What IS it with food on a stick? People (and I include myself in that widespread generalization) go nuts for food on a stick. Regular apple? Boring. Chocolate-Toffee Apple on a Stick? AMAZING. Regular mini quiche? Cute. Mini quiche on a stick? BEYOND ADORABLE. You get my drift. As Carrie Bradshaw might say, the stick ups the ante.

And it’s not just food ON a stick. It’s foods shaped like a stick: string cheese, fish sticks, bread sticks. Kids, I’m realizing, go gaga for foods shaped like a stick. Up until his first birthday, Alex was pretty much refusing to eat anything that came on a spoon (except yogurt) and anything that wasn’t shaped like a stick (except bread and rotisserie chicken). He no longer wanted to pick up little bites of cheese. Nope, he wanted to hold that stick of string cheese like a man and take big whopping bites that were kinda sorta A LOT too big for his little baby mouth. You can imagine the struggle that ensued in my household.

While I was contemplating a world where Alex would only eat foods that were long and skinny, Shari’s Berries contacted me to see if I wanted to try their cake pops and come up with a “food-on-a-stick” recipe. A light bulb went off in my head. We’re not going to be stuck eating string beans and french fries during this food phase – instead of eating foods shaped like a stick, we can put foods ON a stick.

At first I wasn’t sure if it would work, but, when the cake pops came in the mail, Alex took one look at them and SCREAMED. This kid had never seen a cake pop or any type of food on a stick in his life, but, he knew, without a doubt, he wanted that dessert. I’m not in the habit of letting my one-year-old eat sugary sweet cake on the regular, but after months of picky eating, I will basically let anything into his mouth that he gets excited about (except rocks…and bugs…and electronic cords). So, I let him try the cake pop and HE DEVOURED IT. To his credit, these cake pops are magic. I’m not even a cake girl, but the cookies and cream cake pop is to die for (we both thought so).

I thought maybe the cake pop was a fluke, but when I put apples, bananas and cut up peanut butter sandwiches on a stick Alex had a similar reaction – scream, hand reach, grab, stuff in mouth. I’m beginning to think that food on a stick is less of a trend and more of an innate and intense need and desire.

I know I definitely have an intense need and desire for this quick and easy but surprisingly delectable peanut butter sandwich stick drizzled in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon.

It makes me feel like a kid again AND like a supermom because my kid is eating fruit and loving it. Win. win.