How to make Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-tarts from scratch

If you liked the brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts as a kid you will love this homemade fall version. I just used a leaf cookie cutter, but you could easily cut your dough into rectangles to resemble the OG pop-tarts. Another simple hack would be to use store-bought Pillsbury pie dough instead of making the dough from scratch. Scroll down for the full recipe.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts

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Yield: 10-12

Author: Jessie Daye

Prep time: 3 H & 25 MCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 3 H & 50 M

If you liked the OG brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts as a kid, you will love these homemade frosted brown sugar cinnamon pop-tarts!

Ingredients

Pastry Dough

• 2 and 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 2/3 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
• 1/2 cup ice water
• 3" Leaf cookie cutter
• TIP* You can also you store-bought Pillsbury pie crust. Simply roll it out until it's 1/8" thin and cut your shapes then follow the same steps as below with the filling etc.

Filling

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 egg, 1 1/2 tsp milk (for egg wash ONLY)

Icing

• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 Tablespoon whole milk (may need more as needed)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Instructions

1. For the pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add cold unsalted butter and shortening. With a pastry cutter, cut the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbles. Measure 1/2 cup of water in a glass. Add ice. Stir it around. Slowly drizzle 1 tablespoon of water at a time, stirring with a large spatula in between. Stop adding water when the dough begins to clump and stick together.
2. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface. The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky. Form the dough into a ball and divide in half. Flatten each half into 1/2 inch thick discs using your hands. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to one week in the fridge).
3. Remove 1 chilled dough disc from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll your dough into a 1/8 inch thick 9×12" rectangle. Using a leaf-shaped cookie cutter, carefully cut out your shapes and place on a parchment lined cookie tray. Refrigerate this tray while you do the same with the second dough disc. You can roll up any remaining dough and flatten it out again to cut out extra pop-tarts. You will end up with roughly 10-12 pop-tarts depending on the size of your cookie cutter.
4. Place your remaining shapes on the same baking sheet and place back in the refrigerator as you make the brown sugar cinnamon filling.
5. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, salt, and melted butter to a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
6. Remove shapes from the refrigerator and brush egg wash over the entire surface of half the shapes. These will be the bottoms of your pop-tarts. Place a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar filling into the center of each leaf, spread it around, leaving around 1/4 inch of space on the edges. Brush the second baking sheet of rectangles with egg wash, then place a remaining leaf on top of the filling-topped leaf, egg wash side down. Use the edge of a fork to seal the dough on all sides.
7. With a toothpick, poke about 6 holes in the tops of each filled pastry to allow the steam to escape. Refrigerate the filled pop-tarts uncovered for 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush the tops with the remaining egg wash and bake for about 20-24 minutes or until they’re slightly golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
9. Whisk all of the glaze ingredients together in a medium bowl until you have a thick glaze. If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar. If it's too stiff, add a 1/2 tsp of milk at a time. The glaze will slightly harden in about an hour.
10. Store pop-tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for three days or in the refrigerator for one week.

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