Homemade Pocky Sticks

This is a simple recipe for Homemade Pocky Sticks which are shortbread cookie sticks coated with chocolate. Made with ingredients you may already have in your pantry!

Today, out of the blue, my youngest son asked me "Mommy, can you make me Pocky?"

It was years ago that I tried my hand at making Pocky, so I was up for the challenge.

What is Pocky?

If you've been to an Asian supermarket, you'll have seen the iconic red boxes lined up on the shelves with the word "POCKY" on them.

They're from Japan and are long thin cylindrical biscuits covered partially with chocolate.  

Different flavours

I remember when I was a kid, the only flavours they had were chocolate (original), almond and strawberry. 

Nowadays, Pocky comes in various flavours including matcha, coconut, cookies and cream and others. 

My recipe will feature chocolate, strawberry, and matcha flavours. 

Why homemade?

As you'll already know, I try to avoid packaged food as much as possible.

My kids haven't had Pocky -- however, whenever we go grocery shopping, they always see it on the store shelves.

I myself have only had Pocky on a few occasions as a kid.

There's a number of questionable ingredients in Pocky, starting with the various palm oils, and artificial flavours. 

It's the reason why I wanted to make my own version from scratch.

I like knowing what's in the food I give to my kids -- plus, it just tastes better! After all, it is just a cookie coated with chocolate.

Ingredients you'll need

You'll only need a few ingredients for these shortbread-style cookies:

• all-purpose flour: regular flour will work fine; don't use cake flour
• granulated sugar: adds a touch of sweetness to the cookie
• active dry yeast/baking powder: helps add a little leavening to the cookies
• cold salted butter: cubed
• whole milk

How to make the biscuits

First, we'll make the biscuit dough. There are only a few ingredients for the dough.

It's similar to making a tart crust, except we're adding a little yeast and baking powder to the biscuits.

(If you look at the ingredients from the packaging, there's actually yeast in the biscuits!)

Using a food processor simplifies the job and keeps the dough from being overworked. 

Making the dough:

We'll add all the dry ingredients into the food processor, pulse a few times to mix everything. Then, add in the butter and milk little by little, pulsing so that the chunks of butter in the dough resembles pea-sized clumps.

Then dump the dough onto parchment and form into a disc. Wrap it up and set it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes, or longer. 

Roll the dough out evenly and cut into slender sticks.

Tip: If you have a bench/dough scraper, I find this works very efficiently.

Chill the cut-out sticks in the fridge for another 30 minutes. 

Then bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, until golden. 

How to decorate

Now comes the fun part, decorating with chocolate.

You can use whatever chocolate you like and toppings you can imagine.

Try crushed nuts like almonds, coconut flakes, or a drizzle with white chocolate. 

Tip 1: use a medium-sized jar to hold the chocolate in for dipping.

Tip 2: The cookies can be a little fragile, so use a delicate hand when decorating. 

For the chocolate:

I used semi-sweet chocolate, but you can use whatever chocolate you have on hand. Just melt the chocolate (you can use a microwave and zap it in intervals). Stir in the coconut oil and dip away.

For the strawberry chocolate:

I was lucky to get a hold of strawberry couveture chocolate callets which is white chocolate with freeze-dried strawberries. 

If you don't have strawberry chocolate, you can improvise with a white chocolate coating and topping it with freeze-dried strawberry powder.

For the matcha:

I mixed white chocolate with matcha green tea powder and a little coconut oil. 

Once the pocky sticks have been dipped, lay them on parchment paper and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes to set the chocolate. 

How to store

These homemade pocky sticks are best kept in an airtight container in a cool location.

I personally store them in the fridge, since it's summer and my home is quite warm. 

They're good for up to 2 weeks if stored in the fridge (but I am sure they will be gone before then).

Other recipes you may like

If you liked this recipe, you may also like:

Homemade Matcha Choco Pies

Matcha Red Bean Mochi

Matcha Strawberry Oreo Cookies

Let me know if you try out this recipe -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below! 

Print Recipe

5 from 10 votes

Homemade Pocky

An easy recipe for homemade chocolate-coated biscuits, inspired by the famous Japanese version.

Prep Time2 hours hrs

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Japanese

Servings: 65 sticks

Calories: 24kcal

Author: Michelle

For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.

Ingredients

Biscuit Dough:

• 100 g all-purpose flour
• 15 g granulated sugar
• 3 g active dry yeast
• 15 g dry milk powder
• ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
• 50 g salted butter cold & cubed
• 30 ml whole milk

Decoration:

• 50 g dark chocolate chips
• 5 g coconut oil
• 50 g strawberry chocolate (I used Valrhona couveture callets)
• 5 g coconut oil
• 50 g white chocolate
• 2 g matcha
• 5 g coconut oil

Metric | US Customary

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Make the pocky biscuits:

• In a food processor, add in the flour, sugar, yeast, milk powder, and baking powder.
• Pulse a few times to combine.
• Add in the cubed butter while pulsing intermittently.
• Drizzle in the whole milk while pulsing.
• Remove the lid and check the consistency of the dough. The dough should form pea-sized clumps. If it feels too dry, add in a little water at a time. Pulse a few more times.
• Dump the dough onto a large piece of parchment paper.
• Use your hands to form a disc of dough and wrap it in the parchment paper.
• Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough and roll out to a thickness of approximately ½ cm thick.
• Cut into sticks about 4" long and 0.6cm wide. (Makes about 65 sticks).
• Place onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing the sticks a little bit.
• Chill the baking sheet in the fridge for another 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C.
• Bake at 350°F/177°C for 12-14 minutes, rotating halfway through, until lightly golden.

  Note: cookies will be fragile.
• Let cool on the baking sheet.

To decorate:

• Melt the chocolate in 20-second intervals with a microwave using a heat-safe jar.
• Stir in the coconut oil.
• Dip the cooled biscuits about ⅞ths into the melted chocolate.
• Remove and lay onto parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Repeat with the remainder and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.
• Remove from fridge and peel the biscuits off the parchment paper.
• Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Nutrition

Calories: 24kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 14mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 27IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg

The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.

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