Cheesecake Pops -- The Easy Way

A few weeks ago, I posted that I was going to make cheesecake pops soon. I made them before Eric's Graduation and they were a hit. But man, was it a pain. You have to make a cheesecake (it was my first time to do this), get it nice and chilled, form the balls, freeze the balls, then finally dip them in chocolate. It was a three night process.

My friend Suzie is having twins and I helped host her shower. I decided to make cheesecake pops as one of the desserts. Since my family was in town all week and we were going to Sea World, I didn't want this to be a three day process. So, I took the Sandra Lee "Semi-Homemade" route and bought pre-made cheesecake bites. This meant all I had to do was add the sticks and dip in chocolate. It's still a time consuming process, but not 3 days.

Easy Cheesecake Pops

Sara Lee Cheesecake Bites
Semi Sweet Chocolate for Melting
Shortening
Sucker Sticks

Let Cheesecake bites soften just enough to insert the sucker sticks.

Melt chocolate and shortening according to package directions. I used two boxes of Baker's brand and added probably 3 tablespoons of Chocolate. Bakerella always suggests this when dipping with chocolate and I always ignored it. She is right... it REALLY helps.

Dip sucker stick in chocolate and insert into cheesecake bite.
Put un-dipped pops back in freezer while you finish prepping them all. They don't need to be completely frozen before dipping but the colder the cheesecake, the better the chocolate will coat and harden (less dripping).

Dip pop in chocolate. Gently tap the stick on the side of the bowl to get rid of the excess chocolate. Stand pops on Styrofoam block to cool. Return to freezer or refrigerator until ready to serve.

See Bakerella's blog for more detailed instructions! :)