Description
These homemade brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts are SO much better than store-bought! With a flaky, buttery crust, a delicious brown sugar cinnamon filling and a glaze that sets up perfectly, you'll never want to buy them from the store again.
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), chilled and cubed
- 1/2 cup cold water
Filling:
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 egg yolk for sealing
Glaze:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2-2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse together flour, salt, sugar, and butter a few times, until the butter pieces are about the size of peas. Stream in the water, pulsing as you go.
- Move the dough to a bowl or lightly floured surface and gently knead into a ball – be careful not to overwork the dough. Divide the dough in half, then wrap each half in plastic wrap and shape into a rectangle that's about ½" thick. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 1-2 hours.
- While the dough chills, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, vanilla and melted butter until well combined and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 300˚F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Roll each half of the dough into a roughly 14 x 14" square on a floured surface. You should just barely be able to see the lines of your silpat or work surface through your dough, which should be about ⅛" thick. Make sure your surface is well floured, and sprinkle some flour on the dough before rolling.
- Cut the dough into roughly 3.5 x 4.75" rectangles. You'll need to two for each pop tart. Combine your scrap dough and roll out again to minimize waste.
- Spoon a little over a tablespoon of filling into each pop tart, then spread into a thin layer, leaving about ⅓" around the border. Beat an egg yolk and brush around the border of the filling. Dock the tops of your pop tarts with a skewer or a fork, then place over the bottom, and press down and then crimp the edges with a fork. Use a bench scraper to trim off any messy edges to get a perfect rectangle.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. They should be very lightly browned when you take them out, and the bottoms browned slightly. Let cool slightly before topping with glaze.
- To make the glaze, add the butter, brown sugar and milk to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer for 1-2 minutes, whisking until the brown sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat an immediately whisk in the vanilla, powdered sugar and cinnamon.
- Immediately spread the glaze onto the pop tarts. It will harden up quickly. If you need to, put it back over medium-low heat to loosen it up again before spreading.
Notes
*Gluten free: We have not tested this recipe with gluten free flour, but it should work fine. The texture just may not be quite as flaky.
Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 6 days. You can also leave them unfrosted and freeze for longer term storage.
When you're rolling out the dough, be sure to flour both the surface and the pop tart dough. It can get sticky, so be sure to flour liberally.
To get evenly shaped pop tarts, you can use a stencil. Just measure out 3.5 x 4.75" on a sheet of computer paper and cut it out, then set that over the dough and use a bench scraper or a pizza cutter to cut out your pop tarts.
The freezer is your friend: If the dough ever seems unworkable (it's too stretchy and buttery), pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes to solidify the butter.
Nutrition info is an estimate only and is calculated using a third-party service.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Snacks
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pop tart
- Calories: 510
- Sugar: 26.8 g
- Sodium: 325 mg
- Fat: 29 g
- Carbohydrates: 58.6 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 5 g
