If the words Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts instantly transport you back to school mornings and store-bought toaster pastries, you're in the right place. These homemade pop tarts are warm, buttery, and packed with nostalgic flavor - minus the foil wrapper.
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If you grew up on boxed toaster pastries, you're in for a real treat. These Homemade Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts are golden and buttery, filled with warm cinnamon sugar, and finished with a creamy cinnamon glaze. They're everything you loved as a kid, made even better in your own kitchen.
This recipe was inspired by my kid's childhood breakfasts (I was a great mom), where a foil-wrapped pastry in the toaster felt like magic. I wanted to recreate that feeling, but with a little more intention. These are made with a tender, buttery homemade crust, a brown sugar cinnamon filling that melts just enough in the oven, and a smooth glaze that sets beautifully. No toaster required.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Buttery, flaky crust made from scratch
- Sweet and spiced brown sugar cinnamon filling
- Simple glaze that comes together in minutes
- Perfect for make-ahead breakfasts or treats
- Just the right balance of nostalgic and new
In short, these pop tarts taste like your favorite childhood memory, only better.
Ingredients
Everything you need to make this recipe is in the photo below. I’ll walk through a few of the key ingredients and how you can adjust them if needed.
- All-purpose flour - The base of the crust. You can use a gluten-free flour blend if needed, but results may vary.
- Unsalted butter - Cold butter is key for flakiness. You can substitute plant-based butter sticks for a dairy-free version.
- Brown sugar - Light or dark brown sugar both work well here.
- Cinnamon - Feel free to adjust the amount to suit your taste.
- Heavy cream or milk - Either works in the frosting. Use a non-dairy alternative if needed.
Have extra cinnamon? Make my Apple Waffles. A delicious brown sugar batter is flavored with cinnamon and filled with fresh apples for a delightful breakfast anyone would love!
Variations
Although we all know that brown sugar and cInnamon are the superior flavors for a pop tart, there are actually other ones that are pretty darn good:
- Strawberry - In a small saucepan combine 1 tablespoon water, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and ¾ cup strawberry preserves. Boil for 2 minutes and then cool completely. Use 1 tablespoon filling in each pop tart. For frosting, skip the cinnamon and add a tablespoon of jam. to the powdered sugar and milk.
- Chocolate hazelnut - fill your pop tart with Nutella and top with chocolate ganache!
- Apricot almond - fill your pastries with apricot jam, top with a simple vanilla frosting, and sprinkle on top with sliced almonds.
Cynthia's Recipe Review
I developed this recipe because I missed my kid's old-school toaster pastries (yeah, I ate them too!), but I wanted them to taste good to the very last bite. The buttery crust, the gooey brown sugar filling, the cinnamon glaze... every bite is warm and familiar in the best way. They're fun to make and even better to eat.
Recipe Video
Step-by-Step Instructions
In this recipe, I use a food processor to make the dough. This helps to incorporate the butter into smaller pieces, for slightly more dense crust. Unlike the tender flaky layers in my regular pie crust, I wanted this to be just a bit sturdier. It is a hand pie after all.
Making these pastries might look complicated, but broken down into steps, it's actually not really hard. Like my son-in-law says: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." We aren't eating an elephant, but the point is the same - take it one step at a time:
Make the dough
Step 1: Place flour, sugar, salt, and egg yolk in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse until the egg yolk is completely incorporated. Add cold butter cubes.
Step 2: Pulse until it the butter is incorporated into the dry ingredients in a combination of small and large pieces.
Step 3: Drizzle in ice water and lemon juice and pulse until the dough just comes together.
Step 4: Dump the dough out on a lightly floured surface and use your hands and plastic wrap to gather together. Divide into two even amounts and wrap each tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes, up to 3 days.
Make the Brown Sugar Cinnamon filling
Step 1: Mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Pour melted butter over the top.
Step 2: Use a fork or a spatula to mix all the ingredients together.
Assemble and Bake
Step 1: Roll one piece of dough out to a large rectangle, approximately 13 inches by 9 inches.
Step 2: Cut into eight 4 inch by 3 inch rectangles. Repeat with the other piece of dough.
Step 3: Brush each of the bottom pieces with egg wash made of one egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water.
Step 4: Place one rounded tablespoon of filling in the center of each bottom piece and use your fingers to spread about a quarter inch from the edge all around.
Step 5: Place another piece of dough on top, line up the edges, and press down with your fingers to adhere to the bottom crust.
Step 6: Press a fork gently but firmly along the outside the seal the crust and trim the edges with a bench scraper or butter knife (this further seals them shut to prevent leakage). Chill for 15 minutes while you preheat your oven to 375°F.
Step 7: When the oven reaches temp, remove the pop tarts from the fridge and brush the tops with the egg wash.
Step 8: Use a fork or a skewer to poke holes in the top crust to allow steam to release while baking.
Step 9: Bake at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and fragrant.
Glaze
Step 1: While the pop tarts are cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of milk or cream in a small bowl. If the frosting is too thick, add more milk or cream 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s thick but spreadable. If too thin, add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
Step 2: Once the pop tarts are fully cooled (this is key so the frosting doesn't melt right off), spoon or spread the frosting over the tops. Frosting will set within an hour, but will still be soft and delicious. But you probably can't wait. I couldn't.
Pardon my French Why stop at eating your breakfast? Try my Iced French Toast Latte with all the flavors and aromas of your favorite French toast in a refreshing beverage!
Make ahead, reheating, and storage instructions
Make Ahead/Freezing Instructions: Unbaked and unfrosted pastries can be frozen for up to 3 months and baked from a frozen state. To do this, flash freeze assembled pop tarts on a parchment lined baking sheet until hard. Individually wrap each one in plastic wrap and then store them all in a zip top bag.
Storage: Store fully cooled leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days. If stacking, place pieces of parchment paper between layers.
Reheating: Since I'm eating one of these while typing this, I can honestly tell you that these are delicious at room temperature. Because of the delicious frosting on top, reheating these in a conventional toaster would be a disaster. If you really want to toast them, place on a tray in a toaster oven or conventional oven. The frosting will melt a bit, but you won't be mad at that, will you?
Cynthia's Helpful Tips
- To ensure you get the best crust possible, make sure the butter and water you add to your dough is cold.
- Don't overfill your pop tarts or they will leak while baking.
- Seal your pop tarts well to help hold the filling in. If your dough gives you trouble when sealing, just put the tray back in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Dipping your fork into flour every few presses can also help prevent sticking. After sealing with a fork, trimming the edges will further seal your pastry shut.
- For the best results, place your sheet pan of pop tarts in the refrigerator or freezer while the oven heats up. This will help the butter to re-solidify, for a better bake.
- Make sure your pastries are fully cooled before spreading the frosting or it will melt and slide off. The frosting will set when dry, which takes about an hour, but it will still be soft to bite into.
Round Toaster Pastries
Go crazy and make your toaster pastries any shape you like. You can go round, you can go square, if you can figure out how to seal them, you can go star shaped. Have fun!
Recipe FAQs
You can. I also made this recipe using store bought dough and it came out great. I found that I could only get 6 total pastries, because I didn't want to roll it too thin, so they were gone a little faster 🙂
Yes! The pop tart dough is exactly the same as a pie dough recipe. If you don’t have a food processor, use a pastry cutter, a couple of knives, the back of a fork, or even your fingers to combine the butter and flour mixture. Then add the egg, water, and lemon juice and use a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula to combine into a crumbly dough.
You can. You can make the dough, wrap and refrigerate it, and come back and make your homemade pop tarts up to 3 days later. Just take each piece of dough out of the fridge 15 minutes before you are ready to roll it out.
I have made pop tarts with puff pastry before and they are fantastic! They puff up quite a bit more, so make sure your edges are very well sealed. There are excellent frozen puff pastry options at your local Mega Market, or you can try with my Rough Puff Pastry and make this a fun weekend project!
No. Although you could toast the store-bought originals, if you tried to toast these, the frosting would melt and... well that would just be all kinds of bad. They are actually quite delicious at room temperature, but can be heated in a toaster oven or regular oven at 300°F for 5 to 10 minutes.
More cinnamon flavors you'll love!
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I appreciate it so much!
-Cynthia
📖 Recipe
Homemade Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ½ cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter (2 sticks) cold and cut in cubes
- 4 to 5 tablespoon (60 g) ice water ice cold
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar
Filling
- ¾ cup (165 g) brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons (15 g) all purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter
Frosting
- 1 ½ cup (180 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 to 5 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and egg yolks. Give it a few pulses to mix everything together. Add cold, cubed butter and pulse again until the butter is coated and broken down into small, pea-sized pieces.
- Add lemon juice to a cup with ice and your water. Drizzle in the ice water a little at a time, while pulsing the food processor. I usually need exactly 4 ½ tablespoons, but start with 3 and add more, one spoonful at a time, just until the dough starts to come together. It should hold when you pinch it, but not feel wet.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, divide it in half, and shape each half into a flat square. Wrap them up tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days. Letting the dough rest helps it relax (just like us), making it easier to roll out later.
Make the filling:
- While the door is resting, make the filling.In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and salt until evenly combined.
- Add the vanilla and melted butter, and mix until everything is fully moistened and looks like wet sand. That’s it! Set it aside while you roll out the dough and get ready to fill your pop tarts.
Roll and cut out dough:
- On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of chilled dough into a large rectangle, about ⅛ inch thick. You’re aiming to roll each piece of dough into a rectangle that’s larger than 9 X 12 inches so you can cut out eight 4 x 3 inch rectangles from each. Repeat with the second disc so you end up with 16 rectangles total.
- If the dough gets too soft or sticky while you’re working, slide it onto a baking sheet and chill it for a few minutes before continuing. Cold dough is easier to cut and handle.
Assemble pop tarts:
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water to make your egg wash.
- Lay 8 of the dough rectangles on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each one lightly with the egg wash – this helps the top layer stick and seals in all that brown sugar cinnamon goodness.
- Spoon about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of filling into the center of each rectangle, spreading it out a bit but leaving a small border around the edges.
- Place the remaining dough rectangles on top, lining up the edges. Use your fingers to press around the filling, then crimp all the way around each pop tart with a fork to seal them shut.
- Pop the tray into the fridge and let the pop tarts chill for 15 minutes. This helps them keep their shape when they bake.
- After chilling, brush the tops with more egg wash and use a toothpick or skewer to poke a few small holes in the top of each one. This lets steam escape and keeps them from puffing up too much in the oven.
- Bake the chilled pop tarts for 20 to 24 minutes, or until they’re lightly golden brown and the edges look set. Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Make the cinnamon frosting:
- While the pop tarts are baking, whisk together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of milk or cream in a small bowl. If the frosting is too thick, add more milk or cream 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s thick but spreadable. If too thin, add powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until your desired consistency.
- Once the pop tarts are fully cooled (this is key so the frosting doesn't melt right off), spoon or spread the frosting over the tops. Give them a few minutes to set up, or dive right in if you just can’t wait!
Save This Recipe! 💌
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later, plus you'll get great new recipes from me every week!
Video
Notes
- Lining a large sheet pan with parchment paper will ensure that your pastries don't stick to the pan while chilling and baking.
- For the flakiest results, place your sheet pan of assembled pop tarts into the freezer while the oven heats up. This will cause the butter to re-solidify, making for a flakier result.
- Make sure your pastries are fully cooled before spreading frosting or it will melt and slide off. The frosting will set when dry, which takes about an hour, but still be soft to bite into.
- To make ahead and bake later, freeze assembled pop tarts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then transfer to a freezer bag for storage.
- When ready to bake, brush with egg wash and bake directly from the freezer, adding 1-2 minutes to baking time.
Ayla says
Wow these are so delicious! I wanted to eat the whole pan in one sitting. The instructions were very clear and helpful! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Cynthia Christensen says
Wow! Thank you so much for making my recipes!