Homemade Gluten Free Poptarts

With the proper crumbly melt-in-your-mouth shortcrust pastry, Homemade Gluten Free Poptarts are just like the original, but WAY better.

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Who ate poptarts growing up? I know many of you from other countries have no idea what a poptart even is, but those of us who grew up in the US have known about poptarts for years. They've been around since I was a kid, which means they've been around a while haha! And I remember them fondly as being a quick breakfast for on-the-go, especially when I was running late for school and had no time to eat a real breakfast. If asked what my favorite flavor was, I would undoubtedly say frosted brown sugar cinnamon, but frosted strawberry would be a close second.

what are poptarts?

If you don't live in America, poptarts are a breakfast pastry that I believe got their name because you can easily "pop" them in a toaster and have a quick, warm handheld breakfast to go in a snap. If you were to Google homemade poptarts, you're likely to find recipes using a flaky pie-crust like dough. But really, true poptarts are far from a flaky pastry. They are more like a shortcrust/shortbread hybrid with a crumbly texture, reminiscent of tart crust. They're filled with a variety of different fillings, from strawberry to brown sugar to apple and everything in between.

ingredients You'll Need

• Kim's gluten free all purpose flour blend - a store bought blend may be substituted, but hasn't been tested.
• Butter - the real deal here, which makes these better than the original. Can you use dairy-free butter? Yes!
• Egg whites - egg white in the pastry binds everything together.
• Fillings - while I'm only making strawberry and brown sugar cinnamon, there are endless filling options (see below for more ideas).
• Royal icing - not pictured above (because it's optional), frosting with royal icing allows the icing to dry hard so they can actually be toasted later.

Start with the dough

There are recipes all over the internet for homemade pop tarts. But one of the things I notice about all of them is they use a flaky pie crust as the pastry. True pop tarts are not made with a flaky pastry at all. They are much more likely to use a shortcrust dough, similar to a tart dough. To make this, combine flour, sugar, and butter in a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds to combine. Add egg white and mix until the dough comes together. Divide it into two, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

filling choices

Pop tarts come in a variety of flavors. I think I counted at least 20 the last time I checked! But there are only two that I cared about years ago when I could still eat them - brown sugar cinnamon and frosted strawberry. Feel free to come up with any flavor you desire.

While you can certainly use store bought strawberry jam, I chose to make my own filling because I wanted it to be better than (and fresher tasting) than anything I could find in the store. I took a page from Claire Saffitz's playbook for how to make strawberry filling, which is so fresh and strawberry forward, but also thick enough that it can be spread without the worry for seepage. Check out her video here if you want to give it a shot.

The brown sugar cinnamon filling couldn't be easier. Whisk together brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and Kim's gluten free all purpose flour blend in a small bowl. Add melted butter and stir to combine.

assemble the poptarts

Roll pastry dough out into a large rectangle. Cut into 6 equally-sized rectangles. No need to worry about them being neat and pretty. We'll trim off the excess later. Place the dough rectangles on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Spread the filling into the center of the 6 rectangles, being careful not to overfill and leaving a half-inch border around all sides. I actually cut out a little template using cardboard and it worked perfectly! Roll and cut the remaining dough into 6 rectangles and poke holes in them with a wooden skewer.

Place these on top of the filling and press around the edges. Using the same wooden skewer, press around each side to "seal" the edges. Cut off the excess with a pastry wheel or sharp knife. Freeze for 10 minutes. Bake poptarts at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until just slightly golden around the edges. Cool completely. Ice as desired.

Frosting Homemade Gluten Free Poptarts

There's nothing wrong with leaving pop tarts sans frosting. There are plenty of store bought pop tarts that aren't frosted. But if you want to take them to the next level, make my simple royal icing. From there, you can take things even further by making your own sprinkles for the top! I saw Claire Saffitz do this and as soon as I saw it, I knew I was making my own. Sprinkles were actually very fun to make and I had a blast making these pop tarts with homemade sprinkles. I bet kids would love to help with them, too!

After whipping up the royal icing, divide it into small bowls and color it, preferably with gel food coloring, stirring to mix through. Tape a piece of parchment paper onto the back of a small sheet pan and spread the icing in very thin strips across the parchment. If they're too thick, they won't dry thoroughly.

Allow the icing to dry fully (using a fan can help this along, but it usually takes 5-6 hours). When ready, they should peel right off the paper. Place the strips in a large ziptop bag and crush them with a rolling pin. If desired, sift out any "dust" through a fine mesh strainer or sieve. You've just made your very own sprinkles! How easy was that?

For frosted strawberry poptarts, use a similar template to spread a thin layer on top of each poptart and sprinkle with homemade sprinkles. For brown sugar cinnamon, mix a little brown gel food coloring and a dash or two of cinnamon into a small amount of royal icing. Spread within the template.

an optional step

An optional step is to "dehydrate" the poptarts to make them more toaster stable. This will allow you to actually "pop" them in the toaster without the worry of the icing melting and seeping into the toaster. To do this, after icing the poptarts, place them in a 250-degree oven for one hour.

more breakfast pastry recipes

• Gluten Free Kolaches
• Gluten Free Brioche au Chocolat
• Gluten Free Apple Turnovers
• New & Improved Gluten Free Croissants

If you miss poptarts, try my gluten free version. You won't regret the time it takes to make them when you taste how fresh and yummy they are!

Recipe technique adapted from Claire Saffitz