Recipe: Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Oat Pops

This is a great simple little recipe based from a My Little Cupcake recipe at http://www.mylittlecupcakeblog.com/2011/06/healthy-and-delicious-pops-for-everyone.html which in turn is based from a raw oatmeal cookie recipe by Ani Phyo.

(image from http://www.mylittlecupcakeblog.com/)

This initial recipe is vegan and gluten free and it is about creating the pops with a mix of oats and dried fruit. This recipe uses raisins and dates but there’s no reason why you couldn't spice is up with all kinds of delicious dried fruits which you should be able to pick up from your health food stores (Holland & Barret to name one in the UK).

For the Cake Pop Mix (for Approx 12 Pops) you will need:

• 85g Oats (or 1 Cup)
• 1/2 Cup of Madjool Dates
• 1/2 Cup of Raisins
• Pinch of Cinnamon

For the rest:

• Cake Pop Moulds
•  Extra Oats
• Vegan and Gluten-Free Chocolate (or Cake Pop Covertures for non vegan and gluten-free)
•  Lollipop Sticks
• Decorations!

You can add in all kinds of ingredients to the mix including cacao nibs and shredded coconut. The dates should be pitted and shredded by hand. The dates’ moisture will stick the mixture together when creating the pops, so add more oats or dates to get the right texture. Mix it all together with your hands or use a food processor. You can now press the mix into the cupcake mould; if it is too sticky you can grind up some oats to cover the inside of the mould before putting the mix in.

For the next part if you are following either a vegan or gluten-free type recipe then you need to make sure your melting chocolate is exactly that! The chocolate used on the My Little Cupcake recipe uses Endangered Species chocolate available at http://chocolatebar.com/ of which its bars are “Certified organic, gluten-free, kosher”. This is a US site however you may be able to find the products on Amazon! If you do not want the vegan or gluten-free route then you can use our selection of couvertures available on our store.

You can melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water, and then either dip the pops and place sticks in them for partial coverage, or dip the sticks into the chocolate and then into the pops, let them cool, then dip the pops into the chocolate for a full coating.

For an extra special little addition to these pops which will keep them gluten-free (but not vegan) add on some of our Gluten-Free Decorations! We have Strawberry Pearls, Mini Beans, Fudge Cubes, Tutti Frutti Fudge or Polished Chocolate Nuggets which can be bought individually or as a gift pack available at http://www.cakepopheaven.co.uk/cake-pop-decorations.html

For a video instruction of how to create Cake Pops you can watch our video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFe_hiqKl_Y to help you with the second part of the recipe!