in the ingredient list, the rest of the ingredients we would do without. Truly….
Flour is grinded down wheat stripped of the fiber and nutrient-dense part which the bran of the wheat boasts. Flour, which is found in cookies, patries, crackers, bread and alike, offers very little nutrition and even worse, it is ingested by the body as simple carbs causing your sugar and insulin levels to spike.
Flour in general is pretty worthless, but non-wheat flour alternatives exist and some of them are more-nutrient-dense than wheat flour. Click HERE to read Our Review Of Non-Wheat Flour Alternatives or listen to the Holistic Health News episode on it.
The other issue with wheat flour is that it contains the protein, gluten. Gluten has been linked to numerous problems, not just if you have the autoimmune Celiac Disease. Gluten sensitivity likely affects up to ½ of the population resulting in “brain fog,” joint pain, and issues with the microbiome, among other things. So opting for a non-wheat flour would behoove you greatly.
Time to change your oil.
Let’s briefly look at the other ingredients in conventional white cake. Sugar is well…sugar. I don’t think we need to spend too much time on it. (Though if you would like to know the best way to sweeten your foods check out our Review of non-Sugar Sweeteners article or HHN episode.)
Vegetable oil is another ubiquitous item found in virtually all middle aisle grocery store items. Corn, canola, palm, sunflower and alike are VERY bad for your health despite the fact that many people think it is good for you since it is a vegetable by-product. And many believe it is better than animal products like butter and ghee.
The vegetable oils are highly, highly refined and are vitiated with additives. The result being that vegetable oils wreak great damage to your heart muscle, arteries, and overall cardiovascular system. Along with sugar, they are singlehandedly, the most destructive pervasive ingredient found in packaged foods. Avoid them at all cost if you can. Opt for avocado, coconut, or olive oil if you are desiring a non-animal cooking oil.
Despite what Ancel Keyes and the propagandists of the 1960s told us, butter is not a contributor to coronary artery disease. It was discovered later that Keyes’ work was largely financed by the grain industry. But his influence continues to this day. Many people believe we should shun butter for vegetable oil. We should shun margarine, but butter, in particular grass-fed butter, should be used in lieu of vegetable oil in every recipe. Learn more about vegetable oils HERE.
Cleaner Ingredients
So we know the typical ingredients in white cake are not ideal for optimal health. Let’s investigate the ingredients in this Dark Chocolate Paleo Cake Pops recipe. Primarily, we are substituting the wheat flour for coconut flour thus avoiding the gluten issues. Also coconut flour is more nutrient-dense than flour.
We mix in some superfood ingredients as well. Chia seeds will bring a great source of fiber (5 grams in 2 tablespoons) and healthy unsaturated fats. Cinnamon is a phenomenal non-blood sugar spiking sweetener which also strengthens your immune system and improves heart health. Click HERE to read our Benefits of Cinnamon article.
Vis-à-vis the cooking oil, we recommend you use avocado oil. Avocado oil is gaining in popularity to due to its superfood nutrient profile. Also it doesn’t tend to breakdown and oxidize as quickly as olive oil. You may also use butter or ghee (clarified butter). Ideally use grass-fed or Kerry Gold butter. None of these are as toxic or inflammatory to the body as vegetable oil.
Lastly, we cover the Dark Chocolate Paleo Cake Pops with well…dark chocolate. Cacao is an amazing superfood, high in beneficial saturated fats, fiber, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. Ideally use baker’s chocolate to limit the sugar amount but dark chocolate 60-75% chips are great too. Notice we don’t use sugar in the coating ingredients. Just cacao and coconut oil.
If you don’t have a cake pop pan, consider purchasing the one below along with the other ingredients.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the cake pop ingredients in a bowl until well-combined. Pour ingredients into the bottom half of a well-greased cake pop pan and secure top half of pan. Bake for 15 minutes. While baking, melt the dark chocolate chips and coconut oil on low heat using a metal spoon. (Wooden spoons tend to clump the dark chocolate.) Remove the cake pops from the oven. Carefully remove the top half of cake pop pan. (Use a knife to pop them out if need be.) Poke a lollipop stick into each pop. Dip each pop into the chocolate coating making sure to cover all sides. Place cake pop on parchment or foil paper. Sprinkle coconut shavings, crushed nuts, or whatever you like on top. Enjoy! If you don't have a cake pop maker you use a muffin or cupcake pan. They won't come out as circular but if you are okay with that, the taste and colorful appearance shouldn't be diminished.
Ingredients
Instructions
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