It’s no secret that my older daughter has an interest in pop tarts (since I recently shared on facebook that she’s apparently been “trading” at snack time to get some!) so clearly I had to do something about it. First of all, we took her to the store and let her pick out a box of organic frosted pop tarts. Organic or not…they are still completely junk food with loads of added sugar. I am not the one who is 7-years-old though, and I can understand how “store-bought” and “packaging” may sometimes play an important role at school. So I showed her how much sugar they contain, in order to convey that they are really more of a dessert than a snack, and she decided she’d like to take one as a snack anyway and one as a dessert on another day (they come in packs of 2). I let my younger daughter do the same, and she was beyond thrilled to be an innocent bystander in all of this decision making :).
After all of that was behind us I put the box of remaining pop tarts “away” (up high and not visible in the pantry of course!) and thankfully neither child said much else about it. Hoping their need for “store bought” pop tarts was satisfied I decided we should try making our own as well. I am not the first person to make a homemade knock-off pop tart recipe so just think of these as the super EASY whole-grain version. I honestly can’t believe how easy these are to make and how good they taste…everyone loves them! They are for the “kids” of course, but I find myself rationing out my share as well. I never liked pop tarts as a kid myself because I was a toaster strudel girl, but this recipe somehow unites both of those worlds with one pretty awesome outcome. Just try for yourself, and you’ll see that this recipe does not disappoint.
Whole-Wheat Toaster Pastries (aka Poptarts!)
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup whole-wheat flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup butter, cold, unsalted (2 sticks)
- ½ cup water, plus ice
- 1 egg, beaten with a splash of water
- 8 tablespoons jam, we prefer either homemade jam or an all-fruit spread that’s sweetened with fruit juice concentrate as opposed to sugar or high-fructose corn syrup
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Put the flour and salt in a food processor with the dough blade and pulse it together briefly.
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Meanwhile fill a glass measuring cup with ½ cup water and add a few ice cubes to it.
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Take the cold butter straight out of the fridge and cut it into ½ inch chunks. Sprinkle the pieces of butter on top of the flour in the food processor. Be careful to spread out the butter as opposed to letting it all clump together in one piece.
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Turn on the food processor and blend until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal. While the food processor is still running add 1/3 cup water through the top. Watch the dough come together and add 2 – 3 more teaspoons of water as needed so a dough ball will form. If some of the dough is in a ball and some is stuck to the sides that is okay…you can fix it with your hands. At this point the dough could be stored in the fridge in plastic wrap for up to 3 days or in the freezer (in a freezer safe container) for up to 6 months.
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Remove the dough from the food processor and put it on a lightly floured counter or large cutting board. With a rolling pin (and another sprinkling of flour) flatten out the dough to one big rectangle or square that’s no more than a quarter inch thick. Trim any uneven ends and use those to patch other edges as necessary.
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Using a knife cut out 14 to 16 rectangles of dough. Actually you could make them any shape or size that you want at this point. Lay half of your dough shapes onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Spoon about a tablespoon of jam down the middle of those bottom dough pieces.
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Top them with matching dough shapes and seal around the edges by pushing down with a fork. Make a few holes in the top with the fork as well. Lastly, brush the tops of the uncooked toaster pastries with the egg wash.
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Bake at 375 degrees F for 18 – 24 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the cooked pastries on a cooling rack (if you have one) then either eat them right away or store them in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for several months. They can be eaten cold or reheated. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
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How many carbs on in each toaster pastry?
Hi. We don’t provide nutrition information. This post helps explain why: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
Has anyone come up with any toppings to put on these. They are in the oven now. Can’t wait to try.
I used an old Hershey Cocoa Powder container to cookie cut my perfect rectangles!
Several of your recipes call for the use of a dough blade in your food processor… What is a dough blade? What does it look like? Maybe that’s a dumb question, but I’m not sure my processor came with one, and I don’t know what to look for. Thanks!
Hi Deanne. Here is an example: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-FP-749-Dough-Blade/dp/B000PJ6UOG.
Could I add a nut butter or sun butter to this before baking? Thanks!
You could. We have not done it, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t be good
Any ideas on how to make these gluten free? Thank you!
HI Nikki. We’ve not adapted this recipe to be gluten free but this might help you do so: https://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2012/07/gluten-free-dairy-free-pop-tarts-recipe.html.
I tried this today but didn’t come good. I just melted butter and mixed it with the flour since I didn’t had the processor . But the dough without adding water was moist so I just sprinkled little water . But couldn’t take it as nice shape before baking since it was crumbling ..I put only 1 and 1/2, butter sticks . So the top part to cover got all crumbled ..
No the butter has to be cold cold cold. If no food processor use 2 butter knives and cut the butter into little pieces while it is in the flour. Or – use a fork to mash the butter into the flour. The idea is to make little pieces if cold butter mixed into the flour and THE N add the water to make a dough. Good luck – try again!!
Hi, I like to go things by hand and u really wanted to try this. Could I do this by hand without a food processor?
Hi there. Sure. You can make it by hand.
Great! So, when the recipe calls for the food processor that just means I need to mix it by hand. Right?
With this recipe, yes. ;)
Tried these today with organic strawberry preserves and they came out perfectly. I added some raw sugar on top before baking. They might not make it to tomorrow
I just made these today and I have to say these are fantastic. I filled them with Polaner All Fruit seedless strawberry jam and drizzle a little vanilla glaze on top afterwards. The kids and I love them!!! Thank You
Can these be made gluten free? If so what is the best way to make the dough?
Hi. You could try with a gluten free flour.
I’m new to real foods still and struggling to get my son to eat real. I crunched through the ingredients and while I appreciate being able to pronounce everything in them, I get 8 pastries that are very calorie and fat dense. By my ingredient calculations, I get single pastry at about 50% bigger than a brandname tart and while the sugar is dramatically lower 6 gram range, the fat is brutal, tilting in at 25 grams of which 20 grams are saturated and packing around 350 calories. Granted, I can slash the size of the tarts, they’ll still be 65% of calories from fat. While fat, particularly good, real fat (i.e. from grass fed ‘real’ sources), is healthier, 65% still seems quiet high.
Any way to ‘healthy’ these up or is that not a concern?
Hi there. This post will explain why we do not spend time calculating all the nutrition details: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
First I want to say the crust is amazing and so lovely to work with. Genius using the food processor. I’m using a pumpkin filling which has sugar in it a little bit. Maybe in the future I will try something to substitute for that. In the meantime this is the third time I’ve made them and usually I make a half batch but this time I decided to make a full batch and freeze them. To reheat them this time I toasted them but the filling didn’t thoroughly heat up. Do you have a recommendation for reheating?
Hi. I use a toaster oven. :)
Toasting in ours the edges burnt and the filling was cold. We were pulling from the freezer. Do you bake in yours?
No, typically just reheat. You can cover in tinfoil to help it reheat more evenly. Same is true in a regular oven.
Pumpkin sounds delicious! Can you please post your filling recipe.
Can I make these with white whole wheat flour? If so, is the measurement the same? . It has been 4 weeks and we are doing GREAT, but Pop Tarts are his weakness. He really loves grape pop tarts, but we can’t find them anywhere. I’m really hoping these will be an acceptable surprise for him. I think white whole wheat flour might make them look a little more like the processed ones.
Hi there. You can and the measurements would be the same.
Two sticks of butter does not make this healthy!
I don’t think it is the exact point of this to be “healthy.” It is “whole” food. If you make butter yourself or find one with three simple ingredients, it is not bad for you. Just like anything else, you have to use in moderation. I also think that the fact that it makes several of these pastries, not just one, allows for the butter to go along way.
I personally love pop tarts, but can’t seem to even take a bite of one now that I know what is really in them. If only there was a way to make the frosting for the outside “whole food” :)..
you could always make a frosting with powdered sugar (or tapioca powder as a replacement for whole food if you like) and milk for that Ashley, adding whatever else you may want otherwise (cocoa powder for example if you wanted chocolate). That’s what a basic frosting would be for a pop tart I’d imagine, and maybe a small amount of butter.
Do your research. Saturated fat is actually good for you!! Trans fat is the real enemy!!
I don’t think that the amount of butter makes this “unhealthy”. I’ve lost 45 pounds in 5 months while adding butter to everything. It’s the chemicals that make things unhealthy. Corn syrup? Soy? Artificial sweeteners, flavors and colors??? All those other things that should never be put in anything edible? THAT’S unhealthy. Butter never hurt anybody ;)
Exactly!! :)
Thank you so much for this! My husband and girls love pop tarts so this is a great modification from the store-bought items. I don’t mind them myself:) Will post how they turn out..
Have you been able to heat them in the toaster?
Hi there. A toaster oven works better. :)
Just checked on them after cooling on the rack for about 45 minutes. They sort of crumbled and weren’t firm enough to hold. I used frozen unsalted butter, ice cold water, and made sure to refrigerate before putting them in the oven to cook.
I will say the dough seemed to have good texture. They looked beautiful and tasted great. Just very very crumbly.
Just made these with my 7-year old, amazingly delicious!! Everyone agreed they tasted much better than the store-bought (Trader Joe’s) variety
If you don’t have a food processor, what is the method?
I am wondering the same thing! My food processor is too small to handle this amount. Thanks!
I was wondering the same thing! My food processor is too small.
Hello. It is like making any dough. You would mix the ingredients, cut in the butter, and knead by hand. It is easier with a food processor but certainly doable. :)
Can you make cinnamon pop tarts? How would you make the filling? Has anyone every tried? Sorry if the answer is above – I read thru and didn’t see anything pertaining to my question………
Thank you
My son and we’re talking about the same thing!! Could u not make a cinnamon roll filling and use that? That’s kinda what we were thinking, but it would add sugar, our idea was to use brown sugar.
Can this be made without a food processor? I don’t want to try unless someone has already.
Thanks
Hi. Yes it can be mixed and kneaded by hand.
I don’t have a food processor, and I just use a pastry cutter (can use 2 knives or forks) by hand
Is there a way to make it with brown sugar cinnamon? I have looked around and it sounds like people have done it but I can’t find the recipe.
Thanks so much
Hello. Sorry, we’ve have not tried to make this with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Perfect! I used a bar of Kerrygold butter, and the crust is amazing! I added 1 tbsp of brown sugar to the egg wash to balance the outside vs inside sweetness, and it was a lovely touch. Thank you for this recipe, we enjoyed the tarts very much!
I would say for a brown sugar cinnamon just make like a filling like you would for homemade cinnamon rolls. I know my kids would like fruit filling but the brown sugar cinnamon is my preferred flavor!
I actually have found more variety, here.
https://onceamonthmeals.com/recipes/homemade-poptarts/
We love these! I sometimes spread a little bit of cream cheese in the middle before adding the jam/preserves. Makes it extra decadent. ;)
Do you have a healthier jam recipe?
Hi. Here is one: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/blueberry-jam-honey-sweetened/.
Have you ever tried a healthier frosting version?
Speaking of toaster strudels, have you experimented with those? They are our preferred as well.
Hi there. No, we’ve not experimented with either. Lisa does have frosting recipes but not one for these.
Now I am going away to do my breakfast, after having
my breakfast coming yet again to read further news.
It sounds good. The kids want to try it tomorrow .
Can these be made the night before (like your pumpkin scones), refrigerated overnight, and then baked in the morning?
Great pastry!
I used 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour & a 1/4 cup of white cake & pastry flour as that’s what I had on hand.
I used strawberry jam for the centres, but I feel mine needed to be sweeter or have more flavour.
Next time I will try using a pie filling or maybe something savoury!
Thanks for a great recipe!
Made these yesterday! Loooove! Made them with my scratch strawberry jam so there really isn’t much sugar at all, but they do not taste like they are lacking in any way. Thanks for the recipe!