Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts have a tender, flakey, but firm crust topped with cinnamon icing, of course. The filling has brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little dry butterscotch pudding powder. It’s been a secret for years, but it’s out now. That little extra ingredient in the filling pops right out of these tarts!

Now, before you start asking why there are two different colors (types) of icing, here’s the answer. The darker icing on the left is a simple cinnamon, powder sugar and milk mix. The one on the right has the EXACT same ingredient ratio with the addition of meringue powder. The idea was that the meringue icing (royal icing) would not melt in the toaster, which it did not. Yay, sort of! The icing became brittle in the toaster and flaked off when biting into the pop-tart. More on that later.

OMG, look at that filling, I could dive into one right now. I only saved a couple of pop-tarts for myself and sent the rest to my neighbor (lucky family). Below is the filling made with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, flour and instant dry butterscotch pudding mix. No, it does not taste like butterscotch, but it does enhance the filling flavor and livens up the color a bit.

Make the dough with all-purpose flour, oat flour, and butter. Roll out half of the dough to about a 10 x 14. This will allow you to cut 9 tarts, 3 x 4-1/2 inches. I did re-roll scraps and made a 10th pop-tart, because I need to eat one before the family gets their hands on them.

Okay, now that you have your rectangles, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a #30 cookie scoop or measure 2-1/2 tablespoons of filling for each tart. Use your clean fingers and spread the filling out to with 1/4-inch from sides.

Brush edges with egg wash, place on top dough, press down with fingers and crimp with fork. I used the same fork to poke in vent holes for each tart.

Bake the pop-tarts at 375 F. for 30 minutes. Let cool about 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Make your icing and ice while tarts are warm. This will melt off a little extra icing so it’s not so heavy and when they cool, the process makes the icing more durable. Below, the tarts on the left are iced with regular brown sugar cinnamon icing, the right is royal icing. The royal icing, though toaster safe, flakes off, so not a fan. But I am here to save you the trouble.

To reheat the brown sugar cinnamon pop-tarts, regardless of icing type, 7 to 10 seconds in microwave is perfect. You CANNOT place the darker, regular icing pop-tarts in the toaster as the icing will melt. The opaque royal icing will withstand the toaster, but will flake when eating, FYI.

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Useful Products that I love:

Black & Decker Hand Mixer: this is one of the most powerful hand mixers I have ever used, it’s got some guts!

KitchenAid Pizza cutter: I use this little guy soooo much inexpensive, but cuts great!

Nordic Ware Aluminum Baking Sheets: The half sheet size is perfect.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts

Recipe by Portlandia Pie LadyCourse: Breakfast, DessertCuisine: Americana

Cooking time

25

minutes

Servings

9 to 10

pop-tarts

Tender-flakey crust, cinnamon icing & brown sugar-cinnamon filling with an addition of instant dry butterscotch pudding mix that truly enhances the cinnamon flavor. A true Americana throwback recipe to yesteryear.

Ingredients

• Pop-Tart Dough

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free)

• 1/2 cup oat flour (blend 1/2 cup oats in blender for flour)

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup butter

• 1/2 cup cold water

• Egg wash: 1 egg plus 2 tablespoons water

• Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (or gluten-free)

• 2 tablespoons instant dry butterscotch pudding mix

• 5 tablespoons butter, softened

• Cinnamon Icing (Not Toaster Safe for Reheating)**

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar syrup (optional-see notes below)

• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk or water

Directions

• Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling
• In a medium sized bowl add the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and dry butterscotch pudding mix. Stir with a fork until completely combined.
• Add the softened butter and work in with a fork until completely worked into sugar mixture. It should have the texture of wet-damp sand when done. Set aside for filling pop tarts.
• Pop-Tart Dough & Assembly
• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• In a large bowl, stir all of the dry ingredients together. Use a large serving fork or pastry cutter and cut in the butter until crumbly.
• Add the cold water all at once and stir a few times, just until forms a ball (do not kneed or over mix).
• Divide dough in half and roll out to 1/8-inch thick. You should be able to cut 9, 3-inch x 4-1/2-inch rectangles, with extra scraps to maybe pull out a 10th tart.
• Place cut rectangles onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Scoop and spread on 1-1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar cinnamon filling on the bottom pieces, leaving about 3/8-inch border for sealing and crimping.
• Roll other half of dough to 1/8-inch thick, and cut the top crusts.
• Wet edges of the bottom crusts with egg wash and place on top crusts. Press down edges with fingers and use fork to crimp. Use the fork to poke in vent holes for tarts.
• Use the remaining egg wash to brush the tops, if desired. (If you are wanting authentic-looking pop-tarts, no egg wash is necessary).
• Bake 25 minutes @ 375 F. Remove from oven and let cool 5 to 10 minutes before icing.
• Cinnamon Icing: In a medium bowl stir the powdered sugar and cinnamon together. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk (or water) at a time. It is always easier to thin it more than thicken.
• Place pop-tarts on a rack with parchment or paper towel underneath to catch drips. Spoon the icing over the pop-tarts and let icing harden before stacking and storing (about 2 hours).

Notes

• **For toaster safe icing: Use the same recipe above for icing, except to the dry ingredients add in 1-1/2 tablespoons of meringue powder. Add 3 tablespoons of the liquid called for. Use an electric mixer to beat the mixture 3 to 5 minutes until icing consistency. If too thick, thin with another teaspoon or two of liquid; if too thin beat icing for another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Brown sugar syrup will make your icing darker w/o adding a lot of extra cinnamon. Simmer 1/4 brown sugar with 2 tablespoons water, just until sugar is dissolved. Cool and measure what is needed for icing.