Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts
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These homemade brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts are way better than the store-bought kind! Made with a homemade pie crust, a simple brown sugar cinnamon filling and topped with a sweet cinnamon glaze!
I have to admit I have had more than my fair share of pop tarts in my childhood. And there were two that I always gravitated towards.
The frosted strawberry pop tarts, and the brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. In my college and barely post college days, I would scarf these down for breakfast, snack, dinner…ok even dinner. Sometimes I even went to great lengths and actually used a toaster oven to heat them up. Most times I didn’t. The toaster took too long. So did making pasta back then. Ha, how times have changed.
Since the days of store-bought pop tarts, I have found great satisfaction in making everything from scratch. It seemed only natural that I would get around to making my own homemade strawberry pop tarts and homemade brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. And I have to say the homemade brown sugar cinnamon pop-tarts are my favorite pop-tart flavor still to this day.
And let me tell you, once you try the homemade version it will be hard to go back and tear open another silver package with your teeth ever again.
Why This Recipe Works
- These brown sugar pop tarts are so much better than store-bought pop tarts! These have so much flavor, and a wonderful flaky pastry.
- Can easily be frozen for later. If you don’t want to eat them all at once you can freeze these, baked or unbaked.
- Made with an easy brown sugar cinnamon filling!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour– Use regular all-purpose flour. Be sure to measure it correctly.
- Salt
- Butter – You want to use cold unsalted butter for a flaky pie crust.
- Water – Use ice cold water.
- Light Brown sugar – If you don’t have any, you can make your own homemade brown sugar. You could also use dark brown sugar if needed.
- Ground Cinnamon
- Powdered sugar – Or confectioners sugar. If you have run out, try making your own homemade powdered sugar. Check out my full tutorial on how to make powdered sugar!
- Milk – I used milk for the glaze, but you could also swap and use water or heavy cream.
- Vanilla
How to Make Homemade Pop Tarts
Make the crust.
Process flour and salt together in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula.
You can also make the pie crust by hand using a pastry cutter and work in the butter this way.
The crust if ready should hold together when you pinch some of it. If it’s dry and crumbly, then it needs more water.
Then go ahead and wrap the crust in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up the crust and make it cold!
Assemble the pop tarts
In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and flour for the filling.
Remove one disk of pastry dough from refrigerator and using a floured rolling pin, roll out on lightly floured surface to 13 by 9-inch rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Trim dough so that all sides are even and straight. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 small rectangles. Use a ruler if you wish.
Add one tablespoon of the brown sugar filling to the center of one rectangle and spread out leaving a 1/2-inch border.
Place another square on top and use a fork to crimp the edges to prevent the filling from leaking out in the oven.
You want to make sure to poke holes in the top of each with the tines of a fork to allow steam to escape as they bake.
After they are all prepared, place in the refrigerator on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet to firm up again for another 30 minutes. Then repeat with the remaining dough disk.
When ready, preheat the oven to 350oF (180oC). Place the prepared cookie sheet in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack before applying glaze.
Make the cinnamon glaze
In a small bowl, combine all three ingredients and stir to combine. You may find you need to add either more powdered sugar or milk to achieve the desired consistency.
Then simply spread the glaze on your cooled tarts.
Recipe Tips
- Great pie crust is key! Use very cold butter, ice cold water, and don’t overwork the pie dough.
- Leave A Border. You want to make sure to leave about 1/4-inch border from filling to edge of the pie crust. Otherwise it might leak out!
- Don’t Add Too Much Filling. I add about 1 to 2 Tablespoons MAX of filling. Too much and you risk it leaking out.
- Seal the pop tarts really well. This dough is very tender and flaky. If you find your dough is tearing, just pop it back in the fridge for awhile. Seal it with the tines of a fork to get the best closure.
Storage Instructions
Store any leftover pop tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. These are really best eaten fresh. If you can’t finish them within a few days, try freezing the leftover for a quick breakfast or snack in the future!
Once fully cooled, store the pop tarts in an air-tight container or zipper bag and freeze for up to 4 months. Easily reheat them in the toaster straight from frozen.
โRecipe FAQ’s
You absolutely can. Or even try using puff pastry!
For store-bought pop tarts, they are already baked so you are just simply warming up the filling but for these they need to baked first because of the raw pie dough.
Pop tarts are a classic breakfast pastry made from two rectangular pie crusts, and filled with some sort of sweet filling. A glaze is usually drizzled over the top. There are many flavors and varieties now available in the grocery store.
More Recipes To Try
If you’re craving more breakfast treats be sure to try my chocolate fudge pop tarts made with a chocolate pie dough!
And be sure to try my homemade cinnamon rolls with an easy cinnamon roll icing!
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust
- 3 cups (360 g) unbleached all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 227 g) cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 8-10 tablespoons ice water
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling
- ยฝ cup (107 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Egg Wash
- 1 egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water
For Cinnamon Glaze
- ยฝ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
- ยผ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
To Make The Pie Crust
- In a food processor or by hand, stir together the flour and salt. Sprinkle very cold butter over the top and pulse for a few seconds or cut the butter with the pastry cutter/fingertips until it is about the size of split peas. 3 cups (360 g) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 227 g) cold unsalted butter
- Sprinkle half of the ice water over the flour mixture and mix gently to dampen flour. Add the remaining water in two stages and continue to pulse or stir until a dough forms. When enough water has been added to allow dough to hold together, gather it into a ball and transfer to lightly floured surface.Press dough into a flat disk, then place in large zipper bag. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour or overnight. 8-10 tablespoons ice water
To Shape The Pop Tarts
- Cut dough in half. Keep the second half wrapped in plastic wrap and in the fridge. Roll out one half of the dough onto a lightly floured surface to a 13 by 11 inch rectangle (about 1/4 inch thick). Trim dough so sides are even and straight, to a 12 by 10 inch rectangle.
- Cut the dough into eight 5 by 3 inch rectangles.
- Arrange 4 rectangles onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- In a small mixing bowl, measure and place all the filling ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. ยฝ cup (107 g) packed light brown sugar 1 tablespoon all purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Add Filling. For each rectangles, place one tablespoon (to 2 tablespoons max) of filling in the center. Spread out but leave a 1/2 inch border. Place another rectangle on top and use a fork to crimp the edges to prevent the filling from leaking out in the oven. Poke the top of each poptart with a few holes with the tines of a fork to allow steam to escape as they bake.
- Refrigerate. After they are all prepared, refrigerate to firm up again for another 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough disk.
- Egg Wash and Bake. When ready, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make egg wash and brush each pop tart with a little egg wash. Place the prepared cookie sheet in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack before applying glaze.
Make Glaze
- Combine all glaze ingredients and stir to combine. You may find you need to add either more powdered sugar or milk to achieve the desired consistency. Then simply spread the glaze on your cooled tarts. ยฝ cup (60 g) powdered sugar ยผ teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon milk
Notes
- Storage: Store any leftover pop tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. These are really best eaten fresh. If you can’t finish them within a few days, try freezing the leftover for a quick breakfast or snack in the future!
- Freezing: Once fully cooled, store the pop tarts in an air-tight container or zipper bag and freeze for up to 4 months. Easily reheat them in the toaster straight from frozen.ย
So Yummy!๐
These are way better than store bought pop tarts. The pastry is flakey,more like a toaster streudal. I will definitely try this one again.
Thanks for sharing!๐
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Flaky pastry makes all the difference! ๐
Can I use salted butter and adjust the amount of salt added? If so, how much salt would you recommend?
Yes, you can use salted butter! I recommend reducing the added salt to 1/4 teaspoon, thank you for asking!
Wow, you nailed the flavor! So good!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the flavor! ๐
Wow – this just totally brought me back to my childhood! I used to eat poptarts all the time! And this recipe perfectly captures that good old flavor!
Thank you! I’m so happy to hear it brought back great memories for you. ๐๐
I have been craving pop tarts all week, but my husband told me not to buy them from the store because we have so much food at home. Luckily I have all of the ingredients for this, so I will be making this tomorrow morning ๐
Thank you! I’m glad you have the ingredients. Enjoy making more pop tarts! ๐ฅณ
These brown sugar poptarts are truly a new favorite flavor of mine. They’re the perfect snack along with my brown sugar coffee! I made a bunch to have throughout the week.
Thank you! I’m so glad you love the brown sugar pop tarts. Enjoy your snacks and coffee! ๐๐