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 ½ cups all-purpose flour*
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), chilled and cubed
- ½ cup cold water
Filling:
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 ½ tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tablespoons melted butter
- 1 egg yolk for sealing
Glaze:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½–⅔ cup powdered sugar
- ½ 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,
- 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.
