Homemade Paleo Toaster Pastries (aka pop tarts)
Oh my, the kids are going to love me! They have only been begging for me to make homemade pop tarts for about 10 years!
If you’re looking for a special breakfast or lunch box treat for your favorite students at back-to-school time, look no further.
Let’s be honest, these are essentially cookies, so are not the very best breakfast idea for every day, but for a once in a while treat, they’re perfect! And as amazing as they may look (I hope so anyway!) they aren’t difficult to make. Put on your favorite music, podcast or YouTube channel and get in the kitchen!
Without the frosting, these are paleo. If you choose to add frosting, they’re a great gluten free and dairy free treat. Actually, they’re still grain free too, just not technically paleo because of the refined sugar in the frosting. Let’s not get too picky about that designation though. We’re talking PopTarts! 🙂
Homemade Paleo Pop-Tarts
A homemade, shall I say, healthier, version of the classic breakfast treat
Ingredients
Pop Tart Dough
- 1/4 cup palm shortening
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 3/4 cups finely ground almond flour
- 3/4 cup arrowroot starch
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 1/4 cup packed maple sugar can substitute brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp. arrowroot powder can substitute gluten free all purpose flour blend
Icing Glaze (optional)
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp. water add slowly – you may not need a full tablespoon
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- To make filling, mix the maple sugar, cinnamon and arrowroot together in a small bowl making sure to work out any lumps. Set aside.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the palm shortening, maple syrup, vanilla and egg yolk. Whisk well to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and combine well to form a cohesive dough.
- Sprinkle a little arrowroot on your counter top or a piece of parchment or silicone mat. Pat out the dough roughtly into a rectangle shape. I use a Silpat (linked below) silicone mat and use that as a guide for rolling my dough. I keep working the dough gently with my rolling pin until it is approximately even in thickness and the same size as the silpat.
- Cut your tarts into the size and shape you like. I went traditional with rectangles and aimed to make mine approximately 2×3 inches. No need to be exact here, but you do want tops and bottoms that match pretty closely. You may need to cut a few pieces and then roll out the scraps again and cut again. In the end, I was able to make 18 rectangles, so 9 poptarts. Keep in mind that these are basically sandwich cookies with sugar inside, so keeping them on the smaller side is not a bad idea.
- Once you've laid all your "bottom" tart pieces on your baking tray, sprinkle about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon sugar filling in the center of each piece of dough. You want to leave a border of about 1/4-1/2 inch.
- Dip your finger in water and wet the edge of each "bottom" piece of dough. Now gently lay the matching top piece of dough on each one to make your tarts.
- Using a fork, press gently around the edges of each tart to seal. Now use the fork to prick a few holes in the top of each tart.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until slightly browned around the edges. You will probably want to rotate your baking sheet once in the middle of the baking.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Make icing by mixing all icing ingredients together until smooth. Frost tarts once they are completely cooled.
- If these aren't gone in the first 24 hours, refrigerate any leftovers. I wouldn't warm up leftovers in a toaster if you have frosting on them, but unfrosted ones can certainly be toasted and are delicious that way!
Notes
Other flavor options: strawberry is the other classic. Rather than fill the tarts with the sugar cinnamon mixture, use strawberry jam instead. You can certainly use any flavor of jam or preserves you like. Just note that as long as the tarts are even slightly warm, the jam will run out very easily when you bite into your treat. As long as they’re totally cool, the jam should stay in. If you’re concerned about this, mix a tablespoon of arrowroot starch or gluten free flour into your jam to thicken in a bit.
For a glaze for fruit filled tarts, make the icing without the cinnamon. You can use colored sprinkles to indicate what flavor is waiting inside.
Silpat silicone baking mat – there are less expensive brands, but this is the exact one I’ve had for 20 years and it works great and is still in excellent condition.