Friday, July 26, 2013

Gluten Free Pop Tarts

I really couldn't tell you the last time I had a Pop Tart.  I remember eating the brown sugar cinnamon unfrosted Pop Tarts occasionally in college, but that was over 20 years ago.  Maybe I've had them since, but I'm not really sure. I've always tended to stay away from sugary processed foods for breakfast.


A couple of months ago, I spotted these Glutino Apple Cinnamon toaster pastries in Whole Foods and decided to buy them in a moment of weakness.  They sat, and sat, and sat in my pantry for weeks, maybe months, unopened.  I did sample one before going to California, and decided to take them with me on my trip in June.  They certainly came in handy many a morning when I needed something to get me through to lunch. I knew I had the potential to gain some unwanted weight on our 12 day eating extravaganza through Disneyland, Temecula, San Francisco, and Napa, so I didn't want to consume too many calories for breakfast.  One toaster pastry and a piece of fruit, and I was good to go.  

I've been eyeing up Nicole Hunn's recipe for Pop Tarts on her blog, Gluten Free on a Shoestring, for months, but they involved a rolling pin and free hand cutting of the pastries.  I'm a perfectionist and I have a slight case of rolling pin phobia, so I didn't even consider making them until I spotted this handy dandy little gadget on Williams Sonoma's website. 


I  was already ordering their GF Red Velvet Cupcake mix, a family favorite, and I needed to spend a couple extra dollars for free shipping.  It was on sale too!  How could I pass it up?!?  My journey towards making GF pop tarts had begun.  :-)


I've been trying to cut down on my dairy/lactose intake, so I nixed the idea of using Cup 4 Cup, and instead used Better Batter Flour, my second favorite GF all-purpose flour.  I also used Lactaid 1% milk.  I don't mess with butter, though, so my pop tarts still had dairy, but many people who are lactose intolerant can tolerate butter and some types of cheeses and yogurts. My family called me the Butter Queen when I was little for a reason.  The thought of ever having to give it up would break my heart, but it hasn't come to that, thankfully! 


This recipe was ridiculously easy -- no mixer, few measuring cups because I used my kitchen scale for the flour and sugar, the dough was easy to work with, and I had my toaster pastry press.  The smell of the dough was so good, I almost sampled it raw!  


For the filling, I used 1/2 C brown sugar, 2 tsp of cinnamon, and 1 T gluten free all-purpose flour.  I use Penzys Vietnamese Extra Fancy Cinnamon, which is super strong, so next time, I might cut it back to 1 1/2 tsp, because the girls and I thought it was a bit overpowering.  I put 1 T of this mix in each pop tart and had a lot left over.  Next time, I would also love to try some raspberry jam as a filling.  


Look what a great job the toaster pastry press does!  The recipe only yielded 7 pop tarts for me, maybe because of the size of the pastry press, or because I did not roll some thin enough.  They were all delicious, regardless!  


We are inpatient people, and we were hungry, so the first three got eaten right after they came out of the oven.  


The fourth was consumed by the girls and I when they cooled down, and I must say, we definitely preferred the pop tart at room temp.  Baked goods are usually too sweet for me when they are warm.  I can't wait to try the leftovers tomorrow morning!  

Here's a link to the recipe:


What kind of filling would you like to put in a homemade pop tart?  











2 comments:

  1. Oh yum! This is a must-try! I would use my homemade Georgia Peach Jam as a filling!

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    1. The girls and I picked out some peach and blueberry jams to use the next time I make them. :-)

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