Brown Sugar Pop-tarts: Toaster Pastries Recipe
Homemade brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts are a fun and easy breakfast that is perfect for on the go! Great for back to school breakfasts, make ahead breakfast, freezer meal prep and leisurely brunches with friends. Pop-tarts are an all occasion food!
Made with homemade flaky butter pie crust or store bought pie crust, this recipe will be ready for the oven in under 30 minutes! Make a delicious sourdough version with my sourdough pie crust recipe in place of regular pie crust.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
The base of homemade pop-tarts is a pie crust dough. If you are new to making pie crust, try my recipe for fool proof pie crust which uses a food processor to do all the hard work for you.
If you have a sourdough starter, try my delicious sourdough pie crust recipe for a sourdough pop-tart that can be made with discard. Long ferment or make right away, the choice is yours!
If you are running short on time, just use a good quality store bought pie crust.
This recipe is highly adaptable! Make any flavor pop tarts by swapping the brown sugar cinnamon filling for any number of fillings such as: strawberry, blueberry, apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate fudge and more.
What You Will Need:
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- pizza cutter or knife
- small bowl
Ingredients:
- flour
- lemon juice
- brown sugar
- powdered sugar
- cold butter- for the pie crust, this creates nice flakey layers
- room temperature butter- for a spreadable pop tart filling
- cinnamon
- salt
- vanilla
- milk
- Optional– Sourdough discard for making sourdough pop tarts using a sourdough pie crust recipe.
How to Make Pop Tart Dough:
To create the pie crust, combine all purpose flour, salt, cold lemon juice, sugar and cold butter in a food processor. Pulse until a dough forms.
If using a store bought pie crust, skip ahead to rolling out the dough.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface into a rectangle. The dough should be about a 1/4 inch thick.
Cut the rectangle into strips approximately 3 inches wide and 8 inches tall using a pizza cutter or a knife.
Keeping the Dough Chilled:
To keep the dough chilled place the dough in the fridge on a baking sheet while you mix up the filling. Keeping the dough cold ensures a delicious flakey dough and reduces spreading. At any time you feel the dough is getting overly warm, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes until it is chilled again. The best way to avoid heating up your dough is to just work quickly. Thankfully pop-tarts are quick to make, so this isn’t usually an issue.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling:
Mix together room temperature butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to make a paste. Note- melted butter will not work here as it will be too runny.
The mixture should be spreadable but not thin like liquid. If it is too thin, add a little more brown sugar to get the right consistency.
Fill the Pop Tarts:
Remove the dough from the fridge and begin spreading the filling on half of each strip of dough leaving 1/2 inch space around the side to prevent oozing. Once the pop-tart is filled halfway up the strip, fold the remaining dough down to form a rectangle. Using your fingers, lightly press the edges closed all the way around.
Then, take a fork and crimp the edges all the way around the dough ensuring the dough is well sealed. If you are having trouble getting the dough to stick, you can brush some egg wash around the inside edge of the dough before sealing.
Chill the Dough and Pre-heat the Oven:
While the oven is pre-heating, put the pop-tarts back in the refrigerator to chill until time to bake. Preheat the oven to 350.
Egg Wash and Bake the Pop Tarts:
Beat one egg and brush the tops of the pop-tarts with egg wash to give them a nice golden brown color on top. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Make the Icing:
You can choose to make your icing one of two ways- make a simple cinnamon glaze using powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and a splash of milk for a simple creamy icing.
For a brown sugar cinnamon icing: mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and a splash of milk to make an icing to drizzle over the pop tarts. To get a smoother texture, blitz the brown sugar in a blender to make “powdered” brown sugar. Optional, but delicious and my personal preference.
Serve:
Serve Pop Tarts warm with icing or allow to cool completely. Reheat as desired in a toaster for a quick grab and go breakfast or treat.
Storing Pop Tarts:
Store baked and cooled pop tarts in an airtight container for up to a week on the counter.
For longer storage, wrap in parchment paper and freeze in an airtight container or ziplock and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in a toaster.
Pop Tart Variations: Holiday Pop Tarts
Make a festive treat for the holidays by using large cookie cutters to create different shaped pop tarts. Heart shaped pop tarts make a sweet Valentine’s treat.
Other Sweet Recipes:
Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge Pie
Soft Sourdough Discard Ginger Cookies
Printable Recipe:
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts: Toaster Pastries Recipe
Ingredients
- Pie Crust:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted ice cold butter or lard
- 10-11 tablespoons of ice cold water add one tablespoon at a time
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling:
- 3-4 tablespoons of soft butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- Pop tart Icing:
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar or powdered sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- splash of milk add milk just until its a thick but spreadable consistency
Instructions
- Next, add cubed unsalted cold butter into the bowl of food processor with the flour mixture. Pulse a little bit at a time until the flour mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Slowly add in ice water a little a time until pie dough forms.
- Roll the dough out on a floured surface into a rectangle. The dough should be about a 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut the rectangle into strips approximately 3 inches wide and 8 inches tall using a pizza cutter or a knife.
- Make the Filling: Mix together room temperature butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to make a paste. Note- melted butter will not work here as it will be too runny.
- The mixture should be spreadable but not thin like liquid. If it is too thin, add a little more brown sugar to get the right consistency.
- Fill the Pop Tarts: Remove the dough from the fridge and begin spreading the filling on half of each strip of dough leaving 1/2 inch space around the side to prevent oozing. Once the pop-tart is filled halfway up the strip, fold the remaining dough down to form a rectangle. Using your fingers, lightly press the edges closed all the way around.
- Then, take a fork and crimp the edges all the way around the dough ensuring the dough is well sealed. If you are having trouble getting the dough to stick, you can brush some egg wash around the inside edge of the dough before sealing.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating, pop the poptarts in the refrigerator to chill the dough.
- Brush the tops of the pop tarts with egg wash. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Make the icing: mix together brown sugar (or powdered sugar), cinnamon, vanilla and a splash of milk to make an icing to drizzle over the baked pop tarts.
- Serve warm with icing.
