Spooky Bat and Mummy Cake Ball Truffles for Halloween

Oh, the devilish things you can do with cake mix or chocolate cookies and cream cheese! Not only are these spooky cake ball truffles from San Diego mom Jennifer Garcia a delicious hit at Halloween gatherings, but making them is fun for the whole family. From mixing and rolling to dipping and decorating, there are plenty of ways to get the kids involved. You likely have some ingredients on hand already; others can be found in the baking aisle of your local grocery store. 

RED VELVET CAKE BATS

Makes 26–30 cake balls

Ingredients

1 box of super moist red velvet cake mix 

3 eggs

1 cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup cream cheese frosting, creamy

1 tablespoon coconut oil

24 oz. chocolate-flavored almond bark coating (or chocolate candy melts)

1 oz. candy eyeballs

15+ Oreo Thins*, separated and broken in half

*Only 15 cookies are needed, but Oreos are like bacon—extra is needed to compensate for “sticky” fingers around the kitchen! 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom of a 9”x 13” baking dish. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, water and vegetable oil. Mix on medium for about 2 mins., or until smooth. 
3. Pour mixture into greased baking dish and bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 28–33 mins. Let cool completely. 
4. Once cool, loosely break up cake into stand mixer or bowl. Mix on medium-low or stir until crumbled, about 1 min. 
5. Add frosting. Continue mixing on medium-low until frosting is fully incorporated and mixture holds shape, like cookie dough. 
6. Gather mixture with your fingertips, about the size of a golf ball, and roll it gently between your palms, until smooth and round. After rolling each ball, place it onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue until all the mixture is rolled.
7. Freeze for at least two hours, or overnight for best results.
8. Remove cake balls from the freezer and let sit at room temperature while melting chocolate coating. Move cake balls to a plate and flip parchment paper over to prepare baking sheet for next steps.
9. Add coconut oil to a candy melting pot, double boiler or microwave-safe bowl. Add chocolate almond bark coating a few chunks at a time and melt on low heat, or in short bursts if microwaving. 
10. Once coating is melted and smooth, remove from heat. Using a spoon, gently dip one cake ball at a time, ensuring a full, smooth coat of chocolate.
11. Spoon cake ball out and place it onto parchment-lined baking sheet, tipping and tapping your spoon lightly while lifting away, as if you were serving a fried egg onto a plate. 
12. Immediately insert Oreo Thins pieces to form bat wings. Play with angles and positioning to capture bats in different stages of flight. Add candy eyeballs. 
13. Repeat steps 10–12 until all cake balls are coated.
14. Let coating harden before serving or transferring to a sealed container. 
15. Enjoy!

Note: Scroll down to read my tips and tricks for both of these cake ball recipes!

NO-BAKE COOKIES & CREAM MUMMY CAKE BALLS

Makes 20–24 cake balls

Ingredients

1 package Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies*, family size

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 tablespoon coconut oil

24 oz. vanilla-flavored almond bark coating (or vanilla candy melts)

1 oz. candy eyeballs

1 plastic storage bag, sandwich size 

*I do not recommend Double Stuf Oreos as they make the cake balls too moist and difficult to work with.

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Crush Oreo cookies by adding a few at a time to stand mixer. Beat on medium-low speed, stopping the mixer each time you add more. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can use a food processor, potato masher or meat tenderizer. Continue crushing until most chunks are smaller than half an inch.
3. Add cream cheese and mix thoroughly until texture is smooth and somewhat mucky. 
4. Complete steps 6–11 from Red Velvet Cake Bats recipe above, except using vanilla coating. 
5. Add two candy eyeballs to each cake ball. 
6. Repeat until all cake balls are coated.
7. Spoon leftover vanilla coating into sandwich baggie and let cool to touch. Cut a teeny tiny piece in one corner of the bag to create a homemade piping bag. 
8. Gently squeeze the plastic bag and drizzle the vanilla coating over each cake ball in multiple directions, creating mummy wraps. 
9. Let coating harden before serving or transferring to a sealed container. 
10. Enjoy!

CAKE BALL TIPS & TRICKS

• I use meatball tongs to measure and pre-shape each ball, but you can also use a tablespoon, melon baller or just eyeball it.
• I highly recommend a double boiler or, better yet, a candy melting pot, which makes burning the candy coating nearly impossible and cleanup especially easy. 
• Almond bark coating burns easily, so go slowly, stir occasionally, and maintain a very low heat (or short bursts in the microwave). You can always heat it more, but once it burns, it’s hard to recover.
• If the candy coating starts to “seize” or clump, this is usually due to moisture or overheating. Never add cold ingredients like water or butter. Add a small amount of melted coconut oil at a time and continue to heat slowly and stir occasionally. 
• The trick to getting nice, smooth cake balls is an even coating. Right after dipping each cake ball, tap your spoon lightly against the edge of the melting pot and let the excess coating run back into the melted coating. Taking your time here will make a huge difference.
• Wait until candy coating hardens, then use a paring knife to gently shave excess coating from the base of each cake ball. 
• Have leftover chocolate? Pop it into a silicone ice tray or candy mold and let it reharden to save it for next time.
• For storage, follow the 1-2-3 rule: 1–2 days at room temperature; Up to 2 weeks in the fridge; 3 months in the freezer.
• Bat wings may get soft and fall off after refrigeration, so if you make these for a gathering, take that into consideration. If you need to refrigerate them, you can replace fallen wings with fresh Oreo cookies, just do so gently to avoid cracking. 

Photos and recipes provided by Jennifer Garcia, a mom, wife, DIY hobbyist and Texas native who now lives in San Diego's East County. She enjoys baking, photography and exploring with her boys.