St. Patty's Day Mud Balls

Who said playing in the "mud" wasn't a good idea? Made from a combination of chocolate cake, chocolate milk and frosting, these St. Patty's Day Mud Balls are dipped in colorful candy sprinkles and shamrocks for added luck - a festive twist kids will love.

Yield: 24 mud balls

Equipment

24 foil or paper standard size baking cups

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) box chocolate cake mix*
1 (16 fluid ounce) bottle Nestlé® Nesquik Refrigerated Ready-to-Drink Chocolate Milk, divided
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 (16 ounce) container prepared chocolate or white frosting
1/4 to 1 cup green candy sprinkles and/or shamrocks for coating

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13 x 9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line baking sheets with wax paper.
Combine cake mix, 1 1/2 cups Nesquik, oil and eggs in large mixer bowl; stir until moistened. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes or whisk by hand for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared baking pan.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost cake.
Now for the fun part, drag fork across cake so that the cake is crumbly. Pour remaining 1/2 cup Nesquik over cake and stir well to form a cakey "dough."
Scoop "dough" into 2 inch balls using ice cream scoop; place on prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll dough into firm balls (use plastic gloves, if desired), then dip tops (or roll entire ball) into candy sprinkles. Place in baking cups. Refrigerate until ready to serve (will hold 1 day). Serve cold.

Notes

* 18.25 ounce boxes of cake mix have been replaced by 16.5 ounce and 15.25 ounce boxes. To compensate for the volume loss in a 16 ounce box, whisk 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour into the dry cake mix before proceeding with the recipe. To compensate for the volume loss in a 15.25 ounce box, add 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder.

Attribution

Recipe and photo used with permission from: Nestlé® and meals.com