Gluten free pop tarts make a fun breakfast or on-the-go treat, and the recipe is kid-friendly!

I remember loving pop tarts as a kid. They weren’t something my mom usually stored in the house, but when we had road trips she’d grab a box. I loved the brown sugar variety, but the strawberry were my favorite.

My daughter and I were in search of a new recipe to make together, and we decided on pop tarts…or I should say I decided on pop tarts. When I told her about them, she had no idea what they were but said “if you think they’ll be good, let’s try them.”

We have a lot of experience rolling out dough from cookie recipes and from making our own pizza, and I was glad that experience helped us get this recipe right after only two tries!

The first batch was too dry, so we added shortening and increased the vegan butter, and that did the trick! Pastry recipes aren’t the easiest, but I think this one is fairly simple. Here’s the recipe so you can make some gluten free pop tarts too!

Helpful Tips:

• Double seal the dough before baking. Seal it first with your fingers, and then crimp the edges with a fork. This helps keep the strawberry preserves from leaking out.
• Chill the dough for two hours before rolling it out. Chilling the dough makes it less sticky and much easier to work with.
• Use a pizza cutter to make the rectangles. It works much better than a knife.
• Use plastic wrap and parchment paper. A layer of parchment paper on the bottom will keep the pop tarts from sticking to the baking sheet. A layer of plastic wrap on top of the dough will make rolling it out much easier, and less sticky.
• Not a strawberry fan? No worries! You can use any fruit preserves variety that you like.

You will need:

• Stand mixer with a bread or pastry attachment
• Baking sheet
• Rolling pin (or tall drinking glass)
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Parchment paper (not required, but highly recommended)
• Plastic wrap (not required, but highly recommended)
• Toothpick
• Pizza cutter (not required, but highly recommended)

Gluten Free Pop Tarts

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free and soy free. It can be made tree nut free by replacing the almond milk with rice milk. The recipe makes 12 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups gluten free multi-purpose flour
• 8 tbsp vegan butter, cold and chopped into ¼ inch pieces
• 3 tbsp palm oil shortening
• 6 tbsp water, ice cold
• 2 tbsp almond milk
• 1 tbsp + 3 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 12 tbsp strawberry preserves

Icing (optional):

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp almond or rice milk
• 1/8 cup rainbow sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Add your butter, shortening and sugar to a large bowl and mix using a bread or pastry attachment until crumbly.
3. Add your water, milk and continue to mix for 2 minutes.
4. Add your flour and salt and mix until combined. The mixture will still be crumbly but smoother.
5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and separate into three even sections.
6. Press the dough together with hands to make a ball in each section and then cover with plastic wrap. If the dough does not stick together, it’s too dry and you should put it back in the mixing bowl and add ½ tsp milk until it comes together.
7. Chill the dough for two hours in the refrigerator.
8. Take the first ball out of the fridge and place on top of parchment paper.
9. Add a layer of plastic wrap on top and roll out the dough until it’s ¼ inch thick with a rolling pin or tall drinking glass.
10. Using a pizza cutter, draw 8 rectangles each of which are about 5×3 inches.
11. Remove excess dough as set aside.
12. Place one tablespoon of strawberry preserves each on four of the rectangles (the bottom ones).
13. Spread the preserves out on the rectangles, but keep a ½ inch border without preserves.
14. Lift the top 4 rectangles over, so that they’re placed directly on top of the rectangles with preserves creating the pop tart.
15. Using your finger tips, pinch together the edges of the pop tarts to seal them.
16. Using a fork, crimp the edges (press down with a fork to create double sealed edges)
17. Using a toothpick, gently poke about 12 holes in the top layer of the pop tart. This will give it room to breathe while it’s cooking.
18. Repeat the above steps with the other two sections of chilled dough.
19. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops and edges are golden brown.
20. Remove from oven and let them cool for a few minutes while you make the icing.
21. Combine your powdered sugar and milk into a bowl and stir until an icing forms.
22. Drizzle or pour over the pop tarts.
23. Add sprinkles on top of the icing while it’s still wet.
24. Let the icing set for an hour to harden, or enjoy immediately.

Enjoy!