Whenever I stop by Starbucks with my kiddos, I always get them each a yummy cake pop. They LOVE them!! But I will say, when you’re buying a Starbucks cake pop for 3 kiddos (and sometimes one for me – wink, wink), it can get kinda pricey! Instead of spending big bucks at the drive-through, I decided to try baking my own version of these yummy cake pops!

Oh, and I love the fact that these Starbucks Copycat Cake Pops are made using my Instant Pot! It makes for a super easy treat. Give this recipe a try and I know you will be impressed with how much they taste like the real deal!

Ingredients for the Cake:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup milk (I used 1%, but you can use any.)

For the Outer Chocolate Coating:

• 6 blocks of Almond Bark (12 oz)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ½ container cream cheese frosting 
• 1 drop pink gel food coloring
• 70 treat sticks
• 1 package white round sprinkles (I used these ones)

Yields: Approx. 70 cake pops

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hr 30 min

Directions:

Add sugar and butter in a large bowl and mix until well-incorporated.

Next, add oil, eggs, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Alternate adding flour and milk to the sugar mixture – a little bit at a time.

Place parchment paper on the flat plate of an Instant Pot spring-form cake pan. Trim where necessary and coat with cooking spray, grease or butter.

Fill the pan ¾ of the way with batter. Add 2 cups of water to the inner pot of the Instant Pot, and place a trivet inside. Carefully place the cake on top of the trivet.

Close the lid to the Instant Pot and seal. Set to 45 minutes manual high pressure.

Once the Instant Pot has finished cooking, do a manual pressure release. Open the lid and pull the trivet out with oven mits, hot pads or a towel. Transfer the pan to a cooling sheet and allow the cake to completely cool.

As the cake cools, add almond bark and 1 tbsp of oil to a small bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring each time. Microwave until completely melted.

Add one small drop of pink food coloring to your chocolate mixture. Stir well.

Add cooled cake to a large bowl along with the frosting. Mix well.

Use a cookie scoop to form a ball from the cake and frosting mixture. Line each one of the cake balls on a cookie sheet.

Transfer the cookie sheet of cake balls in the freezer and freeze for about 15 minutes.

Once the time is up, remove the cake balls from the freezer. Dip each treat stick slightly in the chocolate. This will help it stay in the cake pot.

Dip each cake pop in the chocolate, covering/coating it completely. Allow for any excess chocolate to drip into the bowl.

Use a cake pop decorating stand or a piece of Styrofoam to place stand all the cake pops upright . Immediately add sprinkles and allow to set.