Make a batch of homemade pop tarts from scratch with a flaky pastry filled with cinnamon brown sugar, baked until golden then topped with a cinnamon vanilla glaze.
Table of Contents
Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts
Pop tarts are one of my favorite childhood breakfast treats, and they taste even better from scratch! Perfect for a weekend baking project with the kids.
Made with a flaky pastry, cinnamon sugar filling, and a vanilla glaze on top. These little pockets deserve a spot on the brunch table right next to the homemade donuts, apple turnovers, and cruffins.
Why I Love This Recipe
- A healthier version. The store-bought kind is ultra-processed and full of chemicals.
- Easy to make. With just 20 minutes of prep time and 1 hour of chill time, you can have homemade pop tarts in under 2 hours.
Homemade Pop Tart Recipe Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- All-purpose flour: To achieve a light, flaky pastry, you want to make sure you’re not using too much flour. Measure the accurate amount.
- Salt: Brings out the flavor in the pastry. Since we’re using unsalted butter, we can control the amount we use.
- Unsalted butter: Keep it cold until just before using it. Cut it into cubes so that it cuts into the flour nicely.
- Ice cold water: Using cold butter and ice cold water helps create the light, crispy, and flaky layers in pastry.
- For the filling: Brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and very soft butter. For this portion, use softened butter, so remove from the fridge about 40 minutes before using.
- Egg wash: Brushing egg and a bit of water over the pastry before it bakes, gives it a golden finish.
- For the glaze: Powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Substitute a plain powdered sugar icing instead if you would like.
How to Make Homemade Pop Tarts
- Cut in butter with flour. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Then, use a pastry cutter to cut the cubes of butter into the flour until coarse crumbs are formed.
- Make pastry dough. Add a tablespoon of water at a time until it forms a dough ball.
- Chill dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, form into a disk, and wrap and chill it for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll into rectangles. Remove dough then roll it out about 1/8″ thick and cut it into 4 x 3″ rectangles.
- Combine brown sugar filling. Combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl. Add filling to half of the rectangles, leaving a small border around the edges.
- Seal pastry. Brush egg wash around the edges to seal the top pastry, and then use a fork to crimp the edges.
- Bake. Prick the tops with a fork to allow steam to escape. Chill in the fridge for another 20-30 minutes before you brush them with egg wash and bake until golden.
- Cool and glaze. Add the glaze gets added last after they cooled otherwise it will melt or drip right off.
Tips for Homemade Pastry
- Flaky pastry dough requires cold butter and ice water just like a pie crust. Don’t skip this!
- Only add enough water to your flour mixture until it forms a ball of dough, then stop. Adding too much water will cause it to become too sticky.
- Make sure to seal the edges properly. This is what helps to prevent the filling from oozing out.
More childhood favorites that make great copycat recipes include copycat cosmic brownies, oatmeal cream pie cookies and homemade Oreos.
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Homemade Pop Tarts Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ½ cups (326 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter , cold and cubed
- 6-8 tablespoons ice cold water
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling
- ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons (28 g) butter , very soft
For the Egg Wash
- 1 large egg , whisked (+ 1 tsp water)
Glaze
- 1 ¼ cup (200 g) powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Prepare the Pie Crust
- Cut in cold butter with flour. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Add 1 cup cold, cubed butter and use a pastry cutter to mix the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Make pastry dough. Adding 1 Tablespoon water at a time, stir until the dough comes together to form a ball. Stop adding water when this happens or you will end up with sticky dough.
- Chill. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and shape into a flat disk (I like to divide in 2 to make it easier to roll out). Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Make the Filling
- Combine brown sugar filling. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and 1 Tablespoon flour until well combined. Mix the butter in with a fork until combined. Set aside.
Assemble the Pop Tarts
- Line baking sheet. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside
- Roll out pastry. On a floured surface, roll out the pie crust into a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Cut into rectangles (about 3×4 inches each). Place 9 on a baking sheet.
- Add filling. Place the filling in the center of half of the rectangles, leaving a small border around the edges.
- Seal with egg wash. Brush the edges of the filled rectangles with the egg wash, then place another rectangle on top. Use a fork to crimp the edges together.
- Chill unbaked pop tarts. Prick the top of each with a fork to allow steam to escape. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes (we want the butter in the dough to go in the oven cold, so they don't spread).
Bake
- Preheat oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Bake. Brush tops with remaining egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Frost the Pop Tarts
- Cool then glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Spread the frosting over the cooled pop tarts and allow to set.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
Probably not a great idea! Unlike store-bought pop tarts, these are best eaten the day they’re made and because they do not have the same ingredients as a store bought one to stay intact while toasting, the icing would probably melt off and make a mess. If you would, you can reheat them in the oven without the glaze then serve the glaze on the side.
Have fun with the filling. Use fruit preserves like strawberry jam (everyone loves homemade strawberry pop tarts), raspberry jam, apricot jam, apple butter, or whatever your favorite jam or jelly is.
You can also mix the jam with cream cheese. Peanut butter and Nutella would also be amazing. For good measure on someone’s birthday, add sprinkles on top!
You sure can. You can do this in a few ways. You can prepare the dough a couple of days ahead, or you can assemble the pop tarts and freeze them without icing, and you can also bake them first, flash freeze them, and then store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Keep them stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. As mentioned above, they will be at their best on the day you make them.
Categorized as: American, Breakfast, Freezer-Friendly, Kid-Friendly, Nut-Free, Sweet Breakfast
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
These pop tarts are flakey and layered with so much deliciousness! I love the flavor and texture. So simple to make too!
Glad you enjoyed them!
Just made these and they are fantastic! I mean we absolutely will never buy them again!
Yeah for homemade! Glad you enjoyed them!
These pop tarts were the greatest ever! My whole family loved them!
So happy to hear this!
Yum! So much better than the store-bought!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Delicious!…flakey crust with a yummy cinnamon brown sugar filling. – recipe tester
So yummy, right? Glad you loved the recipe!