Everyone has their own Pop-Tart stories growing up: I remember getting handed one on those mornings when we were running late for school, grabbing it on the way out the door.
When I came across a recipe for Homemade Pop-Tarts I couldn’t resist trying it out. The guy that came up with the recipe (EGullet poster name gfron1) is a terrific baker/restauranteur who frequently posts on EGullet. His pics of his Homemade Pop-Tarts totally sold me — who wouldn’t want to recreate their own homemade nostalgia?
The recipe did not disappoint! The pastry is a delicious buttery flavorful take on the original — it really tastes like a super fresh pop-tart, no hard cardboard here! The cinnamon-brown sugar filling is right-on and the frosting completes the picture. The only thing is that you cannot put these in your toaster or it might catch fire! You could try warming them slightly in the oven but I gotta tell you, these were SO good at room temperature I never felt the need to heat them up. Here is how you make them:
This is the recipe as gron1 wrote it (you can also find it here on EGullet):
Pop-Tart Dough– Makes approx. five 4″x6″ pop-tarts
13 oz Unsalted Butter at room temp
1/3 C. & 1 T. (110 g) Milk at room temp
1 Yolk at room temp
1 t. (6 g)Sugar
1 t. (6 g) Salt
3 1/2 C. (645 g) AP Flour
In food processor, combine butter, milk, yolk, sugar and salt and pulse until roughly blended. Add the flour and pulse until it just starts to come together. Form into a disc and wrap in saran wrap, chill at least 3 hours.
Brown-Sugar Cinnamon Filling
1 Egg White at room temp
3/4 C. Powdered Sugar
1/4 C. Almond slivers or slices
1/4 C. Brown sugar
1 T. Cinnamon
In food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until well combined.
Frosting
milk
powder sugar
cinnamon
Combine until a thick icing is formed. Spread on cooled pop-tart and sprinkle with cinnamon or mix.
Assembly
Roll the dough into a rough square, dusting with flour, until 1/8″ thick. Cut dough into 4″x6″ rectangles. Pair the rectangles for tops and bottoms. Brush the edges of your bottom with a whisked egg. Place a large dollop of filling on inside the egg wash, then spread it evenly. The amount of filling is up to you, but you can see in the pic below how much I did. Place the top sheet of dough on top and press firmly but gently onto the bottom sheet. Chill your Pop-Tarts for 30 minutes in the freezer before baking.
Oven to 350F. Bake for abut 15 minutes or until just starting to brown. Let sit until room temp. Frost with a milk and powdered sugar frosting with just a bit of cinnamon added.
I changed up a few things in the original recipe. For the filling, I used some ground almonds that I had on hand instead of the almond slivers or slices called for in the recipe.
I also added a little vanilla to the frosting for some extra flavor, and chilled the mixture before using (the dough is very fragile and buttery).
I rolled mine out to 1/8″ and placed into the freezer before cutting out the squares. After pressing the two pieces together, I used a fork to go around the edges to really seal them closed. After spreading the frosting onto the cooled pop-tarts I topped them with some raw sugar crystals for crunch and shine. The frosting will dry firm but not rock-hard like real pop-tarts. The 4″x6″ size is HUGE, next time I would make them 2″x3″.
It also took me a lot longer than 15 minutes to cook these, more like 25 to 30 minutes. I made them all cinnamon-brown sugar flavor except for one strawberry pop-tart filled with some strawberry jam I had on hand. I tinted the icing for the strawberry pop-tart pink and topped with candy sprinkles. You could easily switch up the fillings and frosting with whatever you have on hand! My friends really got a kick out of the Homemade Pop-tarts and thought they tasted awesome. Enjoy!
