Cheesecake Pops

I decided to try my hand at cheesecake pops this past week, and let me say they were amazing! This is my first time making cheesecake but it was super easy and turned out wonderfully.

This is a recipe from Jill O'Connor's book, Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey.

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 to 40 pops

Five 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

30-40 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound semisweet-flavored, milk chocolate flavored, or brightly-colored confectionery coating (also known as summer coating or wafer chocolate)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer set a low speed, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth.  Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream. (Make sure you scrape down the bowl during the process to incorporate all the ingredients.)

Lightly grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a spring form pan).  Pour the cheesecake batter into the cake pan and place in a larger roasting pan.  Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan.  Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool the room temperature.  Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

(It wasn't that golden it's just a bad lighting.)

When cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball.  Freeze the pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 to 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate coating.  Place half of the chocolate wafers in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds.  Remove from the microwave and stir.  If the chocolate is not completely melted, microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Hold the pop over the melted chocolate and shake off any excess. Place the pop in a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set.  Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate wafers as needed. 

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

I hope that everyone tries this recipe, it is fabulous!