Espresso Cake Bites

Prepare cake mix as directed on box (you’ll typically need water, eggs, and oil, as directed in mix package) but add ground coffee beans (or instant coffee) to cake mixture before baking. Bake according to package directions. Once finished baking, remove cake from oven and allow to cool.

Crumble cake into a large bowl. Mix thoroughly with frosting; depending on how “doughy” you want your cake balls, you may not use all of the frosting. (Tip: it may be easier to use fingers to mix together with frosting.) Chill mixture for approximately 2 hours in the refrigerator (you can speed this up by placing in the freezer).

On a wax paper-lined baking sheet, roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Use a coffee scoop or melon baller to get perfect-sized balls!

Melt chocolate candy melts according to the directions on the package. With a spoon, quickly dip each cake ball into the melted chocolate and coat completely. Lift out of chocolate and set on wax paper-lined baking sheet.

Top each cake ball with an espresso bean before coating is dry. Drizzle with remaining melted chocolate.