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:
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!
Homemade Pocky
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
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
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.
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Biscuits covered in chocolate, you say? Yes please! I can see why they're requested. I know I'd eat my fair share of these. So fun too!
Michelle
They really are such a fun treat! Thanks Dawn! 🙂
Leanne
Since I saw these on IG, I had to pop over to see how you made them! These look like a sweet little treat. I bet my nephews would love them! So cute that your son asked for them!
Michelle
Ahh yes Leanne, your nephews would love them! Then again, I don't know any kid (or adult) who doesn't like Pocky! 🙂
Lauren I BasicGinger.com
How cute are these?! I'm sure they taste so much better than the packaged ones too!
Michelle
Thanks Lauren! For sure! 😉
Katerina | Once a Foodie
Ohh, we loved Pocky sticks when we travelled in Japan! I don't like pre-packaged snacks either but when you're travelling, you always need to sample the local snacks - that's a rule! I pick up some of these every now and then for the kids in Daiso but I have never thought of making these at home - this is such a great idea and yes, much much better knowing what ingredients go into these! Thanks so much for sharing, Michelle, I am loving this recipe!
Michelle
Yes, agreed -- must definitely try the local snacks when traveling! I'm glad that you love this, Katerina! 🙂
Christie
I am honestly SUPER IMPRESSED with your homemade pocky sticks Michelle! This is so amazing. I really love the assortment of flavours you made.
David @ Spiced
Cookies dipped in chocolate? I'm all in! I've seen pocky in the stores, and it seems to be fairly easy to find these days. (I remember years ago a co-worker bringing a box in, and they were a new treat to everyone there.) I'm with ya on the homemade version, though, and this is such a cool idea. I bet Robbie would love to help decorate these...and then eat 'em, too. Haha!
Michelle
Yes! Pocky is quite mainstream nowadays, which is awesome. For sure, Robbie would have a blast decorating them! 😀 My 5 yo told me he was going to help, and proceeded to sit at the table waiting for me to place them on the tray 😛
Lindsay
This is so fun! My kids love Pocky - and I don't buy them often for the reasons you describe. We'll be making these together very soon!
Angela
LOVE the idea of making these from scratch! My kiddos love Pocky Sticks and are going to go crazy for this treat!
Cate
These sounds delicious! I've never tried something like this but it sounds amazing, can't wait to make these.
Emily Liao
Loved this idea! Made it for the kiddos and they were so excited.
Jacque Hastert
My kids love pocky sticks and I can't wait to make them some this weekend. Thank you for sharing such a simple recipe that will sure to be a hit.